Rusty Keels Rant
Last week I sanded all the rust and old antifoulant off a 25 year old Hunter 34 keel. It was a bust ass job involving holding my 15 amp Milwaukee Grinder up for over three hours.
AQnybody is welcome at any time to come to the shop, pick up, and hold that grinder. Most people could at least do that for a short time.
On the other hand, I seriously doubt most people could safely hold that grinder and turn it on.
I KNOW most of my boating friends would not and never have been in sufficient physical condition to pick up that grinder, turn it on, and sling it around for three hours.
Grinding the rust and old paint off a 25 year old rusty keel is a nasty job where nasty particles of toxic paint and big chunks of rust fly all over the room and make a mess of everything. it takes about an hour to sorty clean the shpop after doing one of these keels and it takes about a week and three or four sweep up / blow out. wah downs to remove the visible memory fo teh filthy task.
But that is not the worst part...
The actual task involves dressing up in a paper suit and a mask and a hood and slinging around a very heavy overheated sander for about three hours. By the time I am finished, my socks are soaked with sweat that has run down my legs and the socks are also permanently dyed with rust and antifoulant. Usually there is even crap under my toenails that takes more than a simple shower to remove...and of course my sneakers are left so full of crap they will never ever come clean.
Physically? A three hour bust your ass workout may be good for long term health but, that three hour bust ass workout leaves me useless for anything else that day. I am generally left too damn tired to even think clearly much less do more physical work.
But., although the above describes some horrible stuff and although it is already abundantly clear that I MUST charge a LOT OF MONEY to grind all the old rust of a keel..
There is one more thing that totally causes me to be mad as hell whilke I suffer through the keel stripping job.
IT NEVER NEEDS TO HAPPEN!!!
That's right...Never!!
Back in 1982 I sanded down my first iron keel and coated it with a couple coats of epoxy. That keel is still just fine. I repaired a 4 inch long gouge in it's leading edge about 15 years ago but other than that, it has needed ZERO rust related maintenance.
IN fact NO KEEL has ever been sanded and epoxied by me two times. NONE ZERO ZIP NADA!!!
The process is simple, Get a brand new cast iron keel, coat it with epoxy, NEVER do it again!!
Never!!
Well at least I can say Any idiot should be able to make his first try last no less than 27 years.
If the morons who built the boats with cast keels would simply sand the bare metal and apply a couple coats of Interlux 2000 or Regatta Black Mastic or even VC Tar I would NEVER have to sand the entire rusty keel.
Then there are the morons at companies like Catalina who specify and apply polyester fairing material next to the bare metal and cause water to soak in to that polyester and make a big rusty mess for somebody like me to grind off a few years later. Screw those lowlife scumbags!!!
The technology and the knowledge was there in 1982 such that the woman who owned the Southcoast and I could spend one Saturday afternoon permanently ( 26 years and counting) sealing her boat's keel.
Anybody who has failed to seal a cast iron keel with epoxy directly against the metal since 1982 has simply not cared about his or her work.
Anybody who has purchased a Catalina , or Beneteau with a keel that subsequently rusted has theoretically "saved" whatever money was "saved" by the manufacturer but....I DIDN"T SAVE ANY OF THOSE DOLLARS!!!
The rusty metal and blistered paint would not be there if those saved dollars had been spent on proper sealing or a lead keel. One thing is certain, I am NOT the person who took those saved dollars and bought some Dell stock at their IPO.
It is simply practicality. The "note" for the original cheap ass job is now coming due.
I am the pay me now or pay me later guy and it is later.
The very real task is physically difficult to accomplish and everything about it is FILTHY.
Further: The tool is expensive. The shop space is expensive. The clean up is expensive.
As of June 3, 2008 when gasoline costs only $3.75 a gallon....
Some predicted prices to grind a cast iron keel to bare metal and properly seal with Interlux 2000 epoxy.
Catalina 22: $500 grinding labor, $40 sanding discs, $150 coat with epoxy, $80 epoxy materials, Basic fairing $150, Fairing material $100, Race Fairing add $1500 to $2500.
Hunter 34: $800 grinding labor, $60 sanding discs, $150 coat with epoxy, $130 epoxy materials
Pearson 26: $800 grinding labor, $60 grinding discs, $150 coat with epoxy, $200 re fair around keel hull joint, $150 to $250 materials for fairing around keel to hull joint.
Beneteau Typical 30 foot boat wing keel: $800 grinding labor, $50 sanding discs, $150 recoat with epoxy. $100 Epoxy materials.
Finally: We can do a bottom job and continue to ignore the rusted keel that has already been ignored since the boat was new. We might even be willing to knock off the rosebuds of rust and just paint over it as everyone else before us has done. The lumps will not begin to grow back for a week or two and your boat should perform at almost full speed for at least a month.
As we have a reputation to protect, we will almost certainly require a signed statement promising never ever to complain about the substandard job you specified.
I feel much better now.