Hunter - damaged keel

[jimsharpe]

On July 4 weekend I hit ledge motoring @ 4 knots. I draw 5 feet and the ledge was at 5 feet. I get about 8 gallons in the bilge over a 7 day period.

What would u expect it to cost to fix as I can hardly see the water dripping in around the keel bolts?

Does the keel have to be completely removed to fix?

Sad sailor!

 

[Deadline]

I gather you weren't getting any water in the bilge until now.
A gallon a day is excessive, especially if the bilge pump burns out.
Might try to tighten down the bolts to see if that helps.
Otherwise likely to need to haul, dry out and re-bed. Sorry.

 

[Allan Frey]

Force of the collision equals mass times velosity. Maybe 10,000 lbs mass times 4 kts is a lot of force unless it was a grazing hit. Could be a lot of unseen internal fiberglas damage; if so, a possible sudden future loss of the keel. How much leakage is not a measure of possible damage.

I would talk to insurance company about having a good surveyor make an assessment, probably during a short haulout. People have died because of this kind of situation.

Allan

 

[Alan]

I'm inclined to agree with allan. I've seen the damage to the hull structure after a friends 28.5 hit a rock and started taking on water. The insurance company totaled the boat after a survey.

 

[Steve W]

The problem with an impact like that is there could be a lot of hidden damage. When you hit something with the front of the keel, it tends to drive the back of the keel up "into" the boat. Even if you're not taking on a whole lot of water you could still have hidden damage under the floorboards. One result of this kind of an impact is that the force of the keel pushing up at the rear is that the internal tabbing of the stringers could be separated which would weaken the whole hull. Without removing the floorboards and looking down there, the insurance company would probably total the boat. First thing, though, is definitely do a short haul and visually inspect. The major thing to look for would be cracks in the hull at the aft end of the keel where it fairs into the hull. If you've got those then the chances are you've got internal damage and probably separated tabbing.