Antifouling . . . and Please Make it Easy

[pinnache]

Hi there I am now on schedule to launch for winter series in the next few weeks with the boat I bought 6 weeks ago...alot of work to electrics, heads and interior with thanks to a bunch of you guys for advice and guidance, and so I come with me Irish cap in hand for another bit of advice. The Hull is GRP with I believe a steel fin keel. I went down tonight to the remarkably warm (16 celcius in October in Ireland someonw has left the heating on) but pitch black marina and scrubbed the hull down with a brush. It has been previously powerhosed on lift out. The previous owner has antifouled each season for the last 3-4 with Jotun Sea force 30 (which is probably overkill as it is designed to last 24-36 months and the boat has been hard stored over previous winters) I have some jotun 30 to give it another coat. Teh hull looks in reasonable nick and sound...no blisters and smooth so I reckon a run of antifoul over that ....but the steel keel had some flakey bits which when you tapped them you could scrap off the old antifoul back about 3-4 layers to areas about the size of a hand...

do I need to be good and prime these and then antifoul over or could I get away with closing my eyes and simply putting a couple of coats of antifoul over these areas...

you can guess which answer I will appreciate more!!!

Seajay

[perchance]

I don't know if this available on your side of the Atlantic but Interlux puts out a little booklet called the "boatpainting guide and colour card". You might find it at yachtpaint.com

[Stillraining]

Sail Fresh Water.....There that was easy..

[SailFastTri]

Sorry to give you the bad news but steel keels will be a maintenance issue.

I haven't owned a steel-keel boat in 30 years so my knowledge of materials is outdated. Here's the way I handled it (two ways) over 8 years:

1. Scrape what's loose, seal with epoxy, use some fairing compound/filler and paint it. It will be cracked and bleeding rust again next time you haul.
2. Strip it all down, seal with epoxy, fill and sand smooth, and paint it. It will be cracked and bleeding rust again next time you haul.

I suggest you read the owners forums and user groups for various models of steel-keeled boats and you will find updated advice about what works and what doesn't.

[dreamer38851]

Sandblast the keel and prime and paint. If you don't you small problem this year will be a bigger problem next year.

[pinnache]

Thanks folks for the advice, we got a good day and we cracked off all the loose paint over the keel and primed it. Last year's antifoul went on teh hull beautifully and I will nip down in the next few days to paint the keel with the remaining antifoul....best purchase a £10 ($15) paint stirrer for use with a drill

CJ