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On a recent trip my Mac25 was in a slip which was exposed to heavy boat traffic. I mistakenly left the keel down and the constant wake rocked the boat violently and the keel was knocking pretty hard. This led to some pretty major leaking from the keel bolt opening itself.

The keel bolt area leaked when I first got the boat. I pulled off the washers and noticed that the bolt hole in the fiberglass truck was ovalized from wear. I filled it with epoxy putty and re-installed the washer. This seemed to work good and I had a dry bilge for several trips out. But the violent motion back and forth at the exposed dock broke up the epoxy and caused the leaking. I did a temporary fix using a "never hardens" roof repair product that I found at a hardware store, and neoprene washers. The repair worked pretty good for the rest of trip with no leaking. But I don't want a repeat of the incident so I would like to find a more bomb proof solution.

My other major concern is of the knocking itself. It seems like the keep moves side to side more than it should. I know this is a common issue with swing keels but I would like to eliminate it as much as possible.

My main thought is to drill out the both the fiberglass trunk and cast steel keel to accept a larger bolt. It currently has a 5/8 bolt so sizing up to 7/8" or 1" would likely get me past the deformity and I would have a tighter fit which could solve both problems.

Dose anyone see any major negatives with this idea.

I am open to any other ideas as well. Any feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks
Gene
Lake Isabella, CA
Mac 25; Hobie 18

The keel was designed to move in the way it is on your boat. If you tighten the keel bolt hole by using a larger bolt (or an insert bushing), the the keel will be supported by the thickness of the keel area around the bolt hole only. The keel is designed so that when heeling the keel rests against the keel trunk so both the keel and fiberglass against which the keel is resting are providing support. As far as your elongated hole around the bolt, use fiberglass material and epoxy resin, not just an epoxy filler - and grind away around the hole so there is a sloping area for the fiberglass to be added.

Hey Bob,

That makes sense.

Is there any way to reduce the banging in a swell or large wake...or is this just part of having a swing keel?

Thanks
Gene
Lake Isabella, CA
Mac 25; Hobie 18

In general, it is part of having a swing keel. But it would be minimized if you pulled it up into the trunk when at anchor. As far as under sail. it just happens.

The holes in my keel trunk were oversized slightly, allowing my keel to knock around. I reamed them out to 3/4 and epoxied a bronze hat bushing in there. The epoxy was just to seal it and hold it there until the bolt with the rubber seals is in place ( that's what actually would keep the bushing in place). The pivot hole in my keel was also too sloppy, so that was reamed to 3/4 and a bronze bushing epoxied in there too. There is enough play, since the 5/8 pivot isn't actually 5/8 on the shoulder of the bolt. My keel works fine, and doesn't rattle around in the trunk with every wave that hits the boat.