Keel Repair

[erickbou]

I have a "Keel smile". Liquid was poured into the bilge which then leaked out of the crack. Meaning that water is finding its way around the keel bolt and out, or you could say that if in the water I will always have sea water in the bilge.



The questions:

Should I torque the keel bolts, seal the smile, go sailing?

Or... (gulp) should I consider taking out the keel?

By the way boat is in Boston. It's way more money to move it on land then have a couple of buddies go up and sail her down with me to Miami. I can do #1 in the yard in Boston but the second solution is too involved to do there away from home port and that would imply trailering it down. Would it be risky to torque, seal and sail her down?

[deniseO30]

By the looks of the leading edge I'm guessing it hit something substantial. That much stress would make me want to ck the bolts too. Re-bedding the keel is pretty common work for a yard. It's not going to get better by ignoring it. what make year boat?

[RobGallagher]

More details please.
What kind of boat?
Is this boat new to you?
If not, how long has it been leaking?
Has it been on the hard for a few years?

You are not considering taking a boat with a leaking hull to keel joint, suspect keel bolts, and may have other unknown issues on a shakedown cruise that consists of a semi-offshore run down the east coast, are you?

If you really want to get the boat to FL by truck call as many trucking companies as you can for prices. You will find that the prices vary greatly. Two years ago I priced trucking my 30ft from CT to S. FL. I got quotes over 3K and under 1.5K If you are not on a tight schedule you will be able to find a guy who has to make an empty run to FL to pick up a boat, he will be more than happy to give you a deal that will allow him to make some $$ on the way down.

Best of luck.

[erickbou]

Thank you for answereing so quickly.

It's a new to me 1978 Hunter 33 that has otherwise impecable maintenance. It has been on the hard since end of summer 2010. Since then the PO past away and I purchased from the widow.

So far I am getting estimates for trailering from $3200 and up. The highest so far was $6200.

By re-bedding do you mean taking it off and putting it back on?

I am not trying to ignore the problem but only trying to learn the safe common practice. Of course taking it completly off and checking everything would always be safer, and I am ready to do that if necessary, but I was merely trying to evaluate if it would be an overkill.

[mitiempo]

I would think that dropping the keel for inspection of any damage and re-bedding it properly would not cost any more than the trucking charges to Florida. It needs doing.

[erickbou]

I understand that it need doing and should not be taken lightly.

But remember that I am in Florida so I would have the yard do the inspection and re-bedding. I don't know that I can trust the yard that much. And then I still have the cost of moving it down. Once here in FL, this is work that I can do myself with minimal cost though. I am not trying to save money by doing it myself, just ensuring that it is done properly.

I think the best would be trailering first in this case.

[mitiempo]

Or travel to the boat and do the repair yourself there.

[erickbou]

@ Cam. Thank you! That is good advice. But another cause for concern is that the yard is a small private club yard with an administrator who wants to charge me, as a new onwer, for what the previous owner already paid for and included in the deal. I would love to sail it down but I know that this guy will gouge me for the repair and everything else. I can't PM yet I dont have the pre-requisite 15 posts.

[erickbou]

@ miTiempo. Vacation time is limited. I would have to plan for a week at least for the repair and then another 2 weeks to sail down. I am selfemployed but cannot take 3 weeks at a time.

What is reasonable charge for a yard to do this, drop, repair and re-seat?

[JimsCAL]

Since you need to get it to Florida anyway, just ship it and then deal with the keel issue at your leisure.