Water in
keel; a 1973
Pearson 30. As I was ready to
fiberglass the very bottom forward section of the
keel ( repairing damage from a minor grounding last year) I noticed a drop of
water; about one drop every 20 minutes.
Tapping the keel reveals hollow sounds up about 2 feet in the forward portion. The sounds varied port to starboard.
To the best of my knowledge the
boat lacks
keel bolts, and so water in the
fiberglass around the ballast could be very serious. In the worst case I can imagine the ballast shifting inside it’s fiberglass casing.
The glass on the bottom of the keel is very thin, so however
Pearson designed the ballast it’s surely not the glass there that’s keeping it attached to the rest of the
boat. If anyone can point me to original plans for this part of the boat I’d be very appreciative.
A friend in the yard suggested drilling into the keel at the spots that sound hollow.
Any thoughts very welcome.