Water leaking out of the front of keel

[ruffwind]

Hi everyone,

I have owned a 1992 23/III for the past 4 years.  I keep it in Kenosha, WI at Southport Marina.  When I bought the boat it had about 10 coats of hard bottom paint on it and resembled an old porch with various thickness of paint.  The 2nd winter I removed all the old bottom paint and found blisters, so I applied Interlux blister treatment and then VC17.  When I removed all of the old bottom paint I found a few cracks at the front of the keel.  I have alot of experience with Epoxy and fiberglass so I routed out the cracks and repaired them soundly and put the boat in the water.

When I pulled it the next fall it had small crack towards the bottom of the front of the keel on the side and this crack leaked water for a few days.  I opened this crack up and let it drain all winter.  This spring I repaired the crack again and put the boat in the water.

This fall when I pulled the boat, I again have a small crack in the same place and water has dripped out for a few days.  So, I am puzzled by this reoccurring problem.  I almost never have any water in the bilge, so where is this water coming from?  Anyone else experience anything like this? 

[Allure2sail]

Hi Ruffwind:
Every fall when my 27 comes out for winter storage I have to drain the keel. Fortunately for me it has a bronze flange with a big pipe plug in the middle of it. I do not know if this factory or a previous owner installed it. I do know that I have tried fiberglass, epoxy, marine Tex, and many layers of interlux barrier coat to seal up the keel and none of it keeps it dry. I've actually given up. I drain it every fall and I also put a 1500 gph sump pump in the bilge just in case the bilge box and keel become compromised. A few ideas for you....perhaps you have some chunks of the cement inside the keel that have broken loose and are moving around. That would crack the fiberglass (trust me, it's not that thick) from the inside out. Someone on this site cut out the cement and changed over to lead ballast and batteries to make up the weight, look at the pictures of the sidewall of the keel cut away. I played with the idea of drilling some holes in the bottom of the keel to let it drain and dry out over the winter and into the spring. Then perhaps drill some access holes in the bilge box and floor to pour slow curring epoxy into the keel cavity to seal it from the inside out. Do not know what I would use for epoxy and whether it would fill in the gaps and re bond the cement together and to the inside walls of the keel, or for that matter if it would ever even cure. I have honestly given up trying to seal the keel up and keeping it internally dry, I drain it every fall so it doesn't freeze and do more damage. I keep the bilge box sealed and dry and with a big pump and that is the best one can do. I'm looking at other boats this fall and winter and hope to be in 32 to 34 footer by next summer. Just simply moving up........I intend on doing more extended cruising in the future. Good luck and I'm curious to see other ideas from the forum, this is a great source of information and ideas.