O'Day 28 Leaking at rear of Keel

[SailingCal21]

A friend of mine has a 1979 O'Day 28 that has a perplexing leak. He recently replaced his saildrive with another one and has no leaks around the mounting area. But somewhere between the motot and aft of the keel he has a leak that is collecting in the bilge. He has narrowed the source to this area.We can't seem to locate any keel bolts and are wondering if the O'Day 28 had the keel attached by someother means.

 

[Dave K.]

Early boats have internal ballast.......

.... and somewhere in the '80s they changed to a bolt-on keel. If it didn't leak before the saildrive change I'd be really suspicious of that seal where the saildrive passes through the hull. If that isn't it one would have to wonder if some rough handling of the boat (like setting it down too hard on it's keel) by the boat yard may have cracked the hull laminate. Bad news either way, let's hope it is something simple like a loose hose on the water intake.

 

[Kevin3447]

Let me know

If you find it, let me know. I might have the same leak. My engine bay is separated from the main bilge, so if there's an oil leak, it doesn't automatically get pumped overboard. If I dry out the bilge, I can see a trickle from under the floorboard aft of the bilge cover. I thought it might have been the through hull for the galley sink, but that wasn't it.I have a 1979 28, and it has an encapsulated keel - no keel bolts.Kevin

 

[SailingCal21]

Thanks for the follow ups

She'll be hauled this week for further inspection, I'll follow up with what the results are. I hope that the keel mounting wasn't cracked by the boatyard, but you're right that it is suspicious.