Leaking/weeping keel bolts? Bavaria 32 2005

[timoty]

Dear fellow sailors,

Currently sailing in Italy (Amalfi coast) after a 1 year trip through Greece.
Our boat grounded in 2019 (by previous owner). This caused some problems with the keelbolts. The keel is removed from the hull and all keelbolts are 'professionally' replaced (in other words; it's done by a professional and not by me). In fact, the boat is bought after the grounding.

All bolts looked fine last 12 months in salty water. However, now I noticed some light corrosion on the backing plate of the aft keelbolt. When I push on the backing plate I see a tiny bit of water coming up. The bilges are dry and it's like 1ml of water after 3 months in the water.

My question question; is this a real issue what should be repaired immediately? Like; get the boat out of the water here in the most expensive region of the Med and get the keel off or is re-torquing a quick fix (not sure this can be done in the water)? Or maybe I'm panicking about nothing and can safely sail the next 6 months till our next winterstop? It's only the aft keelbolt, all other keelbolts are perfectly fine. Next, I do not see any damage at the joint of the keel to the hull.

Many thanks!

[pcmm]

Those don't look like backing plates to me but just regular washers...Too small in my opinion. Normally backing plates are larger to spread the load.

There is no way you should be able to "push" the backing plate and squeeze water out. To me that indicates a loose keel bolt.

Needs further investigation.

[tkeithlu]

Ditto on pcmm. I suggest starting by re-torquing the bolts. Torque the bottom bolt in each case and then torque the top one onto it while holding the bottom one. Then assuming that you are avoiding hurricanes proceed to a convenient place to pull the boat.

The impression is that you have some hull damage atthe back end of the keel. It may be cracked or splintered fiberglass, and may be concealed. When the keel grounded,it rotated, with the leading edge being pulled down and the trailing edge pushed up. You're apparently looking at trailing edge damage. Determining the best repair will have to await careful inspection. That should include the leading edge, which may be hiding damage.

In short, the hull is not as rigid as it needs to be where it joins the keel. A likely bet is that you will end up reinforcing the inside of the hull or adding a larger backing plate.

Good luck with it.

[Greatest Lakes]

I'd torque it, then do a good inspection next haulout for paint. Definitely shouldn't be any movement.

[timoty]

Thanks to you all! I will torque it as soon as I'm at a harbour/marina. This is possible with the boat in the water right? In winter I will give it a further inspection.