[Public-list] crack leak at the keel

[Henry Hilliard]

It appears I  have a crack leak at the keel  and am
wondering if anybody else has had a similar scenario
as the following...

Celeste, #394, is on the hard at the moment , and I
have a small mysterious wet trail of blue liquid and
white crystal textured residue exiting at the toe of
the keel  on the  centerline roughly below the water
tank .

The  potable  anti-freeze I put in the tank last fall
may been that color however my recollection is it was
pink.  I put that stuff in after trying to get the
majority of water out  with a siphon and sucking with
a wet vac.  My hand pump at the galley sink has been
out of commission since last summer  and I have not
used water from the tank since that time.  Another
possibility is the anti-feeze may be reacting with the
blue bottom paint to create the crystal effect?  No
doubt  I have some residual bilge water  however I am
not aware the bilge travel that far forward to be a
possible source. The keel shows no chipping or signs
of impact . I suspect I have a hole in the water tank.
However my primary concern is the liquid seeping out
along the center line . Is this an indication 
possibly of a larger  leak problem down the road?  Am
I correct that the hull/ keel mold was one piece so
there would NOT be a "connection seam" at the
centerline of the keel?  

My plan was to grind off some of the gel coat along
the seam to investigate further (as sanding off the
bottom paint  is not telling me much) before  cleaning
out a valley at the seam/leak and getting out the west
system to patch. However I haven't  figured out how to
stop the drip and get the area dry  for an effective
repair w/o getting into the tank problem  - which I
would prefer to delay until the off season.

Any thoughts / advice  much appreciated.

Henry Hilliard
Celeste  #394
Penobscot Bay,  Maine


		
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