Erik, I tried it once, with mixed results.
I found that the forward most keel bolt on my boat was missing it's nut. Not sure how that occurred. Maybe they never installed it in the factory. It was underneath a screwed down floorboard, so I can understand why it might have been missed. So I bought a 3/4" nut, put it on and cranked it down. I was in the water at the time. Then I heard a little "snap crackle pop" and a dribble of water started coming from that bolt. It wasn't leaking before. I had cracked the seal. :( So I backed it off, dried it as best I could and squeezed an ungodly amount of caulking in there (Lifecaulk if I recall), and put the nut back on and re-torqued it. It sealed! In the next off season I did it properly, out of the water. It can be done waterborne, but as you see above...it may make the problem worse. So have you deduced that the leak is in fact from a keel bolt? There are no other openings down there. If you are not 100% sure it's from a keel bolt, I'd avoid breaking the seal on them. Just my 2cents. -Keith -----Original Message----- From: Erik Hillenmeyer [mailto:erik_hawk...@yahoo.com] Sent: Wednesday, May 22, 2013 17:25 To: Morgenstern, Keith E CIV SEA 08 NR; cnc-list@cnc-list.com Subject: Re: Stus-List 35-3 Leak Keith, The tanks are empty, I never filled them. The water is crystal clear (thanks to Zebra mussels) Lake Michigan water - no fuel, oil, etc. I am not completely convinced it isn't finding it's way to the stringer from elsewhere, but I just can't prove it. I've removed all the floor boards and the the thing is just bone dry everywhere except inside that limber hole. in fact, if i stick my finger in the cutout in the stringer for the bilge hose, which is several inches to port of the limber hole it is dry, so it almost has to be coming from below. My shower pump was straight forward, hose from the shower sump to a pump under the sink and up to a thru hull at the toe rail. I disabled this yesterday because i installed an automatic bilge pump and float switch to keep up with the water and the only above the water line thru hull available was the shower drain pump - i don't use it anyway. In off season I'll maybe add a thru hull and reattach it. Thanks for the input! Any opinion on tightening keel bolts in the water - I cannot get a conclusive answer on this. Some sources say do it and some say never. I've seen it argued on several forums, but haven't formed my own opinion yet... Thanks, Erik From: "Morgenstern, Keith E CIV SEA 08 NR" <keith.morgenst...@navy.mil> To: Erik Hillenmeyer <erik_hawk...@yahoo.com>; cnc-list@cnc-list.com Sent: Wednesday, May 22, 2013 2:51 PM Subject: RE: Stus-List 35-3 Leak Erik, I've been mulling over your situation. Here's my thoughts: You indicate that it seems like the water is originating from somewhere *inside* the stringer. We know that there are no keel bolts in there, nor are there any openings to the ocean there...and it's in front of the last keel bolt, so it seems unlikely (to me) that it's a grounding problem. So...where would water come from *inside* the stringer? On my 35-3, they've run all the water hoses/pipes thru large holes in the stringers, drilled maybe 1" or so down from the top. If one of those pipes has a weeping leak where it passes over the perhaps sharp edge of the hole drilled, it could seem like the water is originating in there. Then gravity just makes the water tanks drip into the bilge. It's been a few days...at 2.5 gallons a day, your water tanks should be noticeably low if this was the source. To test, put two different food colors (or two different liquors) in the tanks, and close the valves at the water pump so they aren't cross-connected, then wait it out. What color/taste is the bilge? Another possibility along these lines is an extra bilge pump pickup...on my 35-3 there is a shower sump pump for the shower in the head. But somewhere along the line (maybe at the factory) they put a 3-way valve in, then ran a hose thru the bilge to a point between the mast and engine, and there is a pickup there too. (it's my "aft" bilge pump pickup) If this was deranged like above (leaky hose/fitting), or if there was some sort of siphon being set up from the shower to the bilge via the overboard lines? It's a stretch...but maybe. -Keith Morgenstern C&C 35-3 cb -----Original Message----- From: Erik Hillenmeyer [mailto:erik_hawk...@yahoo.com] Sent: Monday, May 20, 2013 17:03 To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com Subject: Stus-List 35-3 Leak Hello, Been following on here for a while but never posted. I have a new-to-me 1984 C&C 35 MKIII on Lake Michigan. When we launched six days ago I noticed a large amount of water in the bilge when I would go to the boat. Approximately 2.5 gallons every 24 hours. I have narrowed the leak down to what I assume is a hull/keel joint issue. After checking all the obvious sources for this much water (thru hull, tanks, etc, etc) I finally noticed that all the water was coming from a limber hole in the stringer just forward of the aft most keel bolt. The water is NOTcoming out this limber hole because it's flowing through there from a higher point in the bilge - it's flooding up from underneath the stringer. The bilge area aft of this stringer is dusty dry and I've elminated all other sources of water. The first thing I'm in the process of doing is installing an automatic bilge pump and float switch (PO never had one). I also plan on tightening the keel bolts as soon as I get access to a torque wrench and an extension that can reach the 2 feet to the deepest part of the sump where one of the keel bolts is located. I'm hoping this is some help in stopping or reducing the leak. The sailing season is very short here and hauling out now would cost us a big chunk of sailing, so I'm willing to try anything to stay in. I've thrown this out on some other blogs, but wanted to know if other C&C owners have experienced this issue or have some solutions for getting her through the season. Thanks, Erik _______________________________________________ This List is provided by the C&C Photo Album http://www.cncphotoalbum.com CnC-List@cnc-list.com
