Leak in boat...have a question.

[guppyslayer]

Have had the boat out several times fishing and after figuring out that we needed some new drain plugs, thought that may have fixed the bilge pump coming on every 15 minutes or so.
Now it comes on about every 30-45 minutes and have figured out we have a small leak in the area near the front part of the boat- on the bottom, is that the keel?
Have examined the area and it looks like someone previously put some type of sealant (form-a-gasket?) stuff all along both sides of the main beam that runs the length of the middle of the boat from the front to the back (bow to stern?). My boat terminology is weak at best! [laugh]

Anyways, i was gonna scrape all that crap off and find some type of sealant to re-apply to the whole area. Is this the proper action to take? Or is this something i need to take to a "boat mechanic" and have them do some kind of welding with aluminum? Just want a more "permanent" fix, rather than a half-arsed one..[]

It's a 95 17ft tracker, aluminum, of course. I read something about a keel protecting kit somewhere recently and was wondering if that is the purpose of the kit, to prevent or ease the amount of damage the seems take when running through choppy water.
Don't know...rookie boat owner.

any input would be greatly appreciated []

cyas
rc

[tomc]

to my past experiance,is to bring it to the shop and have it welded.to scrape the old stuff out and to add more on is a temperary fix,and you will run into the same problem later.the keel gaurd you mensioned is for running the boat onto shore.it was mainly used on fiberglass boats.i have a fiberglass boat and had the same problem,the keel got a split in .it took me about two weeks to figure out why the split happened.while sitting on my bumper of the truck haveing a beer and fuming about the problem,i noticed the roller of the trailer was at the same location as the crack,moved the roller fixed the problem its been fine ever since
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[gdn443]

Took a beer to figure it out. [] I agree with Tomc, get it welded and forget about it. Good luck with the boat.
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[tomc]

it always takes atleast one beer lol
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[Tarpon4me]

ARRRRRRRR Matey, the leaky tracker. I also have a leaky tracker. LOL, atleast it use to be. I bought a large container of Fiberglass resin and patched the holes according. It's holds up pretty good. Resin is some tough stuff. However, not seeing your particular boat, i'm not too sure if that would do it or not. Like aformentioned, you can take it and get it welded and call it a day. That is the most trouble free solution. Take heed though. Don't take your boat to some make shift shade tree to do the work. I weld, and welding alluminum is a tad on the tricky side. If you're not careful, you'll have a much bigger leak, in the form of a hole, than what you started with.

A "keel protecting kit" is a waste of money. Don't even ponder the thought. I don't have crap on mine and I beat it to death. Keep this in mind. Asside from all the mumbo jumbo, it's just a slab of aluminum, there's nothing complicated about it. You pop out a rivet, pop in a new one. You run over a stump and make a dent, you pop the dent out with a hammer. You Spring a leak, plug the hole. It's all good either way, just make sure you have life jackets. LOL [cool]
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[DrownedDesertRat]

I've got me a fiberglass boat and put them seat screws all the way through the bottom of the hull. Nothin' like a quarter inch hole in the bottom of the boat, nonetheless 3 like I put in it. LOL.

So what did I did?

I got me some waterproof epoxy which even cures under water. Welp, haven't had the boat in the water yet, but it sure didn't leak when the boat turned into a bathtub this past winter!
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[guppyslayer]

thanks for all the helpful input! welding it will be.

cyas
rc