I thought it might be helpful to share with you all how Ive dealt with the infamous iron keel on our boats.

When I bought my boat in 2003, it was 100 miles from my home port and I had limited time to do any real maintenance prior to sailing the boat home. The keel was not really in bad shape,i.e., it had a number of spots where rust was bleeding through the old bottom paint. I ground and spot sanded these areas and used some Petit RustLok zinc chromate paint on them prior to bottom painting.

After a season in the water, the keel had held up fairly well, but I was not really satisfied with it. I sanded it down as best I could and applied a product call POR-15 which had been recommended by a friend in the autobody business.

The url is: http://www.stoprust.net/POR15_Info/POR15_Paints.htm.