Rusty keel

[simonthepom]

I've been here in Greece for about a month now, getting the refitting done. Most jobs I've managed to tick off the list which I'm quite happy about. I was planning on launching next week to start cruising the Ionian before the crowds get here. Yesterday a guy (supposedly very experienced old salt) told me that we have seriously problems with the keel and he pointed to the rust spots. He said this is very dangerous and that we should get it fixed before launching. We might even lose pieces of the keel... He then showed us a similar boat to ours (1995 45.1) that him and his guys had just completed a complete epoxy job on - a very messy and tedious job of removing all paint with a grinder, then epoxying, then primer, etc etc.  It is only surface rust as far as I can tell. I've called the surveyor who did the pre-purchase survey and he said it will be fine. 

Of course, he said he might be able to "squeeze us in" next week and get the job done. To me, this guy is just fishing for work and 3,000 euro its no small job - a. I really don't want to go to that expense and would rather use a bit of phosphoric acid then prime and, b. I don't really want to delay going in the water any longer (a month on the hard is getting a bit boring...)

Keen to hear anyone's thoughts who those who've also got rusty (cast iron) keels which is a lot of you I suspect....

cheers,

[dbostrom]

From what I understand rust spots on iron keels are pretty much SOP; getting a coating perfect enough to protect 100% of area 100% of the time despite bumping into various flotsam, jetsam etc. is effectively impossible. So, rust spots.

Can you dig a screwdriver into one of these gaping maws of certain death? I doubt it. 

Our boat was just in and out. Same from local surveyor (and yard people who of course are ready to whip out a  bucket, brush and a credit card terminal): "It's nothing. Stabilizer, paint, done." Nobody's hair caught fire. 

Sounds as though you're being buffaloed.

Ask him his rate for hot-dip galvanizing the keel. 

[hoppy]

Certainly sounds like fishing for an opportunity for a good payday.

Perhaps it couldn't hurt to post some pictures here. I'm curious to see what made the guy think

[Trevor]

Hello simonthepom,

The keel is cast iron so rusts quite slowly and as far as I know when the iron oxide forms it is protective like oxide on aluminium. It would take a very long time indeed for rust on your keel to actually damage the keel. The comment about bits falling off is pretty strange I think.

I know people do epoxy the keel but I don't think a procedure like that could ever really be called "urgent".

Regards,

[simonthepom]

thanks for confirming my suspicions guys. I've since painted the keel with primer (and applied phosphoric acid beforehand) so not going with epoxying he suggested. Bring on some fine weather for the anti foul but not looking likely...

[jdl01]

Hi Simon,
A rust spot on a cast iron keel is not a big issue as others have noted. However, if it keeps recurring in the same place next year and the boat is going to be on the dry for a couple of days, it is worth grinding back the epoxy about an inch beyond the rust area and reapplying an epoxy patch. Rusting will creep between the iron and the epoxy over time and break the bond to the iron, even though the epoxy remains in place - hence the need to cut back the old epoxy when patching. This is pretty standard iron keel maintenance.