Protecting Steel underwater.

Fri April 14th, 2006, 11:03 pm

I have just removed all the old antifouling and epoxy from my bilge keels. Or at least my crew has and I helped!

After 15 year of patching up every season I thought it time to strip it all off and start again.

Imagine my surprise to find the Galvanising as good as the day we first coated it, about 18 years back!

I have etch primed it and tomorrow will put the first layer of Epoxy back, should be good for another 15 years!

for good measure another crew member was unbolting a keel bolt at the same time.... Lots of grunts later a sparkling clean unmarked galvanised steel bolt was out, re greased and replaced. See pics on the Stop Press page.

We had two out after 10 years, the same, this one 15 years... Not bad!

John
E 26. Fiddler's Green.

JoJo · Post by **JoJo** » Tue April 18th, 2006, 1:30 pm

Hi John

I have etch primed it and tomorrow will put the first layer of Epoxy
back, should be good for another 15 years!

Dumb question but by Epoxy do you mean Epoxy Resin or is it some sort of Epoxy paint or undercoat.
If it is Epoxy Resin did you use Epoxy Resin 15 years ago

I was under the belief that most people used Polyester Resin as it was much cheaper then Epoxy Resin back then.

I am sure my boat was made with Polyester Resin

Tim
(Waterwitch JoJo)

Fiddler's Green · Tue April 18th, 2006, 9:26 pm

Hello Tim,

Yes it was Epoxy coated all over during the build, ply, keels the lot. At the time it was new technology really, but had already replaced GRP resin, as this was found to get osmosis...

This time I have used an Epoxy paint, but it is the same stuff, just with a pigment in it. One of the problems with Epoxy was I had to add ali powder to it to prevent the sun getting to it, before I painted it.... this time the pigment prevents UV getting to it at all. not that the keels aught to get a lot of sunshine on them!! I'll worry if they do! It was just more convienient to buy a tin rather than a pack of Epoxy for this one job.

I am off to the boat tomorrow to antifoul over the epoxy. you have a window of several days or weeks to get paint on it, for best adhesion....

See what it's like in 15 years time!

cheers,
john

Mike Brown · Post by **Mike Brown** » Sat August 5th, 2006, 11:57 am

Hi Tim
Sounds great. I have just bought a 24ft Eventide And live in New Zealand. When bought, it had been sitting for 2 years and had water in bilge. I will haul out this November to do some work on it. I think I will remove both keels,tidy up and replace keel bolts. Any advise you have would be greatly appreciated, eg what should the bolts be made of. Haven't had boat out of water yet so not sure what keels are constructed of and how they are bolted to hull.
Many thanks
Mike
PS, just found and joined the association. Love it.

Mike Brown · Post by **Mike Brown** » Sat August 5th, 2006, 12:00 pm

Oops sorry, should have been addressed to John.
New to site and made mistake already
Cheers
Mike

Wooden Boat Fittings · Sun August 6th, 2006, 8:52 am

Welcome to the EOG, Mike.

Keep an eye out for Waione somewhere in Auckland -- not our class of vessel exactly, she's a 1907 Logan gaffer. She's owned by a mate of mine, JohnB, who may just possibly give you a harbour cruise one weekend if you're polite to him. (By all means mentione my name. But don't mention boathooks to him though, he has a thing about them....)

Mike

Mike Brown · Post by **Mike Brown** » Mon August 7th, 2006, 6:54 am

Hi Mike
Thanks for your welcome. What a neat why to keep in touch, swap ideas and ask for advise from other members with the same type of craft. I will keep an eye out for your mate. Sounds like he has a tale to tell.
Keep in touch
Cheers
Mike

Wooden Boat Fittings · Tue August 8th, 2006, 2:46 pm

Hi Mike,

It's a great forum, isn't it?

Here's Waione (with the man himself five hoops up) --

(Not a Logan after all -- sorry. She was designed by Charles Bailey Jnr.)

Mike

Mike Brown · Post by **Mike Brown** » Wed August 9th, 2006, 8:32 am

Hi Mike
What a lovely looking craft. I think I have seen it but just can't put my finger on which mooring area. I will keep my eyes open this summer. I will haul my 24ft Eventide out this November to do some work and repaint her. Before I got it, it had been sitting on a mooring in the harbour for 2 years. One corner of the cockpit cover had come off and inside the cabin was like a swimming pool, thus it has stained a lot but hope to fix this with a bit of hard work. A great craft though and I am very pleased with it. Want to keep it as original as I can.

Cheers
Mike