Fred’s Smile

Many boat owners, not only HR’s, get anxious when they see some water coming out of the joint between keel and hull. It’s called the “Fred’s Smile”

 

.

When a GRP boat has an external lead keel attached to it, the keel is held in place by bolts. Between hull and keel there is some filler and here, after some years, some water may exit when the boat is placed ashore. For a reason unknown to me, some call it “Fred’s smile” and it is found not only on HR boat, but also other on boats of other brands, such as Sirius.

 

It’s when the mass between the external lead keel and the hull looses its elasticity. Many boat owners get nervous that the “boat is leaking” and might be sinking.

When Regina Laska was set on the hard last year, some water was leaking out of the joint. Instead of taking out tanks and checking the keel bolts, I did the other way and checked the seal from the outside.

I have personally never heard of any “loose keel bolts” if you haven’t gone aground hard or have had any other damage. Many anxious sailors have checked theirs, and it has always re-assured myself that mine are probably OK as well.

Last winter the seal was taken out carefully layer by layer checking the moisture. The first mm or the seal was wet (obviously) but further in, it was all dry. So the water had only found itself into the gap on a very thin out layer. The forward part of my keel is now resealed and I’m off to go.

It’s good to re-seal before the water might penetrate even further in, possibly reaching to the keel bolts where some superficial rust may occur on the washers of the keel bolts, meaning that the water that takes the detour all the way to the washers looks rusty. Since the keel-bolts are sealed as well, this does not mean that water can enter the boat this way.

To keep things pretty, I suggest resealing every 5-7 years or when it occurs. 

Having said that, if you have encountered a heavy grounding, things are completely different, obviously, and it has to be checked carefully, possibly tanking out the tanks to check from the inside as well.