• Untitled Document

    Join us on March 29rd, 7pm EST

    for the CBEC Virtual Meeting

    All EYO members and followers are welcome to join the fun and get to know the guest speaker!

    See the link below for login credentials and join us!

    March Meeting Info

    (dismiss this notice by hitting 'X', upper right)

Water leaking out of keel on e38-200

DaveC

Junior Member
We hauled our boat out last month and just noticed water leaking out of the keel. Is this common? If not, what's the fix?

This is our first year of ownership (and first sailboat)...IMG_07491.jpg
 

CTOlsen

Member III
Leaky keel

When I purchased my O-34, I found a similar, but worse condition. I had noticed sea water leaking into the bilge, a clear sign that my keel bolts were leaking.

I hauled the boat later that year, and addressed the issue:

1. With the keel on the hard, I was able to remove, bed and retighten the keel bolts one-at-a-time.
2. Had the yard grind and re-glass the keel to hull joint. The O-34 has no keel stub, so glass was applied right at the transition between keel and hull. Faired smooth.

THis repair has held strong for about 9 years with no issues.

Keel repair 4.JPGKeel repair 1.JPGKeel repair 5.JPG
 

Bob Robertson

Member III
Just my opinion, but I don't think that looks to bad.
Over the years I've seen leaks like that after haul out. To me it just means it's time to tighten the keel bolts.
 

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Also, consider that no keel perfectly fits a keel stub. The gaps have to be caulked.

Old boats have old caulk. Water gets into the inevitable gap, then seeps out when hauled.

The cure for that is just new caulk, part of standard bottom-painting.

Leaking keel bolts are another story.
 

Joliba

1988 E38-200 Contributing Member
Once the visible leaking stops, fill the bilge with water and see if the leaking resumes. If so, you should have the yard drop the keel, inspect the keel bolts, and re bed the keel. If there is no leaking with plenty of water in the bilge, the repairs described above without dropping the keel should suffice. There are several threads on this forum discussing the manufacturing defects that led to poorly bonded keel/hull joints in Ericsons and the pros and cons of various bedding products for this purpose. Our keel resembled yours when we bought our boat. We dropped the keel bedded with 3M 4200.

Mike Jacker
 

Kenneth K

1985 32-3, Puget Sound
Blogs Author
Dropping the Keel

Probably better under a new posting, but I couldn't resist: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg-_lYeV8hBnDSay7nmphUA

Watch a 20-30ish English boat builder single-handedly take on the rebuilding of a 108 year old wooden racer. In episode 8, he raises the 15 ton boat off of its 5 ton lead keel--by himself.

The boat was the winner of the 1927 Fastnet. This kid wants to rebuild it, sail it back to England, and re-enter it in Fastnet. Once you get hooked, it makes for some fascinating viewing and a great personal interest, sailing, and historical story.
 

Lawdog

Member III
What I noticed on my vessel, and Ericson 38, was that if I thrashed the boat in heavier seas, she took on more water because the keel was bending at the attachment point at the base of the boat. I eventually had the keel dropped, found rotted bolts from sea water (after 35 years) and drove the keel to Ontario CA, to Mars Keel factory, who had the keel for 3 weeks and installed new keel bolts, and then faired the keel on a machine. The job was excellent and less than $4K. I picked up the keel and drove it back to Maine and first rebedded the keel to base with an epoxy and plastic sheets, to make a proper base to boat connection. I then dropped the keel, removed the plastic and covered the keel with 5200, and reattached the new keel, then glassed the connection.
I will attach some pictures of the job, before, during and after.
Neal Weinstein
Enterprise
 

Lawdog

Member III
What I noticed on my vessel, and Ericson 38, was that if I thrashed the boat in heavier seas, she took on more water because the keel was bending at the attachment point at the base of the boat. I eventually had the keel dropped, found rotted bolts from sea water (after 35 years) and drove the keel to Ontario CA, to Mars Keel factory, who had the keel for 3 weeks and installed new keel bolts, and then faired the keel on a machine. The job was excellent and less than $4K. I picked up the keel and drove it back to Maine and first rebedded the keel to base with an epoxy and plastic sheets, to make a proper base to boat connection. I then dropped the keel, removed the plastic and covered the keel with 5200, and reattached the new keel, then glassed the connection.
I will attach some pictures of the job, before, during and after.
Neal Weinstein
Enterprise
A few pics
 

Attachments

  • D8CA742D-0A0C-4194-ACF5-E4FC26B237A2.jpg
    D8CA742D-0A0C-4194-ACF5-E4FC26B237A2.jpg
    70 KB · Views: 39
  • ED8AFD1E-27F5-4C68-8B6B-CA913B213144.jpg
    ED8AFD1E-27F5-4C68-8B6B-CA913B213144.jpg
    44.6 KB · Views: 25
  • FACB3A7F-1610-4A64-B0B5-0E26B33154C2.jpg
    FACB3A7F-1610-4A64-B0B5-0E26B33154C2.jpg
    67 KB · Views: 23

u079721

Contributing Partner
Ours was a lot worse than that. But while it's not urgent, in my mind that indicates that you will need to plan to drop and rebed the keel some time in the next few years. When we did it we found that the factory had not removed the mold release from the surfaces, and the caulk practically fell off.
 
Top