We have experienced a slow leak on our 1980 O'Day 23, water slowly enters the bilge area from below. When we bought our boat in 1987, someone had already raised a portion of the lead lining that covers the floor of the bilge. The water comes in through this opening. The shop we hired to fix this problem tells us that the ballast is made of concrete and the concrete is cracked and will have to be chipped out and replaced. Has anyone had this problem with their 1980 O'Day 23? Is the ballast really concrete? We have never before had a problem with this boat that we couldn't fix ourselves, so we feel we are in over our heads here. Please help.
what material is the ballast made of
- Thread starter misty morning
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The brochures all say
the ballast is encapsulated lead, not concrete. There are two issues you must address here: stopping the leak, and then repairing any lasting damage caused by the leak. The ballast in the stub keel (whatever it is composed of) is encapsulated by the fiberglass of the hull; the composition of that ballast is immaterial to fixing the leak. Is this shop telling you that replacing the ballast will fix the leak? I'd be pretty skeptical of that. One place to check for a leak is in the tubing/hosing assembly that contains the pendent line for the centerboard. A number of people on this site have written about how that tubing was a source of a leak. It seems to me that a likely suspect for the leak is the centerboard assembly in some way. Keep in mind that the leak can also be coming from above the water line. Any rain water that finds its way through your deck fittings, windows, etc, will also find its way into the bilge. You can easily check to see if this is problem with a hose. Keep a steady stream of water over any part of your deck you suspect, and check to see if the water in the bilge rises. Once you figure out where the leak is coming from and fix it, you can then worry about the need for replacing the ballast. If the ballast in your boat is truly concrete and not lead (although it sounds strange that Oday would put a "lead lining" over the concrete), then I question why cracked ballast is a problem at all. If there is no danger of it shifting, its physical condition should make no difference. Many boat makers actually made keels by dumping broken concrete or metal junk into the bilges and encapsulating it in fiberglass or lead. I can't even see how it would be a problem if the concrete got wet. It is encapsulated in fiberglass. Even if there is a slight chance the water inside the keel might someday cause a blister on the keel (unless there is a lot of water, I think it highly unlikely), so what? It is relatively easy to deal with small blisters. It seems to me that chipping out and replacing ballast has to be a costly job. If you paid about what I paid for my boat, I can't see investing a lot of money in a maintenance job like that. Bottom line: make sure you understand what the yard is suggesting as a repair and why. This isn't rocket science or even auto engine repair. Common sense will go a long way here.
the ballast is encapsulated lead, not concrete. There are two issues you must address here: stopping the leak, and then repairing any lasting damage caused by the leak. The ballast in the stub keel (whatever it is composed of) is encapsulated by the fiberglass of the hull; the composition of that ballast is immaterial to fixing the leak. Is this shop telling you that replacing the ballast will fix the leak? I'd be pretty skeptical of that. One place to check for a leak is in the tubing/hosing assembly that contains the pendent line for the centerboard. A number of people on this site have written about how that tubing was a source of a leak. It seems to me that a likely suspect for the leak is the centerboard assembly in some way. Keep in mind that the leak can also be coming from above the water line. Any rain water that finds its way through your deck fittings, windows, etc, will also find its way into the bilge. You can easily check to see if this is problem with a hose. Keep a steady stream of water over any part of your deck you suspect, and check to see if the water in the bilge rises. Once you figure out where the leak is coming from and fix it, you can then worry about the need for replacing the ballast. If the ballast in your boat is truly concrete and not lead (although it sounds strange that Oday would put a "lead lining" over the concrete), then I question why cracked ballast is a problem at all. If there is no danger of it shifting, its physical condition should make no difference. Many boat makers actually made keels by dumping broken concrete or metal junk into the bilges and encapsulating it in fiberglass or lead. I can't even see how it would be a problem if the concrete got wet. It is encapsulated in fiberglass. Even if there is a slight chance the water inside the keel might someday cause a blister on the keel (unless there is a lot of water, I think it highly unlikely), so what? It is relatively easy to deal with small blisters. It seems to me that chipping out and replacing ballast has to be a costly job. If you paid about what I paid for my boat, I can't see investing a lot of money in a maintenance job like that. Bottom line: make sure you understand what the yard is suggesting as a repair and why. This isn't rocket science or even auto engine repair. Common sense will go a long way here.
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