O'Day 23 - Cast Iron Bolts Replacement/ Water in the bilge/ Leak

[OceanVince.Com]

Hello all,

I am sailing South Florida aboard of an O'Day 23. Recently, after laying down the Solace on a sand bank for 1 night and getting a strong tropical storm close to Key West FL I notice two things:

1) Water in the bilge: around 11/2 inches after a day sailing.

2) The cast iron Bolts are corrosive (*See photos):

After Sailing and now even at the dock I get this amount of water in the bilge:

Around 1 1/2 inches
Questions:
1) Best course of action to find and fix the leak?
2) Do I need to replace the Cast Iron bolts?
3) If so what is the correct procedure?

Thank you,
Vince

 

[Tally Ho]

Wow...hard to tell those are even bolts.

No idea how to get those out to replace, but it looks like something needs to be done to secure the keel.


Greg

 

[dlochner]

Is the keel encapsulated or bolted on?

 

[Tom J]

Back in the early 90's I had an O'Day 23 that almost sank on her mooring. I found a foot of water in the cabin, and realized the keel was pulling away from the hull. I ended up dropping the keel and rebuilding the keel sump, and installed longer SS bolts. BTW, the original bolts were SS, but very short.

 

[twrobel]

Some years ago I found a similar problem on my Catalina 27. Bolts were fine but the nuts were completely (almost) rusted away. Partially hidden by fiberglas coating the nuts. Removed the rusted nuts (all but 2) and installed shiny new ss nuts (one at a time). On 2 bolts I couldn't get the old nuts off so I put new nuts over them and tightened them as they disappeared! Did not have leakage around bolts. Are you sure where water is entering? Ted Newport

 

[Tom J]

Questions:
1) Best course of action to find and fix the leak?
2) Do I need to replace the Cast Iron bolts?
3) If so what is the correct procedure?

????????????

 

[Tally Ho]

I fear @OceanVince.Com has sunk and won’t be heard from again...

I knew those bolts looked pretty bad

Greg

 

[dlochner]

I fear @OceanVince.Com has sunk and won’t be heard from again...

I knew those bolts looked pretty bad

Greg

Yep, last seen on April 25.

 

[OceanVince.Com]

Some years ago I found a similar problem on my Catalina 27. Bolts were fine but the nuts were completely (almost) rusted away. Partially hidden by fiberglas coating the nuts. Removed the rusted nuts (all but 2) and installed shiny new ss nuts (one at a time). On 2 bolts I couldn't get the old nuts off so I put new nuts over them and tightened them as they disappeared! Did not have leakage around bolts. Are you sure where water is entering? Ted Newport

Thank you, you gave me an idea about what to do.

 

[OceanVince.Com]

Back in the early 90's I had an O'Day 23 that almost sank on her mooring. I found a foot of water in the cabin, and realized the keel was pulling away from the hull. I ended up dropping the keel and rebuilding the keel sump, and installed longer SS bolts. BTW, the original bolts were SS, but very short.View attachment 193209View attachment 193210View attachment 193211

Thank you so much for the photos. It helps a lot.

 

[OceanVince.Com]

I fear @OceanVince.Com has sunk and won’t be heard from again...

I knew those bolts looked pretty bad

Greg

Tally sorry for the late reply. Thank you

 

[OceanVince.Com]

Some years ago I found a similar problem on my Catalina 27. Bolts were fine but the nuts were completely (almost) rusted away. Partially hidden by fiberglas coating the nuts. Removed the rusted nuts (all but 2) and installed shiny new ss nuts (one at a time). On 2 bolts I couldn't get the old nuts off so I put new nuts over them and tightened them as they disappeared! Did not have leakage around bolts. Are you sure where water is entering? Ted Newport

Thank you ir really helps and now I know what to do

 

[Tally Ho]

Tally sorry for the late reply. Thank you

Glad you are still afloat!

Greg

 

[OceanVince.Com]

Glad you are still afloat!

Greg

That is a plus after facing a tropical storm with 55/60 miles winds last month 24' min away from channel five in the keys that trow me at 8.6 knots on the way to CUBA for 2h 47min before the wind slow down to 30/40 miles and I decided to go back to shallow waters. Additional to that on my way back did 3 wonderful dives at Crocodile Reef, Hen & Chicken Reef, and Aquarius Research Station before raising sail towards the Gulf Stream current on my way to Miami. Did 3-4 hours navigation just with the stars and the lower rudder hinge blow out 2 1/2 hours of Miami around 2 am... Well that is another story my friend Greg.

I am impress with the O'Day 23 performance. Need a couple reinforcements, but it holds well enough in the ocean.

I am planning a 1400 miles trip in Caribbean Watters to honor Cap. Georg O'Day.

Thank you so much Greg for the words
Vince

 

[dLj]

I would replace those bolts using 17-4 PH hardware. Everyone tends to use 316, but 17-4 PH is rated for submersed seawater application, surprisingly, 316 is not.

dj

 

[dirt rd]

Maybe a good survey is in order. Offshore is serious business.

 

[MitchM]

there's a thread right now on ask all sailors about dianosing and replacing keel bolts. h 2 0 shoud not be entering the boat thru the keel or keel boltt weeping h 2 0. as bolts and nuts corrode, they become smaller and the smaller diameter lets h 2 o in. if your keelbolt nuts look rusty, they have corroded and need to be fixed asap.