A few thoughts on keel bolts: Most boats do get a bit of water in the bilge.
Most of the stories I've read about actual stainless failures due to crevice corrosion, and especially as it applies to wire rigging in swaged terminals, have involved boats that sail in salt water. I don't know if the salt water is the only factor, or if my perception is because these boat owners are more likely to publish their problems, but there does seem to be a tendency. Maybe it is more the southern boats I don't know, but I do know that the rigging on a Great Lakes boat is usually in better condition than the ones you see down south of the same vintage. I wouldn't worry too much about your keel bolts unless you start seeing brown stains. Ask around. There are lots of sailing clubs and marinas where you live. My bet is that you will be hard pressed to find even one person who has had actual experience with corrosion on stainless keel boats on a fresh water only boat that was not hard grounded. I have not heard of such a failure, but it seems reasonable that it could happen Once a crack starts, all bets are off. I have witnessed several failures of shroud tangs on fractional rigged boats on Lake Erie. I saw the fractured bits from one, and it appeared to have had a small crack at one end, with a small amount of corrosion before the rest of it let go. That said, the crack in these cases in all likelihood started as a stress crack from being over loaded and flexed. Where the tangs break is not where water would tend to accumulate. I can't imagine that the keel bolts on our boats are going to flex as much as a rigging terminal unless the boat fetches up on a good sized rock. With the boat blocked up for the winter one could remove and replace each keel nut in succession I suppose, but you still wouldn't know for sure that there was not a crack in the part you can't get at that way. Personally, I am reluctant to move heavily loaded stainless on stainless threads any more than necessary for fear of galling. A friend of mine has a shop build stainless steel steamer for setting the dye on nylon cloth. When built it had fine threaded stainless nuts to clamp it shut, same idea as a window hatch. They jammed up so solid that they had to be cut off. Hardly seems worth dropping the keel without a darned good reason to be suspicious in the first place, but that would be the only way to do a thorough check. Even then you would just have to assume that the part cast into the lead was ok. My 2 cents, Steve Thomas C&C27 MKIII -----Original Message----- From: CnC-List [mailto:cnc-list-boun...@cnc-list.com]On Behalf Of Stevan Plavsa Sent: Tuesday, September 03, 2013 9:00 AM To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com Subject: Re: Stus-List C&C smile - wet keel bolts Count me among those with water constantly in the bilge. The past two winters with the boat out of the water there has been no evidence of a smile but I have been concerned with the bilge and it always having water in it. Keel stepped, when it rains, water in the bilge. Aside from that any condensation in the boat, the stuffing box (which needs repacking), etc, and I have water in the bilge, all the time. Steve Suhana, C&C 32 Toronto On Tue, Sep 3, 2013 at 8:44 AM, Hoyt, Mike <mike.h...@impgroup.com> wrote: John and others In the reply below you reference the problems from wet stainless in oxygen deprived environment. I have heard this comment several times before also. I am not aware of a large nimber of sailboats that do not have some water in th bilge most if not all the time. Since this is where the kell bolts are torgued with the nuts it seem that this would count as wet and oxygen deprived. Am I missing something or are we all in imminent danger? Mike Nut Case -----Original Message----- From: CnC-List [mailto:cnc-list-boun...@cnc-list.com] On Behalf Of John and Maryann Read Sent: Monday, September 02, 2013 5:56 PM To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com Subject: Re: Stus-List C&C smile Hi Bill If your keelboats are leaking, then your smile has progressed to the point of more than stuffing in some bondo and the need for some redoing the keel / sump seal itself to prevent leaks. Remember that the keel bolts are stainless which will degrade when wet in an oxygen deprived environment which is what happens when the keel / sump seal is compromised. A good starting place would be get the opinion of your local fiberglass repair shop. I believe this subject is also well covered in the archives of this list as well as the DIY section of the photoalbum. To be absolutely sure, the preferred process at haul out would be to 1) lower the keel, 2) clean, fair and prep the mating surfaces, 3) reattach the keel with a preferred adhesive / sealant, 4) properly torque the keel bolts, 5) grind and fair both sides of the joint by at least a foot, 6) apply fiberglass as a fairing, 7) fair the fiberglass, 8) apply several coats of barrier coat then bottom paint. If this is too much, then you can try digging out all bondo and as best you can expose the joint as deeply as possible. Clean it to provide a good sealing surface. Stuff in your sealant, then proceed at step 4. Fiberglass tape provides negligible structural integrity. The keel bolts and adhesive at the sump / keel joint do that. The tape is to fair the joint. If there is insufficient structural integrity, the keel will flex and break the tape bond. Hope this helps John and Maryann Legacy III 1982 C&C 34 Noank, CT
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