Hello all, first time poster here been lurking around for a while trying to gather up some information on fixing aluminum hulls. I've got a 2003 Lowe sea nymph 17.5' riveted fishing boat. I bought it a little over a year ago knowing she had a small leak. 6-8 hours on the water and she would only take on maybe 3 gallons....fast forward a year and the last few trips out I've had to use the bilge pump every 30 minutes or so. Sunday was the last day I was out because the bilge burnt out on me. In about an hour and a halfs time without the bilge working and running the boat fast against a small chop she pissed steady out of the drain plug for 13 minutes. Yesterday I filled her up with some water and immediately found about 10 leaky rivets, no big deal as I'll just drill them out and pop in some blind rivets...my concern is on the keel towards the bow she was pissing a steady stream. Its coming from a 1/8 inch gap between two sections of ribbing that are riveted on the keel. So it's hard to determine exactly if it's just loose rivets or a crack. I took a still shot from a video I recorded last night....my big question is what is my best option for fixing? I'm sure I could just use the 3m 5200 sealant but is that going to be a temporary at best fix? I fish out in raritan bay in new Jersey and in new York harbor so the last thing I want is for this to bust wide open one day and leave me on a sinking vessel....Any input is greatly appreciated.
