Over the last few seasons my keel has developed exposed lead on both sides. This happened gradually through mild sanding (see photo). It seems like there is a barrier coat in places but not over the entire surface. I've been repairing to some success with 1 or 2 coats of epoxy. Anyone come across this? What's the best solution? Do I need to strip the entire keel of paint and apply a barrier coat or epoxy coats before painting? thanks for all replies/comments!

If only I had this problem. It is a non issue. The only thing to worry about is water getting behind the fairing material where the lead isn't showing. Unless you want to do a refairing job, just put a coat of epoxy over the lead and exposed fairing material, feather it in, and paint. From MANY years of working J-24 keels.

Check this old thread for an extreme case of water infiltration in the keel.

Personally I found when fairing the keel that by using a mixture of West Systems epoxy lightly thickened (mayonnaise consistency) with microbalons and painted over freshly sanded lead using 60 grit paper, it creates a good bonding surface to apply fairing compound. For that I use West Systems epoxy thickened (like peanut butter) with the microlight fairing filler.

Bill, thanks. Is the microballons filler West System 407 and the microlight West System 410? Will I have any issues with the light color under black ablative bottom paint?

thanks Sailon, glad to hear its not a big issue

Andrew - those are the West System numbers. You should also paint over the faired area with a good Barrier coat such as Interprotect 2000e before bottom paint. The barrier coat comes in white and gray. When I did the entire bottom, I alternated colors to make it easier to see between the 4 coats.

The bottom paint should cover the barrier coat without any bleed through. Since you are using an ablative bottom paint, I'd recommend a couple of coats. One trick is to make the first coat of ablative paint a different color so you can see when the ablative has worn off enough to require repainting.