Keel bolt tighetening

[Nelson Garcez]

Hello fellow sailors. I see saltwater in Matangi's bilge when she is moored. I checked all the through-hulls, scuppers, and the stuffing box, and nothing showed any sign of leaks. The keel line seems intact but the marina manager where I keep the boat tells me that the keel bolts may be loose. 

Does that make sense?  If so, does anyone know what torque shall be used on these bolts?

Thanks in advance for any advice,

Safe winds

[Jeff Keen]

I tightened mine last spring but I forget the torque I used. Probably around 90 lbs. It’s probably my safe to lookup torque specs for a J/30.

 Here is some info: 

https://www.jowners.org/images/docs/JTech1/Best_Practices__Keel_Bolt_Maintenance.pdf

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[Gregory Urban]

The site has the J28 manual, and on page 74 is the following

Check keel bolt nuts for tightness (90 foot pounds). Do not arbitrarily tighten bolts unless you've experienced a severe grounding. If there is concern for leakage, consult your dealer or professional yard.

https://www.j28sailors.org/manuals-resources

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[Geoff Cowles]

My boatyard neighbor had a similar issue in a similar size boat.  When on the hard sitting on the keel there was no evidence of any problem.  However when hung from the slings a very small gap was evident (near the leading edge).   Tightening may resolve the problem but if the issue is the bedding of the bolts themselves in the keel this will not resolve the problem in the long term.  

Geoff

 

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[bradb...@gmail.com]

Shadowfax had what appeared to be a 'damp spot' about 6" (?) below where the keel joins the hull when on blocks.  My understanding is that the hull joins the keel in a pocket, I think the keel fits up into the pocket (?).  We guessed might be a loose keel bolt; the boatyard tightened the forward bolt and mark has not reappeared. I arrived just when tightening completed (I had planned to leave it alone for another season for fear of messing up the bedding, but message got scrambled). I neglected to ask what the torque was, but I recall  they used a socket w/ a long handle.

[Nelson Garcez]

Thank you all for your valuable contributions. I will take a look at the bolts and check the nuts. Now that she is on the hard, it will likely be the right moment to do that.

Safe winds,

[Frank Schursky]

My last boat a Cal 28-2 had a leaking rear keel bolt. I loosened the bolts, lifted the boat up with a few extra stands an inch or two and put some Gflex in the seam and then dropped her back down and tightened it with a big torque wrench. I used the J109 torque specs based on bolt size(link below). My new J-28 has the start of a smile at the end so I may Gflex to keep water out and possibly tighten the back bolt but something you have to watch with these 80’s boats. Keel bolts are are not as bad as they look once you get them loose and you may want to replace the nuts with some new 316 stainless if you are doing it anyway. Only bigger issue is if the keel bolt itself is rusted as it’s not easy to replace the bolts because they are set in the lead keel. Good luck!

https://j109.org/docs/keel-bolt-torque-table.pdf

On Wed, Nov 13, 2024 at 6:26 PM Nelson Garcez <nga...@gmail.com> wrote:

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[Jeff Stallings]

After hurricane Irene my Sailboat was in someone's front yard.  Crane on a barge picked it up and put it back in the water...  one keel bolt had small drip.  Took it off and rebedded with 5200.  End of leak.  Nor sure more torque will fix a leak...

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[Nelson Garcez]

Hi Jeff. 

Interesting. Did you remove the bolt from the keel? How did you do that?

And when you say you rebeded it, you mean you put sealant (5200) around the existing boat?

Thanks for clarifying. 

Nelson Garcez
nga...@gmail.com

On Nov 15, 2024, at 07:04, Jeff Stallings <leedenerg...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Jeff Stallings]

Sorry.  I just removed the keel nut and washer and loaded the 5200 under the washer and retorqed the nut...  no more leak.

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[Nelson Garcez]

Thanks for clarifying. 

And do you remember what torque you used to tighten it?

Cheers 

Nelson Garcez
nga...@gmail.com

On Nov 15, 2024, at 19:47, Jeff Stallings <leedenerg...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Gregory Urban]

The spec is 90 foot pounds.

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