Pearson 30 keel full of water

[devv]

Hello All,



I am new to this forum, but I've been reading a lot from community posts and so I figured i'd ask a question.


I picked up a 1973 Pearson 30 about two years ago in NY and brought it up to Montreal since the price was very attractive and I wanted a project boat to learn on.


Last year the boat was in the water for the whole season and the only issue i ran into was a bit of an exhaust leak from the old atomic 4, but otherwise there were not issues.



This spring, while looking at the boat on the cradle I noticed that the keel had some areas that looked wet, or had little water drops present on them despite there being no water anywhere else on the bottom of the hull. Suspecting water in the keel i drilled a few holes and lots came out. In fact i could hear gurgling sounds coming from the very top of the keel where it meets the hull, so I am sure the keel was full.

So what now!? I'm really lost when it comes to next steps because I don't know how to proceed. I don't know where the water is coming from (could have been there for a very long time) but there doesn't appear to be an issue with this water infiltrating into the boat itself. I don't know how the pearson keel was attached to the hull and I don't know how serious water in the keel is. I was thinking that maybe i should sand the keel down and try to find cracks and then apply a barrier coat on top, but I don't know if there are other things I should do instead.

[Don C L]

First of all, welcome aboard here!
Your keel, like mine, is molded into the hull and the lead is encapsulated in the keel. I have not looked into a Pearson 30 keel, so I'll base this on what I know of my keel. If you aren't seeing water inside the boat I suspect there may have been some damage to the keel at some point that caused a hole that has allowed water to seep into the cavities around the encapsulated lead. If you haul the boat out during winter, and that water freezes inside the keel, that could be a real problem. Otherwise, by itself, the water in the keel is not an emergency IMO. You should let it drain for along time and remove bottom paint to see if you can find any cracks or holes in the keel, from where it joins the hull (take a good look at the aft end) to the very bottom. You might ask the yard to let it hang in the slings for a while while you scrape off the paint under the keel to check it there (in case it was damaged there in a grounding, or even if it settled onto a sharp at low tide somewhere.) If you find any suspicious places then I'd grind them down to get a good look and get ready to do some fiberglass repairs. Anyway that's what I'd do.

[JPA Cate]

Do we know if it is a lead, vs. an iron keel? Don's right if it's lead.

If it is iron, you have a problem on your hands, because as it rusts, it will expand, could become a sink the boat deal. We saw an iron keel boat on the hard, having this problem addressed. They had cut out a large door from the grp, and were using a small jack hammer to chew up blocks of rusty iron, to remove it. I don't know what they were going to use in place of it, perhaps hoped to get back to good metal, and treat it with some form of stop rust, and put in new., do the re-glassing, then bed it all in epoxy against the future.

Sounds good when you say it fast, but it was hard work.

Ann

[Fore and Aft]

Devv I had the same problem on a Triton 24. I drilled some holes in it and let the keel dry for months. Then by tapping and a couple of drill holes I found the biggest void at the highest point on both sides of the keel. Then I inserted a small funnel into the hole and taped it up around the base. I then mixed up a small batch of slow hardener epoxy resin and poured it in. Once the funnel was full I waited for it to empty and just kept on filling. It was a fairly slow process and I continued on with other jobs while waiting for the funnel to drain. None of the voids were that big that I had to worry about the epoxy exotherming. Once the voids were all full I think, I wrapped the whole keel with one layer of 450gm double bias. That was just to seal it up.
Cheers

[Sailon1]

Hello, I also have a Pearson 30, and have seen water dripping from the Keel on occasion. In any case, I will be following this string. Thanks for posting.

[Don C L]

Boats like Rangers back in the day had iron ballast, and if so Ann makes an excellent point. Was the water dripping out rusty? If so, different ball game. Sailboatdata shows it is lead ballast, but always good to double check. There is one out on the hard near me, if I see the owner I'll ask him about it.

[Don C L]

Originally Posted by Sailon1

Hello, I also have a Pearson 30, and have seen water dripping from the Keel on occasion. In any case, I will be following this string. Thanks for posting.

Is it rusty colored?

[Jim Cate]

A q uick pass with a magnet will disclose iron based ballast...

Jim

[Svsumurun]

It is lead for sure ( unless you have a one off P30) .. our old one would have some wet spots while she was 'drying out' every winter also. It never seemed to bother anything so I never did do anything about it , but Dons advise for a permanent type repair is right on point .
It is an encapsulated keel,so it's not coming from a seam or anything like that. You say it came from New York? Did it come out of the water every year? You might be just seeing years of water ingress , if it haven't been hauled out in a while.

[Don C L]

I've never lived where boats are hauled during the winter and then it freezes, but I suspect there are probably quite a few encapsulated ballast keels in that neighborhood that, after a little water ingress from a crack or hole in the keel after a grounding, then go on to have the cavities in the keel expanded, encouraging more small leaks, even if it doesn't necessarily compromise the strength of the keel and ballast encapsulation.

and that may have been the longest sentence in the English language.

[Sailon1]

Just piggybacking here if anyone happens to “be onboard.”
My P-30 keel and rudder also “weep” a bit. I have not tried draining yet, but would appreciate advice on how and where to drill some holes to help drain those areas. Boat is in its cradle and will be launched in 4-5 weeks. Toledo, OH. Thank you.