rust in the bilge from a bolt...

[sara_lugli]

I have a water infiltration with rust in the bilge of my dufour 2800. just a few drops close to a "captive" bolt...
have you experienced the problem or any idea?
thanks a lot - sara -

[Jeff_H]

I assume that the bolt in question is a keel bolt. Having rust and a leak at a keel bolt is not a good thing because the bolt will crevice corrode where it passes through the fiberglass. In the long run the only sure cure is to drop the keel, clean the joint, inspect the bolts, rebed the joint and put it back together. There are things that can be done in the short term to keep water out of the boat but that does nothing for the ongoing deterioration of the keel bolts.

Jeff

[sara_lugli]

thank you very much jeff for your frank suggestion.
you''re definitely right, it''s a keel bolt.
I have thought to drop the keel too...
just a last thing, do you think it will be expensive?

[Jeff_H]

Its a little hard to say. Depending on how experienced the yard is, how the keel is installed, how well the caulk adheres between the surfaces, and what they find when the keel is dropped (i.e. such as glass damage, or bad keel bolts) the price can vary quite a bit. I had a 25 footer done for something under $400 by a yard that does these things pretty routinely. That would be an exceptionally low price as the keel was not adhered at all and they gave me a professional discount since I was still doing yacht design in those days and also had been managing a project they were doing on one of the boats that my Mom had imported.

Jeff