I recently bought a 1988 Catalina 22 and on haul out today I found the centerboard to be half covered with antifoul paint and about half of the board to be rusty. I presume the board is made from cast iron and that the barrier coat or fiberglass has worn through? Should I grind out the rust and apply glass or a barrier coat or antifoul or what? Thanks for your suggestions. Ewjili
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Typical
situation. Although I would be suprised if there were any fiberglass covering at all on your cast iron keel. There are different approaches to the fix but I cleaned my keel of all the rust, gave it a coating of that rust inhibitor stuff I think it was by Permatex. Then I coated with West system epoxy and some fiberglass cloth. Then anti-fouling paint. Seems to work fairly well to stop any more rust from forming. Some will fair the keel so that the profile is more efficient and they get rid of any of the pits. But I'm not totally convinced that for a cruiser, the cost and time is worth the trouble.
situation. Although I would be suprised if there were any fiberglass covering at all on your cast iron keel. There are different approaches to the fix but I cleaned my keel of all the rust, gave it a coating of that rust inhibitor stuff I think it was by Permatex. Then I coated with West system epoxy and some fiberglass cloth. Then anti-fouling paint. Seems to work fairly well to stop any more rust from forming. Some will fair the keel so that the profile is more efficient and they get rid of any of the pits. But I'm not totally convinced that for a cruiser, the cost and time is worth the trouble.
Bead blast and epoxy.
The previous owners of my 1980 C22 removed the keel and had it bead blasted which is the same as sand blasting . It is very reasonable cost wise and removes ALL rust. They then coated each side (1 at a time) with epoxy to fair out the rust caused pits. After minor sanding to remove the amine blush they installed the "Catalina Direct" keel centering pucks to prevent keel pin wear and then painted it with hard bottom paint. It simply is a thing of beauty. It is not necessary to fiberglass the keel if it is epoxy coated. Ray
The previous owners of my 1980 C22 removed the keel and had it bead blasted which is the same as sand blasting . It is very reasonable cost wise and removes ALL rust. They then coated each side (1 at a time) with epoxy to fair out the rust caused pits. After minor sanding to remove the amine blush they installed the "Catalina Direct" keel centering pucks to prevent keel pin wear and then painted it with hard bottom paint. It simply is a thing of beauty. It is not necessary to fiberglass the keel if it is epoxy coated. Ray
What I will do this year
Is sand off as much rust as I can and re-coat with anti fowling paint as I have done in years past. It will take many years to rust the keel down to a tooth pick. The rusting process takes three things. Iron, water & oxygen. While the iron is in the water the rusting process is slowed by the lack of 02. When it is on the hard it is slowed by lack of water. If you want to keep your Keel perfect(almost impossible)glass it over or coat it with some rust preventative and hope for the best. You will have to re-do it no matter what you do. It depends on how involved you want to get. This is only my opinion and I hope it helps you.
Is sand off as much rust as I can and re-coat with anti fowling paint as I have done in years past. It will take many years to rust the keel down to a tooth pick. The rusting process takes three things. Iron, water & oxygen. While the iron is in the water the rusting process is slowed by the lack of 02. When it is on the hard it is slowed by lack of water. If you want to keep your Keel perfect(almost impossible)glass it over or coat it with some rust preventative and hope for the best. You will have to re-do it no matter what you do. It depends on how involved you want to get. This is only my opinion and I hope it helps you.
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