I note that youve not retorqued the keel bolts in 7 years, and I would suggest the this probably needs to be done before you try anything else..
My owners manuals dont specify an interval for retorquing, but I try to do it every two years or so on both boats. The exception is the bolt under the mast step on my 38, which can only be accessed when the mast is out. That bolt was retorqued in 2005, and again in 2011 when the boat was rerigged. If you have a resilient sealer (like 5200) between the keel and the stub, you will get a tiny bit of side to side motion in the keel when you go sailing. Over time, the torque on the keel bots can be reduced, lateral motion can increase, and you end up with the smile, and potentially with leaks. IMHO, torquing the bolts should be the first step in any cosmetic attention you give to the exterior of the hull to keel joint. If the yards that worked on your boat didnt do this, that might be the reason the repairs were not successful. My owners manuals (admittedly for boats older than your 35-3) indicate that C&C originally used thickened epoxy in the layer between keel and stub, and that the bolt torque would force the sealer into the hole around the keel bolts. I suspect that the thickened epoxy gave a hard layer of sealant that in combination with the fairly high torque on the bolts minimized the side to side motion of the keel. I guess I have been pretty luck vis-à-vis keel problems on my boats. On Belle, I fixed the smile the first winter I had her, and have torque the boats fairly regularly since. No smile when she was hauled for bottom paint last November after 14 years or so that Ive owned her. Imzadi had a slight smile when hauled for engine work this past summer, but then she has a layer of 5200 in the keel joint. Maybe its time to torque the bolts again. Rick Brass Imzadi -1976 C&C 38 mk1 la Belle Aurore -1975 C&C 25 mk1 Washington, NC From: CnC-List [mailto:cnc-list-boun...@cnc-list.com] On Behalf Of Tim Goodyear Sent: Sunday, December 02, 2012 2:54 PM To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com Subject: Stus-List Keel stub cracks Hello all 35-3 owners - I'm looking for some advice, especially from those who have re-habbed their keels on this model... I was checking on Mojito this morning, and noticed beads of moisture in two areas; a spot at the top of the keel trailing edge and an 8" hairline crack on the port side at hull / keel stub (almost exactly where the mast step is internally). Would this have been enough for you to go ahead with major keel surgery? Rear of keel I've been trying to resolve this for a while; two separate boat yards have had a go at if, and the area is now solid fiberglass / epoxy, but still a tiny crack / area of moisture. There was water in the bilge just aft of the rear keel bolt (I removed the floorboards and sponged the area dry). Water would not normally stay in that area, but the boat is tilted back a little on the stands. I have not had the keel bolts torqued in 7 years (since I bought Mojito). Mast Step area This is the first year I've noticed moisture in that area; there have been hairline cracks in the antifouling before. The mast is stepped and I can't access that area through the mast step, which appears sound. Thanks, Tim Mojito 1984 C&C 35-3 Branford, CT
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