Rust on keels

[blackbeard]

Rust spots are beginning to show through the antifouling.

Have been looking through some posts on this topic. It seems that:
a. don't worry too much about odd spots ( ... but it's starting to get worse)
b. for a more permanent cure, take everything back to bare metal, apply rust killer (or not), then primer and jollop of choice, ideally done in warm dry weather, real swine of a job; or
c. pay someone else to do it.
I think I'm beginning to favour c. above. Any recommendations for yards in Gosport-ish area? About how much might this cost? would it be a good move to get hull Copper-coated at same time?

Boat is a 25-foot twin keel (British Hunter 245), about 14 years old, keels haven't been done since new.

 

[Tranona]

www.symblast.com Based in Poole but works along south coast. Will do blasting and Coppercoat.

 

[viago]

i did mine recently and you are right, it is a pig of a job, my little boat only sits about 18" from the floor and lying in a coffin like place between the hulls all day with a grinder spitting antifoul, paint, barnacles and sparks in your face is no holiday. she's older than yours by about 40 years and has spent the last two of those the wrong side of the surface so you can imagine the mess.
looks nice now resplendent in red oxide.
yes to coppercoat, if it works in your waters. apparently it works better in some environments than others.

 

[oldsaltoz]

Rust spots are beginning to show through the antifouling.

Have been looking through some posts on this topic. It seems that:
a. don't worry too much about odd spots ( ... but it's starting to get worse)
b. for a more permanent cure, take everything back to bare metal, apply rust killer (or not), then primer and jollop of choice, ideally done in warm dry weather, real swine of a job; or
c. pay someone else to do it.
I think I'm beginning to favour c. above. Any recommendations for yards in Gosport-ish area? About how much might this cost? would it be a good move to get hull Copper-coated at same time?

Boat is a 25-foot twin keel (British Hunter 245), about 14 years old, keels haven't been done since new.

Hi Blackbeard,

many of the twin plate steel vessels were galvanised when new, removing this will actually reduce your rust protection.

If your keels are cast iron, they need to be DRY before treating and this can take a very long time, cast iron is porous and full of all sorts of materials ranging from sand to voids left by gasses or other contaminants.

If you are considering painting it it should be grit blasted to class 2 and a half, thats a sivler grey finish with no shadows.
Also note, cast iron will 'flash rust' corrosion will literaly start almost as soon as it's blasted clean, so you need to get that first coat on real fast.

Applying a rust converter will help, but you must have complete coverage and that's not easy with pin holes hiding voids.

If you apply an eopxy coat to prevent water ingress, you arl looking at 4 or 5 coats applied wet on tacky. After curing for at least 24 hours and passing the thumb nail test (no mark when pushed in hard) you give it a light sanding with 200 grit and wipe down with clean white rage and Acetone, then apply an epoxy primer (nothing much sticks to epoxy without a primer.

Good luck and fair winds.

 

[KellysEye]

>apply rust killer (or not

Having had a steel boat I can assure you rust converters are a waste of time, the rust will come back, use two coats of zinc rich epoxy.

 

[William_H]

No do not pay someonje to do the job. It will cost too much and you will probably be dissapointed in the long term outcome. Do not think that a big proper all over job will last any longer than spot repair. Just sand/grind back the rust spots and treat them with epoxy then a/f. I used a courese sand paper on an angle grinder with rubber backing pad. Doesn't take long but then we don't have bilge keels here. between keels would be more difficult. Dry it out a bit with a heater on the spots you don't want to epoxy on a wet job but I don't think you need concern yourself with overall drying out. Just fix it and go sailing. You may have to do the same next winter or perhaps not. good luck olewill