Quote:
Originally Posted by denby
Haven't done a torque test but I check the bolts and nuts for any sign of corrosion and when the boat is on the slings checking the keel to hull joint.
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I am very grateful everyone is ok! This could have ended much worse..
Checking the keel to hull joint is good practice. Unfortunately many production boats including cetarin models from O'Day, Pearson and Catalina, to name but a few, had plywood laminated into the keel stubs to save labor time and build thickness faster. Catalina stopped this practice in 1987.
Sadly keels are surrounded by water on both sides, bilge, and ocean/lake side. Eventually water gets into the keel stub and if wood is present it begins to absorb moisture and rot. Now add stainless keel bolts to the mix and you have a perfect environment for stainless steel crevice corrosion. You can NOT see crevice corrosion of keel bolts because it is happening below the washers inside the keel stub where there is little oxygen.
I have stated this many times before, and will say it once again, we WILL be seeing more events like this as time passes and these boats get older. As someone above mentioned this is NOT the first O'Day to loose its keel like this. There was one a couple of years ago on the great lakes that suffered a similar problem.
I dropped the keel on my old Catalina 30 about ten years ago and had to replace 70% of the keel bolts and also remove the wood core and re-build the keel stub. I am fairly certain that keel would have fallen off by now if I had done nothing.
If you have ANY signs of keel smile that exhibits moisture for more than a few hours after haul out the keel joint should be further examined and the keel should probably be dropped and re-bedded with bolts replaced that need it. Mars Metals, a large keel maker in Canada, does full J bolt replacement. While not cheap they are one of the few shops that replace keel bolts to like new standards and do it the right way.
Many members of sailing forums often give potentially dangerous advice when it comes to keel smiles. "It's fine they all do it" etc. etc.. They CAN be serious and just because many fin keel boats have smiles does not mean it is safe to do nothing in all cases..
A dry thin crack, like you'd see in drywall, is usually ok but the inside of teh keel stub should also be examined for moisture damage. A crack that leaks moisture for more than a few hours after the boat is on the hard is usually a bad sign that water has penetrated the keel to hull joint and your probably in need of a re-set.
This keel joint was still leaking after an entire winter on the hard = BAD!!:
This is crevice corrosion of a Pearson keel:
Crevice corrosion of an Ericson keel bolt:
The plywood keel stub laminate of a Pearson 26:
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For boaters up North if you do a torque test do it in the fall so you have all winter to fix this. It is time consuming and $$... For Southern boaters, who sail less in the ultra hot weather, perhaps June would be a good time to do a torque test..?
