Leaking Keel

[joelo]

Hello all!
I have a Cal 34 that is in the process of a major overhaul/rebuild. It is on a trailer that has served as it's work stand for the last 3 years. I had a unnerving revelation this past weekend when I noticed a puddle near the front of the keel. I ran my hand underneath and found water hanging from the keel bottom. I serched both sides of the keel and have seen no signs of water on the outside. This leads me to believe that the water I'm seeing is bilge water. Based on the color and feel. I have kept a heater (trouble light) in the bilge to prevent it from freezing over the last few weeks of sub freezing temps. But I fear that perhaps forward of the bilge in the keel there was leakage between the glass and the lead that was out of reach of the heat and has frozen and now caused a path for leakage. Has anyone ever had such a problem and if so what are my best options?

Thanks in advance!
Joel

 

[berner73]

Joel,

I recently bought a Cal 28-2 and the keel to stub joint was an issue at survey. As a result, I've done a fair amount of research on the topic. In our case, when the boat was hauled for survey, placing lateral pressure on the keel resulted in the joint spacing to increase. At the least, this meant the keel bolts needed tightening. We were, and still are, prepared to drop the keel and have it rebed to the stub joint if needed. After hauling the boat for the winter, there was no indication of water leaking from the bilge out through the keel to stub joint. The keel was bone dry for over a month before we emptied the water from the bilge for the off season. As a result, the yard's suggestion was to inspect the existing nuts and tighten the keel bolts. We'll keep a close eye on it going forward and probably haul the boat halfway through this upcoming season to check on it.

Had the joint shown a leak after being on stands, then we would have unstepped the mast and had the keel dropped. At that point the two surfaces would be cleaned, and then the keel rebed to the hull with 3M 5200. Everyone I spoke to recommended this as the minimum fix for a compromised keel/stub joint. About half of the yards I spoke to also suggested that we fiberglass over the repaired joint prior to repainting. This last recommendation seemed to be more cosmetic, but some yards felt it would help in maintaining the integrity of the newly bed keel.

Unfortunately, your description sounds like the symptoms we were told to look for when evaluating for a compromised keel to hull joint. I'd encourage you to get as many opinions as possible as your situation may be different than ours. Hope that helps.

 

[JoelHoover]

Joel,

Put some blue kool-aid in the bilge just to make sure that this is where your problem is coming from before you go ripping stuff apart.

-(the other) Joel