Pitting in Keel- fill or paint over (time sensitive question)

[AuChante]

I'm researching but need an answer asap as it's at the yard right now. There's 2 pics of the raw steel after first round of blasting and sanding and 1 pic after one primer coat to seal it up. Should I have them "skim it with West system" (quoted from text they sent) to fill the voids or just bottom paint as is? It seems like filling would just be cosmetic... maybe a negligible drag reduction.

[sandy stone]

Fairing the keel at this point seems like a no-brainer to me. Would you be saving a significant amount of money by not doing the work?

[AuChante]

Originally Posted by sandy stone

Fairing the keel at this point seems like a no-brainer to me. Would you be saving a significant amount of money by not doing the work?

I told them to do it... Now it won't be ready for yet another weekend


It adds $400 to the bill. It looks like the two negative factors are losing a kt or more and being much harder to keep clean. The yard said it is mainly cosmetic, but I didn't want to make an uneducated decision.

[Don C L]

I think you made the right call.

[Scubaseas]

It would be mainly cosmetic. Next time you get it blasted have them acid etch it before they prime it if not done this time. Barrier coating primer recommended. Fairing it really shouldn't take that long though. I would fair it if it was my boat.

[pcmm]

Originally Posted by AuChante

I'm researching but need an answer asap as it's at the yard right now. There's 2 pics of the raw steel after first round of blasting and sanding and 1 pic after one primer coat to seal it up. Should I have them "skim it with West system" (quoted from text they sent) to fill the voids or just bottom paint as is? It seems like filling would just be cosmetic... maybe a negligible drag reduction.

Unless you treat the steel (cast iron) with something to stabilise it, fairing it with West is only a temporary solution. It needs to be stabilised with something like POR-15. What primer are you using?

[AuChante]

3 coats Interlux 2000 and 2 coats SeaHawk Cukote. The way the invoice reads, it seems like all the primer and first coat of antifoul is keel only, then additional coat of antifoul on entire bottom. I believe the filler will go on top of first primer coat. That rusty picture is after the first round of sandblasting. They let it sweat and completely dry, then blasted and sanded and immediately coated with first primer coat.

[pcmm]

Originally Posted by AuChante

3 coats Interlux 2000 and 2 coats SeaHawk Cukote. The way the invoice reads, it seems like all the primer and first coat of antifoul is keel only, then additional coat of antifoul on entire bottom. I believe the filler will go on top of first primer coat. That rusty picture is after the first round of sandblasting. They let it sweat and completely dry, then blasted and sanded and immediately coated with first primer coat.

Well you'll probably get a few seasons out of that. Hopefully they didn't charge much

[Scubaseas]

If there is a next time, after it's blasted wash liberally with fresh water, let dry and then apply Ospho 605 before priming. Por 15 is also a good product but I've had better results with the topcoats with Ospho. Both products use phosporic acid to etch the iron.

[AuChante]

The grand total is $4,400 for everything previously mentioned, anodes, engine oil change and assessment, prop recondition, running gear paint, fiberglass/gellcoat touchup to redo the registration numbers, electrical safety inspection, and inspection/repair of all the hull penetrations. From all my conversations with other boat owners, this yard is very highly regarded so I'm confident that they did the job right.



This boat was a marina foreclosure ($6,000) and after this bill, I think I'm up to the lower side of market price for the boat. I'm actually very happy that the keel was the only surprise. Now the only problems I need to address is a soggy spot in the floor, eventual transmission replacement, head pump, and steering linkage adjustment. I'm definitely figuring out the whole "throwing money into a hole in the water" saying. Especially when slip fees are factored in.

[Greatest Lakes]

It's a good call to fill. You don't need the drag, or any critters taking up residence. Hard to scrape clean.

[MicHughV]

I echo the fill decision...good call......trying to put bottom paint over a surface like that will generally not work for very long...

[more]

Originally Posted by AuChante

I'm researching but need an answer asap as it's at the yard right now. There's 2 pics of the raw steel after first round of blasting and sanding and 1 pic after one primer coat to seal it up. Should I have them "skim it with West system" (quoted from text they sent) to fill the voids or just bottom paint as is? It seems like filling would just be cosmetic... maybe a negligible drag reduction.

you need bigger Zinc round bolt on anode

[AuChante]

This expands a bit outside the thread topic, but I visited today and have questions. I may not be savvy with bottom paint, but I know some stuff about regular paint and I’m worried. There’s bubbles, leaking bubbles, unpainted portions (including bottom of keel sitting on blocks) and leaking rust. Thoughts?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvWdc0Hmdvw

[Don C L]

The link doesn't work for me but are we talking about portions not painted with primer?