Leaking bilge

[Deadline]

My Hunter 320 is ten years old and pristine.
But now one of my keel bolts is leaking.
I estimate a quart an hour, empitied by pump bilge.
The bolts were last tightened three years ago.
I hesitate to tighten in the water, vs. on the hards.
For fear I don’t have the leverage of gravity.
Anyone have any suggestions? I’m worried.

 

[Benny17441]

You may need to inspect the seal between hull and keel. A keel bolt leak is an indication that the seal may be cracked an there is keel movement. Was the boat involved in a hard grounding accident? At ten years it is premature to be having keel bolt problems. The next best thing to being on the hard is to find a location where the boat can sit at the bottom in low tide. A quart an hour is a significant leak and unless it could be curtailed and the keel joint dive inspected I would be thinking about scheduling a haul out to remove and inspect that leaking bolt and reseal the joint.