Keel cracks

[Coop58]

The Admiral and I just looked at a new to us live aboard.

It is a 2009 Hunter 38. This girl is pristine with one noticeable exception.

The broker said these cracks happen "all the time and are not a concern." My position is that he is trying to make a sale and will down play any issue with the boat.

Opinions, extent of potential repairs and other thoughts are greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!!
Mike

[Celestialsailor]

...and we know a broker would never lie for the sake of a commission.
Hire a surveyor.

[jwcolby54]

I have no experience whatsoever, however the fact that there is stuff dripping down from the cracks tells me that there is liquid internal to that area. Which is bad IMHO.

[Coop58]

OOPS!!

Meant to ask in th original post if anyone knows a good surveyor near the Ohio shore of Lake Erie.

Mike

[Cheechako]

It appears that the seam mating the hull to the bolt on keel is the "crack" This is not that unusual, but the weeping is an issue I think. As a minimum if the boat surveys well everywhere else I would want the final rice discounted the cost of a yard to pull the keel, replace the keel bolts and reattach the keel back onto the boat. hauling fees and storage time included. That should be probably $5000 or so.... maybe.

[Kenomac]

It's not a deal breaker. when you write an offer, just make sure your broker puts in a clause making the previous owner responsible for paying for the repair. We had the same issure with our Hunter 450, the weeping is the big issue.

Because rust can be seen in the weeping, the keel will need to be removed and the keel bolts inspected. A couple of them might need to be replaced, fill any voids in the keel, then rebed and replace. Have at least a $5000 escrow fund for the repair, which should make the boat better than new.

Tightening the keel bolts alone won't solve the problem.

[Stumble]

As mentioned it isn't necessarily a huge issue but it could be. The simplest fix could be that the keel bolts aren't torqued down hard enough and there is a small gap between the keel and the trunk. Worst case is that water has rotted out the keel bolts and they all need to be replaced.

The only way to really know is drop the keel and take a look. But don't be too dissuaded it isn't that difficult on most boats. You simply take off the mast (you were doing a rig down survey anyway right?) take off a few nuts, and lift the boat strait up and go set it on some jack stands. We use to change out keels on a 70' race boat twice a year doing this.

Once the keel is off then you can figure out what the real problem is. As Kenomatic mentioned just retightening the buts won't solve the issue. The seam has been opened and needs to be rebedded. Plus right now there is no way to determine how bad the problem (if there is one) really is.

[neilpride]

5000? LoL , Just to start the job,,, in many instances the mast go down to....

[Compass790]

FYI After we hit the rocks ( DAMN! ) trying to cut the corner during a race at over 5 knts our keel exhibited the same symptoms as that. Also tore a chunk out of the leading edge of the keel which had some rock embedded in the lead. A bit of epoxy filler and new paint you cant see the leading edge damage. Just a thought for you to ponder

[Stumble]

Originally Posted by Compass790

FYI After we hit the rocks ( DAMN! ) trying to cut the corner during a race at over 5 knts our keel exhibited the same symptoms as that. Also tore a chunk out of the leading edge of the keel which had some rock embedded in the lead. A bit of epoxy filler and new paint you cant see the leading edge damage. Just a thought for you to ponder

But you knew how long the damage had been there for. It isn't likely that the keel bolts had rusted out over the last few years from a single incident. Thi9s crack could have been there for the better part of a decade slowly eating away at the bolts.

[Seymore]

That boat is worn out.

[roverhi]

There are thousands of pounds of lead attached to a fairly small area. The keels work a bit and almost always have a small crack at the joint. If they used a really sticky flexable sealant, may not happen but seems to be very prevalent. Some boats have the joint glassed over but that really doesn't solve the flexing issue but may hide it. Dropping the keel to inspect the bolts is a very good idea as that is a prime area for crevice corrosion. Whether you can get the seller to pay for R&R'ing the keel is another story. If you do drop the keel, rebed it with a flexible sealant like LifeCaulk, 5200 etc. Might want to look into a newish West Systems product that is supposedly a flexible epoxy.

[Coop58]

Boat is only six years old. It has been in fresh it's entire life and has been on hard since pulled from Erie last fall.

It appears a "quick" repair was attempted.

After home, 2 ½ Hrs away, my research revealed that this year may have a cast iron keel and the rust would then be from it and not from the stainless steel bolts.

Still very concerning and making dropping the keel mandatory for me to make an offer on it.

Mike

[Compass790]

My post wasnt meant to imply not to check the keel bolts, quite the opposite. Just showing how quite a hard collision can be masked over with a bit of filler & paint. I would look hard at the keel /hull join & tap the leading edge of the keel to look for density changes.

[Kenomac]

The seller will never drop the keel prior to an offer. Simply make your offer and accepted price contingent on the seller paying for any keel repairs related to this issue.