Hi all, After last trip to Waldo lake, boat sitting on trailer in driveway for some days, I noticed a small damp spot under the aft end of the keel (didn't notice it right away because it was raining off and on and there were drips various places from water running down the hull). A bit of a rust color to the stain, but also some dark metallic color. First I thought it was from a trailer beam drain hole in that vicinity. On closer inspection, a very very slow slow drip of water was coming from just aft of the back edge of the CB slot. Timed it today and it is about one drip every 3 minutes. Some pictures attached... Crawling under & feeling around and looking with flashlight etc. revealed that the moisture is coming from the port side of the slot, around where the CB stop pin is. There is some dirty-metal looking gritty material there that comes off on my finger when I rub it, like corroding metal surface. Also a bit of rusty color. The water runs down from around where the pin enters port side of CB slot and then back along the edge of the slot and past the aft end of the slot an inch or so before forming a drop. The starboard side of the inside of the trunk where the pin goes through is dry. There are some surface cracks/fissures (visible in some pics) but I think they are just that - crazing of paint or gelcoat, minor scrapes from light grounding, etc.. Water does not appear to come from those; when I wipe it all dry, it just runs down from the pin/keel interface area on port side. It almost looks like there is a metal "U" shape embedded at the rear of the CB slot - face/thin edge of U down towards ground, bottom of U towards stern, as if to reinforce where the pin goes...? I read what I could find on the MSOG regular and photo sites about CB repair jobs and related. Only a few references to the stop pin. Sounds like the stop pin - what it is (bolt, screw, rod, etc.) and how it's installed - varies from boat to boat somewhat. This is #38, 1974. There are no exposed pin ends. There is a very slight bulge where the pin would go through, on the starboard side. The port side is all smooth, no visible pin end location. Conclusions so far: Water coming out of there likely had to go in there. Presumably a tiny fissure or hairline crack or corroded piece of something to do with the stop pin (or combo of those) allowing water to seep slowly, slowly in that part of the keel when boat is in water. Then it seeps slowly, slowly out when it's on the hard. Don't recall seeing this after four weeks in Howard Prairie Lake in July. Don't recall if it was happening after 3 1/2 days in Fern Ridge lake (three weeks ago)...maybe, maybe not... So it may have just started. Any thoughts? Anyone had a similar situation? Had to work on something like this? I'm thinking at the least I'm going to have to do a little exploratory grinding for the pin end(s), figure out how it went in, how to get it out, and then explore that port side of the hole to find whatever the leak is and fix it. I am keeping all my digits crossed that whatever cavity is around or adjacent to that pin end does not connect to the part of the keel where the steel punching ballast is. Any info on that (for better or worse) appreciated also. thanks, John S. -- John Schinnerer - M.A., Whole Systems Design -------------------------------------------- - Eco-Living - Whole Systems Design Services People - Place - Learning - Integration john@eco-living.net - 510.982.1334 http://eco-living.net http://sociocracyconsulting.com
