Water seeping from bottom of Keel

[Ttsaang]

My boat has been on the hard for the whole winter and I was doing some painting of the bilge area and was rinsing some water into the bilge. while walking on the outside of the boat I noticed that towards the end of the keel below where the shaft comes out that water has been seeping from the keel. (you can see the drip streaks in the pictures) As you can see in the pictures I scraped down to the fibreglass and I can see a small crack that the water appears to be coming from. I vacuumed all of the water out of the bilge and would check the bilge periodically and there would be a small amount of water in the bilge again, like it was wicking up from the bottom of the keel into the bottom of bilge area. Over the last few days I've kept checking on it and sucking the small amount of water out, probably 15 times. It seems to have stopped and the weeping from the keel seems to have stopped. Now truth be told I went through this last year when the boat was on the hard and I ground down the crack on the outside of the keel and patched it with thickened epoxy. When the boats in the water there always seems to be an inch or so of water in the keel but it never really changes. I'm trying to figure out where this water is coming from and the best way to stop it and seal / repair the hairline crack in the keel. I'm not sure how the keel is constructed or if there's a void in it or maybe foam. Is there a void in the keel filled with water? Hopefully this makes sense. I've attached some pictures of the area on the keel as well as the lower bilge area. The bilge drops down in a narrow channel.

 

[Comodave]

A long time ago and about 12 boats ago we had a similar situation. The shaft tube had cracked loose from the hull. We had it glassed around the tube back to the hull. Seemed to fix it. Can you get to the hull around the shaft tube? I would lay in some glass there and also some on the outside where you have a crack. I would do more than just thickened epoxy at the crack but rather grind out a bit and lay in some 1708 for the strength. It doesn’t have to be pretty just pretty strong.

 

[sunchaser]

When the boat is on the hard what are the winter temperature lows? Freeze thaw cycles can cause damage in keel FRP “tight” areas.

 

[Greg QS]

I had an open keel in my last boat. When on the hard rain water can get in an freeze causing the cracking damage. I would always put a gallon of non tox antifreeze in the bilge as a precaution. Add this to your winterizing to prevent the problem in the future.

Use a hammer and tap on the keel. You can tell if its solid or hollow sounding. Most likely water has gotten into a foamed in area. Not really anything you can do easily. You can drill a hole on the inside up high to let air in and a hole outside down low to drain. You can let it sit to let gravity work or use an air compressor on the high hole.
Geth the bulk of the water out and Seal up. Wont really hurt anything , especially if its foam. In the future in cold area leave the boat in the water to keep from freezing or move south. (lol)

My new boat has been in Florida , in the water for years. Its up in new Jersey now. I left it in the water for the winter as a precaution. I do not know if water has ingresses in some where. If it doesn't freeze it cannot crack.

 

[Pete Meisinger]

Your keel has water in it. Not the end of the world but you want it out of there over the winter. Bore a hole in the keel and plug it when the boat is in the water (brass plug).

Walk your marina in the Spring or Fall, you will find boats equipped with keel drains.

pete

 

[psneeld]

On the boats I have worked on usually that part of the keel (including my boat that had similar cracks) it is usually solid.

I ground down into them a bit to see how deep and/or serious the cracks were. They were a surface layer of glass over a mix of resin and sand (some kind of strengthening material) so I just patched over them. I think the weeping was just the normal water outflow from other defects in the hull construction and whatever water seeps in through the cracks when in the water.

On mine they were not serious and depending on how the whole hull was constructed determines how and why water is coming out.

 

[Ttsaang]

When the boat is on the hard what are the winter temperature lows? Freeze thaw cycles can cause damage in keel FRP “tight” areas.

It got to as low as -10C for a several days at at time. Mid-Vancouver Island, BC, Canada

 

[Jeff F]

I think I see what's going on. You've got a deep open bilge, so there is no trapped water.

That crack is where a separate fabrication is bolted on to the molded hull. You can see the bolts and backing plate in the pic.

A few inches of water in the bottom of the bilge is likely seeping out over the winter. NBD in my view, but could be addressed by unbolting and removing the keel extension, cleaning up and rebedding/refairing. If the bolts don't look too rusty I'd leave it alone.

In any case a bilge drain plug is essential for onshore storage IMO. I've seen a lot of damage that could have been easily avoided by using one.

Jeff

ETA: actually when I think about it, more likely the fabrication is hollow and water seeps out from that side. So could happen with an empty bilge.

 

[Ttsaang]

additional pictures

Here's some additional pics.

 

[Ttsaang]

Thanks for all the replies. I'll see if I can get access to the shaft tube around the hull and grind and lay 1708 for strength. I always put antifreeze in the bilge over the winter. I'll do some tapping with a hammer and see if there's any noticeable hollow area's. I'll put some thought to it and potentially muster the courage to drill a hole in the keel to drain it.

 

[Jeff F]

Looks like somebody has tried to seal it by smearing caulk over the backing plate and bolts. Am I interpreting this correctly?

 

[Comodave]

Is that the bonding wire that is stripped bare and wrapped around the bolt an under the hose clamp? If so that isn’t the way it should be. There should be ring connectors on the bolt, preferably with adhesive heat shrink on them. And at least a barrel connector under the hose clamp, but that still isn’t the best way to go. And the wire is too small, at least #8 or better a #6. The wire that is under the hose clamp appears to do nothing since it is under the clamp but on top of the rubber hose, so it isn’t connected electrically to anything except the hose clamp.

 

[Rearmount]

Since no one else said it, I will. You have MUCH bigger problems. That hose and hose clamp assembly will sink your boat faster than your original post issues. I suggest you hire someone/yard that can fix the shaft tube and bearing. The hose looks like it was monkeyed on. It is supposed to be a specific hose for that purpose only. And PLEASE remove those junk hose clamps from aft side and and use T-Bolt clamps like on other side. Also, if there is an alignment issue, and Ill bet there is, that needs to be addressed as well. And yes, Water in a tight bilge like yours can and has split keels in half.

 

[Rearmount]

Looking at this pic again. Not the right wire. That is house wire. You need to do some research before attempting any more repairs.

 

[Jeff F]

And yes, Water in a tight bilge like yours can and has split keels in half.

I'd like to see evidence of that. There's no trapped water inside the keel. It doesn't matter how tight it is as long as the ice can expand upwards.

 

[Finnegus]

It looks like you have an opening at the Shaft log. that would account for water in both locations it is hard to imigine water rising up from the keel unless it get a big temp differance.

 

[Ttsaang]

I had a fibreglass specialist come look at the keel and there's a defect in the glass that he's going to grind out and repair. It looks like there was a repair done in the past that wasn't done very well, or it might have been like that since new. I also have a driveline specialist coming to look at the driveline and stuffing box. Note that the pictures I posted are how the driveline and bonding (or lack of bonding) have been since I've owned the boat and we've never had any issues and it's something nI want to get sorted out. I definitely want to change out / upgrade the hose clamps and figure out the bonding and anything else that they recommend. Thanks for all the input.