Leak Near Center Board Box

[Dutchie2012]

My name is Andre I'm originally from Holland and I live with my family in Tauranga New Zealand and this is my first time on a forum about boats.
Here's my problem:
I have restored (painted and repaired) an 30+ old Hartley Trailer Sailer 18ft with a center board and drop keel (is that spelled right?) After taking it on the water several times it appears that the there is a leak where the box meets the hull or bottom of the boat. The exact location is at the very end of the box (back of the boat) where the center beam on the bottom of the hull (inside the boat) I have drawn a picture it is attached as a JPG file, Any suggestions on how to fix this would be welcome, thanks heaps/tons if you're american

[troy2000]

Originally Posted by Dutchie2012

My name is Andre I'm originally from Holland and I live with my family in Tauranga New Zealand and this is my first time on a forum about boats.
Here's my problem:
I have restored (painted and repaired) an 30+ old Hartley Trailer Sailer 18ft with a center board and drop keel (is that spelled right?) After taking it on the water several times it appears that the there is a leak where the box meets the hull or bottom of the boat. The exact location is at the very end of the box (back of the boat) where the center beam on the bottom of the hull (inside the boat) I have drawn a picture it is attached as a JPG file, Any suggestions on how to fix this would be welcome, thanks heaps/tons if you're american

I'm not a professional. But until they get here and weigh in, I'll put in my two cents worth.

Seems to me you need to unbolt and remove the centerboard case, so you can see why it's leaking. If it's just a matter of the bedding giving out you can clean the surfaces, apply a new layer, and bolt everything down again. On the other hand, you may have a rot pocket in the hull or case at that point, which will need to be repaired. How you do it depends on what you find when you open it up.

I wouldn't try to seal the leak from the inside. Even if you succeed, the hull and case would still be getting soaked where the water enters.

[Ike]

Troy is right. Centerboard trunks in old boats are notorious for leaking. This is because the Centerboard puts a lot of sideways pressure on the trunk, and it twists in the hull, especially if it is not adequately supported at the top of the trunk. Eventually this results in a leak at the base of the trunk. I had a 17 sailboat with the same problem and I tried all kinds of goops and epoxy and glass, and the only fix was remove the trunk and re work the whole thing. Make sure there is transverse (athwartships) support at the top of the trunk to keep it from twisting.

When I built my sailing dinghy two years ago I made sure that the center thwart was firmly attached to the top of the trunk. This supports it and takes the pressure of the board off the trunk and onto the thwart.

[PAR]

Troy has pretty much nailed it down. It sounds like your aft king post to hull shell interface has lost it's bedding. This is a common issue and fairly easily corrected if it hasn't been a problem for very long. The centerboard case will be lagged or through bolted to the keel batten. It's typically made of plywood sides, a solid wood post front and back that the side screw to and case logs along the bottom of the assembly, where the through bolts are located.

Remove the board, then the case from the boat and inspect the case. Most of the time the logs and posts get some rot in their bottoms after the fasteners work loose. You can repair or replace these elements as needed. If it's been going on a while you may have rot in the keel batten and planking too.