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I have a 1998 Conquest with a chipped bottom chine that I did not know about until recently. When I went to lower to tongue, I notice water dripping out of a crack the size of a large pen. Probably a 1/4 cup of water was drained out. I left
the boat in that position for another day and found another of drop of water had collected just outside the hole. I have gouge out the hole, removed all gelcoat that flakes off easily and left a fan blowing on it. This particular hole is about a foot below the water line and 1.5 ft above the bottom of kee, so I know water have easily penetrated that last 3 times I took the boat out (about 15 hours submerged). I have several questions for all that have done work on hulls, especially stripping the outer gelcoat and repainting:
1) is it possible for water to seep in throughout the boat, saturating all fiberglass
along port and starboard/bow/stern and possibly collecting at the bottom of keel?
or will this be localized to an area because fiberglass have been impregnated with
resin and only possible because of void between certain sections of fiberglass?
2) if this is the case, what is the best method to drain and/or dry out the inner
fiberglass completely ?
3) how can I tell if my fiberglass is wet /saturated from the inside?
4) if I drill a hole at the bottom of keel to let any water collected drain out,
where should I drill this hole? I don't want to drill it where the stringer is which
will have no water underneath it, because water would have collected on top of it
I know that water can seep in through drain holes, intake holes, other thru-hulls
and from deck without the owner ever knowing about it until 15 yrs later when
things underneath begin to feel mushy. What can one do to identify water
infiltration so preventative measures/maintenance can be taken ?
I am attaching a pic, the crack is at the bottom chine near where the keel
rests on the keel support plate on the trailer
