Keel bolt leak

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Ron Brassord

I am getting familiar with the quirks of my newly acquired 88 Catalina 30, and traced the bilge water to a weeping keel bolt. It's in the middle on the port side, and is a slow trickle, not enough to worry about ,but I'd like to fix it. I am wondering if it would be prudent to back off the nut, and put a larger washer with a bedding coumpound under, and retighten the nut? I did get a 1/4 turn on the nut, but it still weeps. The boat was just sailed home over 100 miles in moderate to heavy seas. I would think it should abate completely after the boat sits and the source of the leak fills? I also got some slight tightening of the other bolts I could reach with a stilson. I intend to give all the bolts a torqueing to 50 pounds as soon as I can locate a deep and large enough socket. The more I get into her, the more I like her Ron Brassord Lighthouse Point Fl
 
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Allen Schweitzer

Keel Bolts

Ron, Tightening the bolts for now is a short term fix, but you're definitely going to want to haul and fix the crack in the hull-keel joint where the water is ultimately originating from. You're going to want to do this for two primary reasons: 1. The keel studs will corrode if they are exposed to salt water. Stainless steel needs a fresh supply of oxygen to maintain its "stainless" properties. If it doesn't get oxygen, then it will corrode just like regular steel. Until that leak is patched on the exterior of the hull, your keel studs are in an oxygen poor salt water environment and they'll eventually corrode & need replacing. Trust me, you DON'T want that to happen. 2. Trapped water in your hull can promote osmotic blistering. It's ok to tighten the bolts as a short term fix, but get that boat hauled within the year & patch the hull right. You'll be glad you did. Good Luck! Allen Schweitzer s/v Falstaff C-30 Hull# 632
 
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