Replacing corroded keel bolts

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Orens

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Jan 22, 2008
10
Oday 31 Little River, SC
I had my 1985 O'Day 31 on the hard for an unrelated issue, and had the boat yard retorque the keel bolts, to my surprise they were all really loose, and one completely sheared off. I inmediatelly had the keel dropped and to my surprise, of the 7 bolts, 5 were severely corroded. I called the manufacturer of the keel in 1985, I.M. Broofield of Providence RI, whom told me, that this was the last year that Stainless Steel 304 was utilized, after this model year they switched to SS316, which far superior to corrosion resistance. Please be aware, if you have an O'Day keelboat from 1985 or before, that you could have the same very unsafe situation in your boat. I would make arrangements to have the keel dropped to make sure that you do not have any water infiltration and corrosion of your keel bolts. I am attaching a couple of pics of what the corrosion does to your bolts. Also I am having the keel shipped to Mars Metals in Ontario Canada for repair, and as you can imagine, is not cheap, in the order of several thousand dollars. But the safety of my family and friends is worth any amount. We all know what can happen if the keel comes off while underway.
 

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