Hunter 40.5 keel to stub joint

[MetricMountie]

Rich, I like you live a ways from the yard where the boat is stored at a 75 minute drive, its not something that I want to be doing frequently in our East coast winter driving conditions. As to the tanks, both the port and starboard tanks aren't used as they had leaked in the past and the P/O had made the condition worse when he attempted to fix them by not tightening the securing bolts in an alternating sequence and had simply gone around the top screwing down each bolt to its maximum travel and calling it good. This I'll be repairing this season. The aft and forward tanks are definitely empty as we drained them in October. I actually went so far as to disconnect all the tank lines from the water manifold before we closed up and had no water draining from them. I actually tied these line end up above the level of flow just to be sure. I don't believe that water coming down the mast is the problem either as 1. I made sure that the limber holes on the mast step were cleaned out in October to allow drainage and 2. the electrical conduit stub is clear and clean and there is no sign of water on the table where the compression post meets the table. This a mystery to be sure but its more of a PITA than any thing else when you can't find the source of the problem.

 

[glennmul]

Update. Had a glass guy grind down the cracked material. Turns out it was a lot of fairing material. They ground it out and put some other "better" material. Not sure what it is but it was green and then they glassed over it. You can see in the pic. Also the joint to the lead bulb had cracked fairing so they re putting something more flexible to seal that section.

 

[Rich Stidger]

Thanks for the update. I will be looking closely at my keep this coming week and I hope to rule out any seepage at the keel stub to lead bulb area. Doyou have any idea what caused the joint to the lead bulb to crack? Any hard groundings?

 

[glennmul]

I bought the boat in 2016 and last season was my first in. My guess is it's been this way for a while at the bulb joint area. The part that cracked looks to be a poor fairing job perhaps many years ago. When we took the piece that cracked off there was perfect gelcoat underneath that was glass smooth. Not sure how they got that compound to adhere as it was so smooth, but I'm sure it separated and a small crack let water in between then it froze and cracked outward. I don't think she was ever grounded and the bulb looks perfect, probably more from the flexing is my guess. That fairing material theytused is very brittle.

 

[JimInPB]

We have a 1995 - 40.5 and as Rich says a bit of water during the season is not an issue with me but what has become and issue is going back to the boat in the spring after completely vacuuming it dry in the fall and finding a large amount of water in the bilge. The boat is completely tarped for the winter so no snow, ice, etc. ever makes it to the deck,the tanks are all drained so where am I getting all this water from that ends up in the bilge.

Did you check if the water was fresh or salt? If it is salt, then you may be soaking up water from a crack during the sailing season & the cold of winter might be squeezing it back out. Fresh water showing up in there would concern me less. That could dribble in from a number of unseen weather leaks or could be condensation.

 

[Rich Stidger]

Did you check if the water was fresh or salt? If it is salt, then you may be soaking up water from a crack during the sailing season & the cold of winter might be squeezing it back out. Fresh water showing up in there would concern me less. That could dribble in from a number of unseen weather leaks or could be condensation.

You may have missed the fact that he has about 24" of water in the bilge. This keel is comprised of a hollow vertical fin that has a 7000# lead bulb bolted to the bottom of the stub. The bilge in this model Hunter is about 36" deep and he said that the water is about 12" below the floor. That quantity of water is probably in the 10-12 gallon range. That is way more than condensation could account for. Since he is certain that all four of the water tanks were dry at layup, about the only source left is from rain outside. But he also has a complete cover that protects the deck and chain-plates, so now the most likely intrusion is running down the mast. But if the original design is working, any water running down the mast on the inside would be expelled via weep holes at the mast step. For the quantity of water that he is getting it sounds like several different areas are compromised. Basically nothing makes sense.

 

[Rich Stidger]

This a mystery to be sure but its more of a PITA than any thing else when you can't find the source of the problem.

I just had another thought. Is there any chance that rain water could be dribbling off the deck and running into the bilge pump discharge? Maybe your cover channels water into the discharge? I know this is a way-out-of-the-box idea, but the water has to be coming from somewhere and for sure there is a LOT of it. If your tanks were dry at lay-up, then the only other source I can think of is rain. But if that is correct, where is the entrance?

 

[MetricMountie]

We got down to the boat last Monday and got the cover off and I pumped the bilge down with the manual gusher pump. I checked the deck again and saw not evidence of water stains and the interior showed no signs either. I'm going to do some testing with water on the deck as we move forward with the spring cleanup and will again check all my tanks and connections and then will let you know what I've found. Thanks again Rich.

 

[glennmul]

Ultra deep bilge of a 1997 Hunter 40.5. PITA to keep clean as it's so hard to reach especially the center compartment.

 

[MetricMountie]

Couldn't agree more glennmul, PITA is putting it mildly, lots of very hot water, bilge cleaner and a very stiff brush on a pole at least two times a season. Hoses get cleaned with a product called Totally Awesome and a good sponge to get the black crap off. The Admiral has a nose that picks up on even the slightest smell. I have more trouble with cleaning the Aft section due to having to remove the start battery.

 

[glennmul]

Found a pic of the inside of our keel . if you have a 40.5, I'm pretty sure this is it. Found it it at Mars Keels.

 

[Bouchard]

Ultra deep bilge of a 1997 Hunter 40.5. PITA to keep clean as it's so hard to reach especially the center compartment.

Amazing pictures. I have never seen the three bilges like this. And only now I can see it's three bolts that hold the keel.

 

[Bouchard]

Hi.

Very interesting topic and answers about the keel of the Hunter 40.5

I have another question, but in order to not divert this topic, I'll just leave here the link to the new topic I've opened.

Beaching a Hunter 40.5 by the pier

Hello Sailors. Down south in Ushuaia, Argentina we "beached" this Morgan 51 by the pier, tied it by the mast and all lines so it won't fall on the side, and then cleaned the bottom very fast and without costs or delays for lifting it out of the water. I own Preciosa, a 1997 Hunter Legend 40.5...

forums.sailboatowners.com

Thanks.

Fabián