Keel Weep Hole

[Bayou Sailor]

I just had Margarita hauled for a bottom job for the 1st time since owning her. The hull is in good shape, but there is what appears to be a small weep hole toward the bottom of the keel. She is a 1969 Cal 34 with a skeg type keel. Is this normal? Is this hole something else? It is about a 1/4" hole about a foot from the bottom of the keel. Any help would be appreciated.

[MicHughV]

the only thing I can think of is this....

when I built my steel boat, only the two front cavities (between frames) called for lead, the aft cavity was supposed to have nothing in it, but I couldn't get to it to paint it or otherwise protect it, so I filled it with concrete.

Concrete, off course, has water in it, so I drilled a 1/4" hole in the aft bottom of the keel, to allow water to drip out, as the concrete set. This took about two weeks, before the dribble dried up, at which point I welded the hole shut.

Having said all that, the only reason, in my humble opinion, that there would be hole in the keel, is to drain something out.

Obviously, the hole in your keel must plugged up, otherwise you'd sink.

my 2c....

[Bayou Sailor]

Thanks for the reply, but I don't think it goes into the bilge. I think it just goes into the lead. I will go to the boat yard this weekend and double check.

[Bayou Sailor]

One thing that I forgot to mention is that a CAL 34 has a fully encapsulated keel. There are no keel bolts and no seam. The entire keel is encapsulated by fiberglass.

[Cheechako]

One wonders if the hole was drilled to release water by the PO and never filled? How long have you had her?

[S/V Illusion]

Originally Posted by Bayou Sailor

One thing that I forgot to mention is that a CAL 34 has a fully encapsulated keel. There are no keel bolts and no seam. The entire keel is encapsulated by fiberglass.

Don’t know your design but some encapsulated keels (as well as many traditional keels) often are hung from stubs which are void and are intended to flood when in the water so as to eliminate the void space buoyancy.
If it’s hollow inside the hole, that would be a good indication. To state the obvious, if you live where it can freeze and you haul out in winter, make sure the hole is unobstructed so it can drain.

[Bayou Sailor]

PO had the boat 10 years. I have had it for 8 months. The weep hole has paint inside of it that matches the bottom paint. I'm not really worried about it leaking. I'm just curious as to why it is there. Also, we sail 12 months a year down here, so no freezing concerns either.

[silkie]

Did water drip out for long when she was lifted?

[Bayou Sailor]

No not really.

[silkie]

In that case it may just be a superficial fault no-one bothered filling.
I would consider drilling it out a little to get a clean hole. If it looks like it goes nowhere, just fill it.