Removing the keel and resealed?????

[LauraleeG]

So this spring we noticed that at the bow, where the keel meets the hull, there was a tiny bit of water coming out and there was an opening in the caulking where the keel meets the hull. The caulking was cracked as well at the joint.
The mechanic working on our boat now--tightened the bolts to the keel but he said "Torked the keel bolts to help with the keel leak. Ideally, the keel would be removed and resealed."
Cant we just dig out the caulking and re-caulk??
Removing the keel seems like a HUGE AND EXPENSIVE JOB!!!!!!!!
What if we DONT do that???


WTF??????

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by LauraleeG

So this spring we noticed that at the bow, where the keel meets the hull, there was a tiny bit of water coming out and there was an opening in the caulking where the keel meets the hull. The caulking was cracked as well at the joint.
The mechanic working on our boat now--tightened the bolts to the keel but he said "Torked the keel bolts to help with the keel leak. Ideally, the keel would be removed and resealed."
Cant we just dig out the caulking and re-caulk??
Removing the keel seems like a HUGE AND EXPENSIVE JOB!!!!!!!!
What if we DONT do that???


WTF??????

That’s pretty standard. Drop the keel to clean up the area and reseal. It’s not that big of a deal since it’s bolted on, but can be a bit difficult to separate.

They are just talking about doing the job right instead of taking a shortcut which will fail again because you didn’t clean up the area.

You can go either way. Your choice.

[LauraleeG]

Originally Posted by Chotu

That’s pretty standard. Drop the keel to clean up the area and reseal. It’s not that big of a deal since it’s bolted on, but can be a bit difficult to separate.

They are just talking about doing the job right instead of taking a shortcut which will fail again because you didn’t clean up the area.

You can go either way. Your choice.

Ok....So should we also pick out the old caulking and re-caulk at the keel/hull joint on the outside?

" Removing the keel and resealing" entails what....loosening the bolts on the inside and lifting the boat without the keel attached?

What happens if we do nothing but keep repairing the joint and tightening bolts?

I see lots of $$$$$ in this venture....

How does that work?

[donradcliffe]

It depends.

Take a look at this thread to see what CAN happen if the keel bolts are wet

https://www.sailnet.com/forums/gear-...-nuisance.html

It doesn't mean it WILL happen--many keels are dropped and the bolts are fine.

[SofiaB]

Depends on the boat. Dropping my keel, which has been permanently bonded, would be a disaster possibly causing major damage. I would contact the manufacturer for advise.

[SVHarmonie]

How difficult a job it is to remove a keel really depends more than anything else on the ease of access to the keel bolts.

If removing the keel bolts does not require major structural work, it really might not be as terrible a job as you seem to be imagining. Build a simple wood frame to support the keel, remove the keel bolts, and lift the boat with a travel lift. You will likely need some wedges, and tools to get them apart, but it is an effort of an hour or 2, not days. The boat then sits on jackstands for the time you need to clean and rebed the keel.

If the keel bolts are in good shape, it will go back together easy and quick. If the keel bolts have "issues" wouldn't you want to find out in the boat yard, not out sailing?

Find a boat yard that does this a lot. There are any number of racing boats that have their keels removed for shipping to the next venue.

[Tingum]

What size boat? Size of keel determines how large a job it is to drop it down. Are you actually getting water into the bilge? If you are just getting a small seepage into the Bilge and you are in fresh water I would just caulk it from the outside and not waste the money .

[Gary Mc]

Hi Lauralee, since you are in fresh water there will not be any corrosion of the keel bolts, so no real emergency. If you can prove that you do have a leak into your bildge you will likely want to drop it and have it fixed.

You have a pretty decent marina in Bayfield so I would talk to them about cost.
Not sure what C and C used as a caulking but it would be easy to find out, it should not be that hard to separate from the hull. Many boats do this.

If I was doing it, and I already have on my boat, I would use 3M 5200 to seal/adhere it when putting it back together.


Good luck

[LauraleeG]

Originally Posted by Gary Mc

Hi Lauralee, since you are in fresh water there will not be any corrosion of the keel bolts, so no real emergency. If you can prove that you do have a leak into your bildge you will likely want to drop it and have it fixed.

You have a pretty decent marina in Bayfield so I would talk to them about cost.
Not sure what C and C used as a caulking but it would be easy to find out, it should not be that hard to separate from the hull. Many boats do this.

If I was doing it, and I already have on my boat, I would use 3M 5200 to seal/adhere it when putting it back together.


Good luck

Thank you!!
Our bilge is always wet! However, that could be because 1) our shaft was leaking--being repaired as we speak. 2) the hot water tank kept overflowing ( faulty thermostat) so those items kept the bilge wet...
This is a problem that will have to wait till next summer.,,,once we glean more information about our wet bilge now that the problems causing it to be will be fixed!
Thanks for making me feel better about this!!

[LauraleeG]

Originally Posted by Tingum

What size boat? Size of keel determines how large a job it is to drop it down. Are you actually getting water into the bilge? If you are just getting a small seepage into the Bilge and you are in fresh water I would just caulk it from the outside and not waste the money .

We have had a few problems that always caused the bilge to be wet.
1) Overflowing hot water tank ( faulty thermostat)
2) Stuffing box issues.
This year those items are being fixed so we will see what happens to the bilge this summer.
So what I hear you saying is that you would simply caulk that crack where the hull meets the keel?
The mechanic has already torked the keel boats....Should we calk the outside too?
Thanks so much.

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by LauraleeG

What happens if we do nothing but keep repairing the joint and tightening bolts? I see lots of $$$$$ in this venture.... How does that work?

You should worry, we have two of the things. We don't have water in the hull, so every couple of years just dig out the sealant around the keels, add some fresh stuff and paint over the top. Its mainly to protect the edge of the top of the keel flange and provide some fairing.

I doubt you could keep torquing up the keel bolts btw.

Keep working to solve the other water leaks first and then see how it goes. The hull may not leak at all from the keel.

Pete

[Scaramanga F25]

If the antifouling paint shows streaking from the joint. Separate the keel from the hull When the weight of the keel is off the hull an inch, saw the caulking with 7x7, 1/16inch in wire about 2 feet long with a wooden handle at each end. Then separate the keel from the hull enough to inspect keel bolts.

[Geoffrey Mills]

Perhaps a decade ago my surveyor (Tony Staton-Bevan) said that some of the leading Scandinavian yards were supplying their boats with an external mastic seal between keel and keel stub to provide a more reliable long term seal. I had mine so sealed under his supervision and it has not required attention since then. This was after two failed keel removals and resealing. The key to any successful seal is to provide for some movement and avoid a crack-inducer. To avoid the later a bridge should be created over the keel/stub join and for that we used the same narrow tape that is commonly used at the base of joints between teak decking to prevent the sealant between the strips sticking to the deck - for the same reason. The sealant was laid using a contoured applicator to create a half-round seal around 15mm diameter. Great care was taken to prepare the adjacent surfaces to ensure that there was the foundation for a good sealant adhesion.