keel bolts leaking

[sdstef]

Just put the boat in the water yesterday after sitting for winter. After 22 hours, the bilge was almost full. After inspection, I see water weeping through from around the bolts/nut and washers. I did not try to torque down, I doubt that would stop it anyway. How serious is that size of leak. what kind of job is it to repair? I know I would have to lift the boat off the keel and drop the keel enough to remove sealant etc. What would you guess a boat shop would charge? 4k? I dunno. Thanks for any help guys. This is a 91 Hunter 28.

 

[Ted]

That's a lot of water. If you're handy, it's a DIY project for less than $200. Build a wood frame to support the keel in the upright position. Place 4 jack stands on each side of the boat. Loosen the keel nuts as much as possible without removing the nuts from the studs. Evenly, tighten the jack stands to raise the boat off the keel. You may have to coax the separation with a pry bar, flat blades and some keel wiggling. Clean the mating surfaces well, apply sealant, lower the boat then torque the nuts. The most difficult part might be separating the keel from the hull but in your case, the bond appears to have already been broken. That's good news if you plan to do this repair yourself. If a yard does the work, you can figure on a maximum of about 20 hours of labor at their going rate. A friend of mine did this project on his 27 foot boat two seasons ago with no issues.

 

[Terry Cox]

Your $ number seems pretty close, but I'll defer to the yard guys. Boat needs to be lifted off the keel as you say. Your model is a lead keel so I would say the SS keel bolts should still be okay. Stub joint needs to be cleaned and sanded, then a good amount of 3M-5200 sealant before setting the boat back onto the keel. Keel bolt nuts need to be torqued, then let the boat set until the sealant has cured. Once cured the hull should be ready for a couple coats of hard bottom paint around the repaired area, then I would place two coats of ablative over the entire hull that is below the waterline.

Something opened up the sealed keel stub joint that would allow water to enter into the boat around the keel bolts. That should have been visible (e.g., a crack in the joint) while the boat was on the hard.

Are you sure that it is the keel bolts leaking? Just as a thought, I know that when the stuffing box material dries out from sitting on the hard for a period, it will shrink until it absorbs water enough to swell the material to its original seal size. Easy to check whether that is your source of water.

We repaired our leaking keel stub joint using the method I described above in 2002 and it remains solid to this day after cruising several thousand miles.

 

[svchickadee]

The oday 25 keel/centerboard model has an encapsulated keel. The keel is not bolted on. The 'bolts' at the top of the keel are used to place the keel into the hull. See section 3c of the oday spec in the link.
http://www.slideshare.net/modernimage/o-day-cruisers-originial-brochure

 

[Benny17441]

He stated the boat was a 1991 Hunter 28.

 

[Capt jgw]

Doing this repair now on my 1969 Columbia 36, DIY. Yard lifted the hull with the travel lift and didn't charge me for it. Don't expect that to happen. My hull weighs 7000# without the keel, I don't think you could lift that by turning the jack stands. Expect the hourly rate for two or three guys up and down for the lift.
On mine, one of the hot dipped hanger bolts had rusted away in the joint and all were badly rusted at the tops. The nuts were barely hanging on. If salt water has been leaking for a while expect some corrosion at the joint, even with stainless. Actually stainless is the wrong material for this application as stagnant sea water will corrode the hell out of it. Bronze is preferred but way more expensive so is rarely used. Your bolts are probably "J" bolts cast in and are not easily replaceable, so may have to be sistered. A new hole is drilled next to the old one, and another hole cut in from the side to put a nut on the new bolt or threaded rod. Then fill the side holes with epoxy putty.

 

[agprice22]

Just wondering... Could it be condensation? I know it seems unlikely, but every season, my keel bolts weep and fill the "bilge," really just a keel well, with a few inches of water. It happens over a day from what I can tell. I dry it out. It stays dry from there on. Weird, but 3 seasons with the boat... happened every time. Of course, I am putting the boat in really cold water, so there is a big temperature differential.
How long have you had this boat? Has it happened before? Ever see any weeping around the stub? Seems weird to have seen no indications before... a weep, a smile, something
I like the theory about the stuffing box too.

 

[Dalliance]

I don't know how large your bilge is, but that sounds to me like a lot of water -- whether it's from the keel bolts, stuffing box, condensation, a through hull, scupper hose, etc. -- it needs to be addressed asap.

It also occurs to me that if the bilge was nearly full in 22 hours, then either your bilge pump has failed, is not connected to the battery, was switched to "off" rather than "auto", or, maybe you don't have one. At risk of going off on a tangent, IMO, automatic bilge pumps should be on a cycle counter so they can't mask a problem like this.

Sorry, that doesn't answer your immediate question. I have not personally dealt with dropping and re-bedding a keel, so I'll leave advice on that to those who have.