Coppercoat

[lustyd]

Hi all, when applying Coppercoat should the flexible join between keel and hull, and the flexible join at the sump, be painted over, or should they be excluded? Coppercoat is essentially epoxy so I'd have thought exclusion would be better to avoid cracking which will allow water ingress under the coating? I don't seem to be able to find info on this and Copercoat don't seem to have much in the way of instructions on their website other than a video that basically says paint it on.

 

[Tranona]

Mine was applied seamlessly over the joint, and when i recoated the iron keel I ran the new coating roughly 20cm into hull. However the Bavaria keel is glued on (as well as bolts!) and there is no discernable flexible joint. Not sure what you mean by sump, but the same principle will apply if it is a joint.

 

[lustyd]

The Bav may be different but Jeanneau and Benneteau have a sump visible on the keel from either side, with a smile shaped bead of sika. The keel/hull join also uses sika as it needs to be slightly flexible to avoid damaging the hull or breaking the seal and leaking. The boat we're looking at has CC over both and the hull/keel seems undamaged but the sump section needs repair so thought I should ask what the correct procedure would be to determine whether there may be problems ahead.

 

[Tranona]

OK so set in a recess in the hull. The sealant is just to fill the gap and doubt it will ever flex so no reason not to run the CC over it.

 

[Halo]

Mine has the cc over the joint. It also has several layers of epoxy under the cc including the joint area. No problem so far (8 years in)
I would not want to give any opportunity for water to get under either epoxy or cc.

 

[lustyd]

Thanks both seems normal practice then which is a little odd as it’s definitely not recommended to replace the sika with epoxy on the keel/hull joint. The hull looks otherwise quite good so hopefully all applied properly and will last many years.

 

[coveman]

Give coppercoat a call - in my experience, they have always been very helpful.

 

[Elessar]

Thanks both seems normal practice then which is a little odd as it’s definitely not recommended to replace the sika with epoxy on the keel/hull joint. The hull looks otherwise quite good so hopefully all applied properly and will last many years.

Worst that will happen is it will flake off the sika.
Water won’t penetrate between the cc and the hull.
Masking it will mean a bit of unpainted hull which the critters will stick to.
I’d paint over it.

If you are doing it yourself some tips.
Just do the hull, not the keel and the rudder on your main painting day.
Makes your day more manageable.
And when you move the chocks you are not mixing tiny quantities to just paint the pads.

Take the fuse out of the water pump.

Always use masking tape to make a drip rail just above the waterline. It’s time consuming but worth it.

Think thin when applying. If coat 3 is still patchy that’s ok don’t let your eyes make you go thicker on the lighter bits.