Keel Painting

[Bill Bowman]

Question:A friend and I have just acquired a 1986 Hunter 23 with a winged keel. The boat has been trailered a lot and does not have any regular bottom paint. It is in great condition except for the keel. It needs "covering". The current paint is flaking and the keel is rusty. We plan on doing a full bottom paint next spring. We would like to do what is needed to get the boat in the water as soon as possible. What should we do with the keel? Scrape and paint? What kind of paint? Or Bite the bullet and do the bottom job this year?We both have a little bit of sailing experience, but not with our own boat and not much experience on boat specific maintenance.Thanks for any replies.Bill Bowman, Muskegon, MichiganBillbobow@cs.com

 

[Kathy]

Slip or Trailer?

Although I just painted the bottom of our boat, I'm no expert on this subject - just followed the bosses orders! However, if you are keeping the boat in the water for the rest of the season, I think some paint is in order. The rust will have to be ground down to bare metal, then painted within 1-2 hours with a special paint for metal (don't remember what it's called). I did that, then painted the whole keel with Interlux ACT. (I had sanded and painted the bottom first. Thought the boss was going to prep the keel, but he's busy working on our other boat) Check the Interlux web site, link below, or get their brochure from your local marine store. Also check out the West Advisor to see if they have any handy hints on bottom painting. Good luck, it's a great boat.Kathy

 

[Bill Bowman]

Thanks for the reply. We are in fresh water. The boat will not be kept in the water, this year at least. We were looking for a "quick" fix to get us through this season. We will be doing a full bottom job next spring as we are planning to but the boat in a slip.Thanks again.Bill