Drilling 53' MY keel to check for water intrusion

[mike]

In a previous thread someone mentioned drilling the keel to check for water intrusion. With respect to a 53' MY does anyone know what location is best to drill, and to what depth? I don't want to puncture a fuel or water tank. Also any insight into locating the potential source of water migration would be helpful, assuming I find we have a problem.

 

[jim rosenthal]

I did this, and I may be the one that mentioned it. I drilled into the keel at the sternmost end, not on the flat part that would be the very bottom of the boat, but just behind and up from that. You want the hole to be as low as possible and make sure the boat is blocked in such a way that any water in there will drain if there is a hole to drain through. I think I drilled a 1/8" hole the last time I checked.

This was based on a prior experience in which I discovered the keel was full of water that had been there quite a while. since that repair, as far as I know, things have stayed dry in the keel.

 

[Nonchalant1]

Mike,

I would call Hatteras and just ask them. They should know. If you do it and it works, post it back on the forum with exactly where, how big a hole, how deep, what angle, and what came out (I have heard horrible smelly stuff from water around the lead ballast blocks in the keel).

Doug Shuman

 

[mike]

I have not be successful lately contacting the go-to guy at Hatteras, it seems he has moved to Florida. I'll try again and let you know what is recommended. Regarding odors, I can attest to it being in the foam areas, having recently drilled and taped 8 new holes for rear motor mounts. Once I drilled through the glass stringer, steel insert plate and into the foam the smell was the typical Hatteras smell we all know and love. Also found the shower sump pumps foam float to be a major source.

 

[mike]

Jim, What was the repair you are referring too in your response? Tx, mike

 

[Liquid Asset]

I did this the last time I hauled out a few months ago. It dripped for 6 days while I was out. I had to go back in, so I drove a teak plug in the hole and glassed over it. If I ever haul out again and I plan on being out longer I will drill it agin. I think it would need about a month or so to truly dry out. If you dont have a good ammount of time, I don't recomend it.

I did this purly because I had a large ammount of water. I probablly drained 5 gallons of water. But this was enough to allow me to fix the problem that was allowing the water to intrude. Who knows how long it has been in there, but I would guess for 20 years. It looked like a mistake from the factory glasswork. Not a big deal, but just be careful

 

[mike]

Pat, Did you drill in the same location mentioned by Jim earlier in this thread? What was the source of the problem that you fixed, how did you locate it, and how did you fix it? Tx, mike

 

[mwert72655]

It seems to me the key issue here is what hulls have this problem, and is it worse in boats of certain vintage or with the centerline tanks???

I've called Roger at Hatteras Service and he's not aware of the problem, so I think we're on our own here. Your thoughts?

 

[Liquid Asset]

I drilled at the lower corner about 2 inches up and in on the port side of my Keel. My forward bilge had a poor job in fiberglassing it together and was leaking under the bottom of the support and into the keel. Hard to explain, but I just got lucky in finding the source. It probably could have been that way forever without any problem, but I know about it so I wanted it fixed.

 

[jim rosenthal]

I had had my Hatteras about two years and noticed, during a haulout, that water was dripping from the bottom of the keel. I drilled a hole and discovered that the keel was full of water- it gushed out by the bucketful.

It turned out that the boat had been damaged in the bottom and lower side of the keel, about four feet from the aft end of the keel, probably in a grounding accident before I owned her. It had been fixed with Bondo, which is to say not fixed at all. The keels were filled with a pourable foam at the factory before the interior structures were glassed into the hull, as I understand it. This foam was soaked, and the whole interior of the keel likewise.

I drilled several large holes in the keel, about 1.5", and hooked up a wet vac and let it run for about two weeks. (this did not make me friends in the boatyard, I'm afraid- folks got tired of the noise.) You have to have air running through to dry it out. Fortunately it was summer which helped the keel dry out inside. I also reached in with a wire and got rid of as much of the wet foam as I could, which wasn't difficult.

What I did to repair the holes is beyond the scope of an email I can include here, but basically I sanded the outside of the keel to the laminate, and epoxied in glass-and-epoxy plugs that I had made for the purpose, to size, which were not fully cured. They were buttered up with West epoxy and silica powder as a paste and driven into the holes with a plastic mallet. They were about 1/2" thick. After they were cured, I sanded everything flush and then epoxied on larger and larger layers of glass cloth, using the same mixture of epoxy and silica powder as an adhesive and filler. There are about five or six layers of cloth over the plugs, etc. This repair has been on the boat for about ten years, maybe a bit longer, and is holding up okay. I got a chance to look at it when the Interlux bottom job was done, and it looks fine.
PM me if you want additional details.

 

[mike]

Guys, thanks for the detailed updates. Mike

 

[Pete]

I can not be the first to think that you could mount a transom drain plug like used on runabouts on the back side of the keel at close to the lowest point and just open the plug when the boat is hauled. If you recess mounted it in this position it would be protected from groundings, you could glass it in except for the 1/2 inch thread hole, use an allen wrench plug with some Locktite for a flush fit and be done with the drilling. Bonding would not be possible. Please comment on this idea.

Pete Drez

 

[rtrafford]

i wouldn't want a plug underwater that wasn't grounded. heck, i don't want any more metal underwater than absolutely necessary anyway...

the water, if you have the problem, only has a very limited number of choices to find this access. the problem, if significant, should be sorted out and once cured disappear.

i had the same fears about mine so i drilled a 1 inch hole 12 inches into the stern edg of the keel....only to find virgin foam. repaired the hole and moved on with the knowledge that things are tight.