Flakey Keel

[tartan30cirrus]

Howdy,

My lead keel on my T30 is not in the best shape. Since I bought her paint has been peeling off the lead leaving bare, corroded lead. I have flaked off the paint, grinded, epoxied and applied bottom paint for 3 years now and am still doing it although it is not as bad. Next year I will probably start from new lead. For now, I am wondering if there would be a problem just flaking off paint (small areas...maybe several inches square) scuffing the lead and painting the lead directly until I redo the keel next year. Thanks.

Cheers!

[Figment]

(hope you don't mind if I expand on your question instead of offering an answer)

What's the skinny on keel fairing? I've heard some rail on and on that phenolic microballoons are not suitable for fairing below the waterline, and others say that this is crap spurned by masochists who enjoy sanding silica.
Tim, recent daysailor photos reveal you to be in the pro-microballoons crowd. Thoughts?

[Tim]

Mike:

I personally haven't heard anything negative about fairing with microballoons below the waterline, and having done so myself in several cases, I can't report any failures or problems.

Epoxy is not infallible and not entirely waterproof...but it's still epoxy, whatever amendments might be mixed into it, and is better than any other choice.

Fairing with only silica? Yikes. No thank you! Most one-off boat hulls and the like that require fairing before final finishing, both above and below the waterline, are faired using epoxy mixed with microballoons, at least as far as I have seen and/or read about. Silica (cabosil)-thickened epoxy is stronger and harder than microballoons, but unnecessary in this application, other than the small amount required for thixotropic filling in any modified epoxy.

Clint:

What you are experiencing is very common, but it seems to vary highly from boat to boat. I remember doing laborious underwater metal priming applications, zinc chromate, and so forth on boats my dad had, with mixed success. Then, on Glissando, I painted right over the bare lead, and have had absolutely no flaking problems.

If the lead is oxidized at all, it may not hold the paint as well. Your best bet in the future may be to grind the keel back to bare, shiny lead with something like 40 grit paper, and then coat immediately, before the lead has a chance to oxidize. It may or may not work...but the primers, epoxies, and so forth don't guarantee success either.

There is no immediate problem with leaving your keel the way it is. All it means is you will continue to have the paint failure since the paint does not bond well, and you may have increased growth as a result. Beyond that, no harm will come, so worry not!

[tartan30cirrus]

I painted the bottom today...2 coats of pretty, red Hydrocoat...and coated over the lead spots. Next year or the year after I may bite the bullet and strip the keel. While I am at it I may check the keel shape with templates...my hypothesis is that it is asymmetric causing me to point lower and slower on port tack. Do I care? No, but it would be interesting to see if I am right and to gain experience doing this wouldn't be bad since I am entering the profession. Racers with spare income pay lots to crazy people who shave and fair keels. I wonder if some bottom paints are better adhering to bare lead than other paints? I would also prefer to not epoxy fill and just paint the damn lead. What a lot of work!

Cheers,
Clint