I am considering purchasing a Beneteau 381. I noticed that the keel is cast iron and there is some rust at the keel hull joint. My previous boat, a Catalina 30 had a cast lead keel. Has anyone an opinion on advantage or disadvantage of iron keels.
Cast Iron Keel
- Thread starter JW13211
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iron
I have a '94 OC400 with a cast iron keel. Builders use iron because it's cheaper than real lead. It does have rust issues, but you just grind it off, coat it with epoxy, bottom-paint it and go sailing. Not so big a deal.
I have a '94 OC400 with a cast iron keel. Builders use iron because it's cheaper than real lead. It does have rust issues, but you just grind it off, coat it with epoxy, bottom-paint it and go sailing. Not so big a deal.
Keels and underwaer...
JW : Cast iron keels are cheaper for the company to purchase (than lead) & when you're talking about the numbers Beneteau is involved with, it's easy to understand why that's their choice. Since the weight hanging under the boat is the same (although iron can need attention from time to time) the real question is...is a potential owner up to the task of keeping tabs on things "down under". Larry is right about just grinding it down, covering it up & get going...although (to be fair) if it's left untreated for a long time, it can become a bigger issue than a grinder & goo can fix. To be sure about things, have a good surveyer look it over before you part with cash...but I'll bet that you'll find the problems are superficial. On a personal note, I recall a couple of years ago after having scraped a rocky bottom during the summer...when we were pulling our boat out in October & seeing rust along the bottom of Winpipe's keel... The boat yard owner said to me..."don't worry Paul, you don't HAVE to fix it right now if you don't want to, she'll still sail the same...it's just like wearing dirty underwear really...nobody will know about it unless you show it to em" !!
I had it fixed the following spring. So good luck with the purchase...& always remember to wear clean shorts !!
JW : Cast iron keels are cheaper for the company to purchase (than lead) & when you're talking about the numbers Beneteau is involved with, it's easy to understand why that's their choice. Since the weight hanging under the boat is the same (although iron can need attention from time to time) the real question is...is a potential owner up to the task of keeping tabs on things "down under". Larry is right about just grinding it down, covering it up & get going...although (to be fair) if it's left untreated for a long time, it can become a bigger issue than a grinder & goo can fix. To be sure about things, have a good surveyer look it over before you part with cash...but I'll bet that you'll find the problems are superficial. On a personal note, I recall a couple of years ago after having scraped a rocky bottom during the summer...when we were pulling our boat out in October & seeing rust along the bottom of Winpipe's keel... The boat yard owner said to me..."don't worry Paul, you don't HAVE to fix it right now if you don't want to, she'll still sail the same...it's just like wearing dirty underwear really...nobody will know about it unless you show it to em" !!
I had it fixed the following spring. So good luck with the purchase...& always remember to wear clean shorts !!- Status