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Windchaser has been up on the slip for four days and today is the first day it has not rained. Most of the days I had been doing wet sanding of the old antifoul until I got too cold from being in the rain and my arms gave out. Today it is overcast and threatening to rain but has not yet.

So, I noticed water dripping down under the keel. I had seen it a few days ago but in the rain there was water trickling down in many places.



Today I took more notice of the drip. It is coming out of the keel, unfortunately the bit of keel sitting on the trolley. Drips fall every four seconds. I put a container under it. It is salt.



I went up into the cabin and checked the bilge. I got salt water in it coming up from buying her down south and copping some rough water smacking into the stern. Bilge hose is too low and it just trickled in. Looking in the bilge, I can see there is some water in there so it could be coming from there.

Back underneath, I tapped the keel. It sounds hollow at the back section and where I think the leak is. The hollow sound is probably because it is hollow, the bilge. I didn't realise it went so far down into the keel.

Okay, so now I have a boat up on the slip with unfinished anti-fouling as it has been raining, a rudder off which needs drying out and patching up, and now a hole in the bottom of the keel in a spot I can't get to.

Anyone else ever had problems with leaks in the bottom of the keel?

Well, you're sure getting your full measure of the joys of boat ownership, and the weather doesn't even look like improving for another week.... I haven't had my TH long enough to experience wet keel, but here's a few thoughts...
The keel contains the bilge, the water tank (presuming you have one), and possibly a void Eg if your keel was made of ingots or even poured, there could be a space water has accessed.
If it's coming out, it got in, but if it was a leak ocean-bilge, you'd expect to have a constantly filling bilge. You could try food dye, one colour in the bilge with a couple more litres of water, another colour in the water tank, then see if any coloured water drains out...

Good luck with it, Rod

Can you check if it is coming out of the rudder and running along the metal fitting?

I have that problem (feature!) for a couple of days after slipping.

Cheers,

Tom

Louis,
I'm only a mug as anyone will tell you, but just as a point of discussion, I made the small autohelm rudder on the back of Felicite using Glass bubbles and Glassing over the shaped filler.
Would it be easier and better to stick with resin based products instead of using wood (Mk 0 carbon fibre) as it will only rot again? Then again your rudder has lasted what, 30 years?
Just a point?
What do the expert boat builders think at the yard?

The mrk 1 that i owned built by formit did the same thing but i found out the opposite way i had dried out the bilge with a paper towel and was quite proud of having a dry bilge then to my amazement it started to slowly fill up,,,, Guess what the joint in the keel was leaking and i am guessing so is yours