Leaking in bilge from ballast?

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  • August 06, 2014 12:55 AM
    Reply # 3064857 on 1497815
    Deleted user

    Chris,

    the leak could also migrate from somewhere else, such as your  gudgeon bolts corroding. From your profile I see that the former "Tyee" is a 1973 model. They had a mahogany sheer clamp and the composite ballast (steel punchings and ingots). The gudgeons and pintles were stainless steel. There were boats at that time that had water intrusion  through the corroded  bolts with near disastrous results. Apparently someone forgot to fill the aft end of the keel cavity with mishmash (home made putty consisting of polyester resin and asbestos - yeah that was common in those days, and not all varieties of asbestos are that much of a health risk, primarily the short fiber asbestos is).

    I would go down there in my dry suit (Alaska is colder than the Puget Sound) and carry putty with me and a wrench. Check if the bolt head stays on, if not stop the leak with the putty where the shank is left. Haul out, fill the area in the aft end keel cavity (after drying the area out) with Bondo or better, then rebolt the gudgeons...

    This above suggestion may sound crazy, but where does the water otherwise come from?

    A further thought: Try a taste test to see if it is fresh or salt water. Does it come from the inside or outside of the hull?

    I hope I am wrong, as already commented in the other posts, but the source of the problem has to be located and without that no real fix is possible.

    I hate to come up with these thoughts, I have made so many already where I scared other W32 owners. On the other hand, Westsail Corp "had it's growing pains" to put it mildly and this could be one of them.

    Good luck,

    Mike Zorn

    Last modified: August 06, 2014 12:59 AM | Deleted user
  • August 17, 2014 4:04 PM
    Reply # 3076265 on 1497815

    Thanks Mike.  I will make another dive and check those bolts carefully.  I did look at them previously, but I can't remember how close.  The weeping has slowed considerably so I'm hoping the water came from flooding my bilge via a loose shaft packing when we first got Tyee.  Water got high enough that it reached a small hole near the step by the mast brace.  

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