[Public-List] Oily weeping at the keel just forward of the rudder shoe.

[Jeffrey via Public-List]

Hey everyone,

The past few springs I've noticed Seagrass (no. 116) develops a damp spot
every spring at the keel bottom about 10 inches forward of the rudder
shoe.  Usually, I look at it, do nothing, cover with bottom paint and the
boat goes in the water.  This spring, the spot is larger, wetter and more
oily looking.   My first though when getting to the boat was something
catastrophic happened over the cold Maine winter.  I expected a boat full
of motor oil.   Inside the bilge was clean, the engine dipstick read full
as did the gearbox.  Engine bottom normal.

Typically, my engine will drip oil a little here and there, just enough to
blacken any water in the bilge so I'm thinking that the spotting at the
keel bottom is bilge water that seeped out through the boat.   I am
wondering why it looks worse this spring.   Usually, when the boat comes
out, we flush the bilge with soapy water, then pump and shop-vac out any
remaining water.  Last fall, the boat sat for two weeks when it came out,
and the bilge was dry by the time I got to it...any standing water (pump
leaves that last 1/2 inch or so) had drained into the keel ballast area.
Maybe this was the difference.

I've searched the archives of this group, and find lots of references to
keels seeping more towards the bow under the water tank, but nothing at the
rear.

At this point, the boat yard can put the boat in the water, or I can fuss
with it.  I'm thinking now would be better then the fall when the boat
comes out again since everything will be saturated, plus the colder weather
makes epoxy work more difficult.

My plan is to dig in a bit, find the longitudinal seam that others have
mentioned and see if I can add a bit of fiberglass and epoxy, or even just
some GFlex epoxy & fair.

Anyone else have this issue, and successfully deal with it?

Thanks, and hope everyone is doing well.

Jeff



Seagrass. #116
Boothbay Harbor, Maine
http://sailboatseagrass.com/

<http://instagram.com/jfongemie>


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Jeffrey Fongemie

<http://instagram.com/jfongemie>