Back to the hollow keel!

[jordan]

Before I put my motors back in I want to deal with the hollow keel. Has anyone tried putting concrete in the keel? Or what about 8lb foam? I would like to fill it with something to get rid of the stinky water situation. If not, I'm thinking of a bilge pump with a hose extending into the keel that could be manually be turned occasionally. I would love to hear every bodies thoughts and ideas.

Thanks, Jim

[thelast322]

Ahoy Jim,
What I did 7 years ago was install a jabsco diaphragm bilge pump on the engine bulkhead. The pump has a suction line to a in-line strainer that prevents foreign debris into the pump. The critical part of the job is locating the right area to drill the hole. this needs to be exactly between the " I believe" the stern tubes. I will check. This hole will allow you to drop the hose down into the deepest part of the keel. This will allow you to pull all of the water out of the lowest part of the boat at rest. This will keep the water out of the engine bed stringers. The only water you will get is a small amount under the forward bed area if your A/C drains there. This was a well worth investigate IMO. No more stinking bilge water, dry bilges and a peace of mind. I installed this when my boat received new engine stringers in 2007. I will take a look at the hole insertion today or tomorrow.

[comodave]

I would not put either concrete or foam in the hollow keel. Concrete would add lots of weight and foam will be extremely difficult to get the entire keel filled up completely. If there are voids, there will still be smell. And what if even the closed cell foam absorbs the foul water, now how do you get rid of the foam? This has been discussed many times so there are a lot of opinions on this topic. I completely opened up my keel and am glad I did. I drilled holes both fore and aft and vacuumed out the foul water, but still had the smell because I could not get it cleaned out completely. After I had the covering removed, we were able to get the area completely cleaned out and the smell is gone. The only real problem is getting a bilge pump down into the hollow keel to get out all the water. But I mounted a Whale remote pickup pump and it gets most of the bilge water out. Still having a little bit of bilge water in the bottom of the keel is a lot better than having the keel full of stagnant stinking water, at least now what water is there is being "turned over" and does not get stagnant.

[P-Dogg]

a bilge pump with a hose extending into the keel that could be manually be turned occasionally

This is what I would do. Amen on nixing the concrete and foam. I never use the forward shower in my tricab, so I was thinking of re-purposing the (self-priming) pump for the shower drain. Actually got as far as buying a three-way valve so that I could select "keel drain" or "shower drain." My boat doesn't stink, and I just can't bring myself to drill a hole in the bottom (yet), otherwise I would.

[ready123]

I drilled a hole fwd in galley and pumped out all water with a hand pump, then I sealed the top with epoxy and made sure it was sealed along it's length.No more smell and no sign of any water in keel on haul for winter. For me the logic of keeping it open, even with a bilge pump, just means the ingredients that can cause a smell are present and open to the inside air..... that makes no sense to me.

[Stripermann2]

Can anyone provide clear photos with step by step procedure of exactly what they did to extract the water and solve the issue? I've been following these threads over the years but not sure of the location points and proven procedure, in detail.

Thanks.

[ready123]

Can anyone provide clear photos with step by step procedure of exactly what they did to extract the water and solve the issue? I've been following these threads over the years but not sure of the location points and proven procedure, in detail.
Thanks.

Sorry no pictures.
Drilled 1/4" hole in the flat glass on center line of boat in galley area, used small hand pump oil removal system to remove the water, pushed tube down hole to the bottom of keel (boat was blocked with slight bow down similar to the in water position). Then plugged and sealed the hole.....

[Cmount]

I actually cut a hole in the top glass and put a whale 650 in there. I have almost no water in her most of the time, and what is there moves around now so it does not stink. I also drilled a drain plug in the hollow keel in the stern so when she is on the hard, all water is out. At the same time, each year, one of my winterizing things is to run a hose full blast to clean it out. Bleach and soap it. And then constantly putting soapy water in the bilge in the summer to keep it clean. The whale sucks the water down to a minimum and is actually installed below the false floor.

That was my cure for the stink!

[Cmount]

See if this helps at all.


Two picshttp://s814.photobucket.com/user/CJMOUN ... t=3&page=1

[Stripermann2]

Thanks Cmount. Got it...thank you.

Michael, I understand what you're saying, drilling and removing the water in the keel.
But where did the water come from in the first place and why will it not return after you've drilled, pumped out and sealed hole?

[comodave]

Any water sitting in the bilge will osmose through the thin fiberglass covering over the hollow keel and go into the hollow keel. In my boat, sitting on blocks, the water would osmose back out of the hollow keel in the front by the head because the bow was blocked lower than the stern. So if it will osmose out, it will osmose into the keel. The covering glass was not very thick, mostly woven roving. So over time the hollow keel will fill up and if you pump it out, it will gradually refill. That is why I opened it up. Now any water in the bilge and keel is obvious and can be pumped out. Also by continually pumping out any water, it does not stagnate and start to smell.

[Cmount]

EXACTLY...let it breath and change over....no smell!

[ready123]

Thanks Cmount. Got it...thank you.

Michael, I understand what you're saying, drilling and removing the water in the keel.
But where did the water come from in the first place and why will it not return after you've drilled, pumped out and sealed hole?

My guess it was from the bilge not being kept dry by the PO. There was also visible pitting in the glass, I applied a layer of epoxy to make a better seal.I have made mods to reduce the amount of water that gets into my bilge dripless packing (o/b discharge hose for aft hatch surround lip both large and small and the bow bilge pump lowered to keep standing water to a minimum. The false keel does not run as far forward as the bilge pump location.