Keel coating
- Thread starter rblevens
- Start date
Anti-fouling paint right on the lead keel seems fine, but most will put a barrier coat, typically epoxy-based, first. Not sure it makes a lot of difference with a lead keel.
All Cherubinis have lead keels. Mine originally was painted too many times with a hard paint which began to flake and leave large holes. When I bought the boat I took everything but the keel down to gelcoat and then put on five coats of barrier epoxy, but not the keel. Still using modified-epoxy bottom paint until 2011 when I had the entire bottom soda blasted. Then I switched to an ablative paint. I have been using Pettit's Hyrdocoat. So that is all that is on the keel.
my bottom paint goes right over the keel. I mean it would foul out otherwise. has anyone faired the keel before and after any performance gains to speak of ????
As far as I know an "Encapsulated" keel refers to a keel that is attached to the hull with fiberglass covering which is continuous with the fiberglass hull. Typically there are no keel bolts. It is not the same as a keel bolted to the hull and covered with epoxy or other resin thickened or not, taped or not.
There are two reasons to consider covering a lead keel with some version of epoxy before putting bottom paint on. One is to prevent electrolysis between the paint and the keel - the paint usually having copper in it and the keel being lead, steel or iron. The other is to fair the keel. Instead of grinding directly on lead, and dealing with its toxicity, a keel can be covered with resin and then sanded fair. With the epoxy, you can potentially change the shape of the keel - but that's another can of worms.
There are two reasons to consider covering a lead keel with some version of epoxy before putting bottom paint on. One is to prevent electrolysis between the paint and the keel - the paint usually having copper in it and the keel being lead, steel or iron. The other is to fair the keel. Instead of grinding directly on lead, and dealing with its toxicity, a keel can be covered with resin and then sanded fair. With the epoxy, you can potentially change the shape of the keel - but that's another can of worms.
For run-of-the-mill sailing and cruising, fairing probably isn't worth it; however, for racing it is.
Back around 1991, '92? or so, a Seattle Hunter 35.5 skippered by Gary Billargen (sp???), one of the salesman for the dealer, participated in the double-handed Pacific Cup race. The boat was essentially a stock boat but the keel was faired by someone who knew what they were doing and, as I recall, wasn't a cheap job. The boat was equipped with a spinnaker and most likely a feathering prop, but aside from bottom prep, the spinnaker, and I assume the prop, the boat was stock.
The good news it that they placed First in their class which was formidable. One of the other boats was a Cal 40 skippered by someone who was a sought-after "hired gun" tactician for the big sleds on previous Pacific Cup races. He wanted to have is own boat, bought the Cal 40 and prepared it specifically for this race.
It's surprising how races, even very long distance ones, are often won by seconds, so "is it worth it"? It depends on the particular skipper's answer. I have only had One PHRF race, and that was years ago. For the class I was in the race was around 6 to 8 hours long. We finished 4th .... only two and a half minutes out of first! Only seconds out of third! Didn't have any numbers on the sail so they thought we were crashing the finish line and being the end of the day it was pretty much a drifter. When the gun didn't go off we jumped up and down, waved our arms, and finally heard the gun. Could have been for the boat right behind us. Never protested and never talked to the race committee, and never raced another PHRF$ race again. And yes, it does cost money.
With regard to faring, there are a lot of other things I'd rather spend the money on. If one can learn about what is needed and do it themself, then that would be a low-cost option. Certainly wouldn't hurt.
ALL metal keels should be primed in epoxy (like barrier coating) before application of copper-based bottom paint. The fact that so many don't do this is not a consequence of proper procedure; it's just that most people don't know this.
My boat had considerable soft/rotting lead when I got it. I stripped all the paint (and 'glass) off the surface, filled the cracks with real lead (like a '50s auto-body shop would have done) and faired the repairs with WEST-based epoxy fillerfairing compound before painting the whole thing in Pettit Protect.
ANY time there are two metals immersed underwater, there will be a metallurgical battle going on. Generally the lead will lose to the copper. They may be so close that the battle will be a long one; but don't assume that all is well when technical facts say it isn't really.
My boat had considerable soft/rotting lead when I got it. I stripped all the paint (and 'glass) off the surface, filled the cracks with real lead (like a '50s auto-body shop would have done) and faired the repairs with WEST-based epoxy fillerfairing compound before painting the whole thing in Pettit Protect.
ANY time there are two metals immersed underwater, there will be a metallurgical battle going on. Generally the lead will lose to the copper. They may be so close that the battle will be a long one; but don't assume that all is well when technical facts say it isn't really.