What do these big nuts cover? See photos

[dgz3]

most likely used to pour molten gold into the keel for ballast. Gold is heavier than lead and therefore makes better ballast. Open one up and see.

[Adrian NAMT]

That is where you hang the bags of diamonds and Kruger Rands

[topmast]

The tanks were built empty until launching .Then filled when spent uranium fuel rods and topped off with molten lead to prevent rattling . Actually quite common practice at the Atomic Energy Commission yacht club.

[CSY Man]

Don't forget double hose clamps below the waterline.

[SteelCruiser]

Thanks for the suggestion(s).
I did the obvious and unscrewed that cap.
.
There is a small void, 4 inches?
Then there is a substance. Kinda squishy.
I put sticky stuff on the end of a rod and jammed down.
Came up with lotsa little wee round balls of something I don't recognise?


Suggestions?

Photo follows

( Maybe the smart arses from the Atomic Energy Agency will be proven right? See thread above)


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[44'cruisingcat]

Yep, that's pretty weird.


We had similar plugs on the keel of our old steelie, but nothing mysterious down there. The ballast was steel stampings, and then the keel was filled with oil via the plugs.


I knew one guy who was mixing lead shot with resin for his ballast. Could it be that?

[Rhapsody-NS27]

I have a plug like those on my fuel tank. Not much of an inspection port but it's all I got. Could be an integral tank, otherwise, I don't see any reason for it.

[unclemack]

Scrap steel or scrap lead was sometimes used in steel keels, with shot used to fill up the voids.
Those little balls look like they could be steel shot but can't quite see from here
You seem to be in the best place to judge - what do they feel like to you?
Look too shiny to be used oil-absorbing granules.

[RaymondR]

Looks like your ballast is lead shot. Quiet common in an industrial setting to use lead shot when weight is required. Pile hole drillers use tons of it in their pile drilling assemblies.

[SteelCruiser]

Mystery. Solved...

Lead shot !


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[JPA Cate]

Steel cruiser, well and good if it's lead shot, but why is it at the top? (lead's heavy).

If the shaft to which it is adhering is magnetic, then that's round iron based shot....never heard of that, but okay....

Mate, unless that's some tough grease on there, you still have a mystery!

[RaymondR]

If it's magnetic it could be iron or steel, they use it for shot blasting.

[HappyMdRSailor]

Originally Posted by Brewgyver

.... You'll also want some pipe dope or anti-seize on hand to re-seal the threads when you put it back in....

One comma changes the whole quote...
Sweet screen name...

Looks like lead shot wins!

[Rockyscience]

On the 65' steel vessel I was part of building we had a fresh water Keel cooler almost the length of the Keel for the 871 Detroit. It had more than two access points.

[Steve Bean]

The encapsulated ballast in my 32-ft ferrocement boat is boiler punchings and iron shotblast. Does your shot stick to a magnet?