[Doug Odgers]

Just had A90 put into the water and immediately taken out –  very considerable leaks from both keelboxes.

My suspicion is something shifted in transport North Dorset to South !

Has anyone totally glassed in the keelboxes, without of course a total rebuild of them.

Also, to avoid cranage, in & out again, would a high pressure washer seek out the leaks ?

Topic

[AOA]

Doug
Oh Dear! That is a great shame.

Do you have a feel for whereabouts the leaks were? Forward, aft? Where they join the hull?

I would have thought it unlikely to have resulted from ‘something shifting’ – its generally pretty robust. Could it be wood drying out through years in the dry? I know that the vertical timbers between the case sides at the forward and aft ends can give trouble, but I think Dom did work on these?

I wouldn’t use a high pressure hose, they can do a lot of damage. But just low pressure played onto joints might help. Or you could try putting water inside the boat ashore to see if you can pin down the leaks? Whilst it would take a lot of water for the inside edges of the box you should be able to test the outside edges?

And I wonder if she would ‘take up’. The ‘logs’ which join the case sides to the hull are large pieces of timber and if they have dried out might have shrunk. Again, water inside the boat for a few days might help diagnose this.

Cheers
Nick

[Doug Odgers]

Nick.  Thanks very much, it’s helping me form some solutions.

Many thanks,

 

Doug

[Mike Dixon]

Doug – don’t have any further to Nick’s suggestions.  Only thought – rather than douse the timbers, you could use a spray – more than a garden spray bottle but not as much as a hosepipe – and add some food colouring which might just identify where it goes in and where it comes out.

Good luck – cheers, Mike

[Doug Odgers]

Thanks Mike,

All good ideas.

Am moving A90 to another yard where I will explore all these ideas which have given me a lot of encouragement.

Doug

[Doug Odgers]

Red faced and embarrassed  !

Found the leak – port side pivot bolt cover.

There was some wood movement and I thought I’d  compensated with filler.

I used the suggested garden weedkiller spray, and there was the trickle, no doubt a ‘gush’ when in the water.

Celebrate the find with me  –  if you don’t  mind drinking with an idiot !

Thanks, everyone.

Doug

[Author]

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