> Another newbe question... I've been reading the mail and looking at my 15.
> Inspected my keel today and found the slot had been welded closed... Can't
> galvanize. Plan b... There was a little rust which sanded off easily.
> I'll be at West Marine tomorrow in San Diego and I can pick up some paint,
> but, would good old Rustoleum work on the keel?
Hi Bill et al,
About five years ago, the prior owner of my 1985 P19 dropped the keel,
sandblasted it, and coated it with epoxy. Over all that, he put a coat of
bottom paint to keep the critters off. He had the work done for about $450
at a local boatyard. Then he kept it in a salt water slip for the next five
years.
Today, it is in great condition. There is virtualy rust, except for a few
tiny spots where the tip of the keel has been run aground. So I'd say the
job has held up remarkably well.
>From what I've heard over the years, sandblasting is the way to go. The top
coat is only as strong as the surface to which it is applied is clean. Other
people have ground off the rust with a disk grinder and used a chemical rust
converter like "Extend" (available at hardware stores; it goes on white and
combines chemically with the rust to form a hard black substance. Supposedly
it stops the rust. I dunno, never tried it on a boat, but I've heard of
others who have used it on their boats.).
Either hot-dipped galvanizing or coating with epoxy (as long as you keep it
out of the sun, which shouldn't be too hard with a keel!) is a good durable
finish coat that will give you years of trouble free service. Forget about
trying spray on galvanizing; it doesn't have good abrasion resistance or very
good adhesion. It's good for touching up small scrapes, but that's about it.
Best,
Judy B.
Judith Blumhorst, DC
HMS18/P19 Fleet Cap'n, Potters Yachters
1985 WWP19 #266 Redwing
Sailing on SF Bay, CA
(5-35 knot winds, 2-4' chop, 2-6' swells, and currents up to 6 knots)
Visit <A HREF="http://members.aol.com/jblumhorst/HomePage/index.htm">Judy B's
West Wight Potter Pages
</A>
and <A HREF="http://songbird.com/potter_yachter/">The Official Web Site of
the Potter Yachters
</A>