Painting The Hull

[commanderpete]

Well, I need a few more posts before I get to 100 and the computer recognizes me as a "Pearson Specialist"

So, I figured I would post some pictures of my hull painting job. I used the Interlux one part Brightsides. Did the roll and tip application. Came out pretty well I think.

[commanderpete]

Don't look any closer

[commanderpete]

A fetching stern.

Next I need to do the boot stripe.

[commanderpete]

Boot stripe done

[commanderpete]

still needs some bottom paint

[commanderpete]

and the rub rails.

That should bring me to 100 posts and a new exalted title.

[S.Airing]

Commanderpete,hull looks great I think that I could comb my hair in the reflection.What happened to the interior project?

[D. Fox]

I'm painting my boat next week. I finished removing all paint from the hull last week, will fair a few dings with epoxy filler tomorrow, and prime/sand Thursday and Friday. The hull is in amazingly good condition - no crazing, cracks, or other damage was hidden under the old paint.

I'm using Interlux Toplac in Lauderdale Blue. Really looking forward to seeing how she looks after all the work (and finally getting her in the water)...any advice before I start slinging paint?

[S.Airing]

Paint in the shade if you can and at temps around 70 or so.The darker colors are harder to paint than white,the dark colors absorb the suns energy and the paint will not flow as easy.You will constantly try to thin the paint out untill you over shoot.

[S.Airing]

D.Fox hope your turns out well.Remember I`m at Whitehall so I will inspect it.Not that Im trying to put on any pressure.

[commanderpete]

The hull should look real nice in that color.

Good plan to fill any dings or scratches first, because the paint is so thin it won't fill them.

I used thin foam rollers I bought at Home Depot. They are shaped like a hot dog. To tip the paint I bought a $25 paint brush. But, this still left brush marks so I went with the 3 inch Jen foam Polybrushes. You can get them at West Marine, or, better yet, Sears.

I sanded between coats with 150 grit. Could probably have used 220.

Steve's right, thinning the paint is the key. Dust is the enemy. Don't wipe down the boat with anything that will leave lint. Hit it with a tack rag just before painting.

Good luck.

Now I have to paint the interior. Steve is pushing for results :cool:

[S.Airing]

One more word of advice,after you paint stand guard over your boat.People like to check it out and seem to want to touch the hull at least that was my experience.I sanded between coats with 220.Commanderpete,Im interested in your interior because I think I like it better than the Ariels,it seems too make more sense,pluse Im jealous of your cockpit.

[S.Airing]

One more thing,once they go into the water they all look pretty good.

[D. Fox]

Thanks to you both for the advice. I've read everything I could find about hull painting, and you actually came up with a couple tips I haven't seen. Learn sumthin' new every day...

I think my biggest problem will be dust. The boat is in a marina where the roads are dirt and dust flies when vehicles drive by. I'm planning to soak the ground for about a hundred yards in every direction before starting.

Now that I know an inspection is imminent, I'll be extra careful!

Photo from last week is attached. I did some more sanding after this was taken and there's now hardly a speck of blue left on her.

[commanderpete]

Jeepers, that must have been alot of work.

Did your boat come with the toerail? I always wanted one of them. But I'm a glutton for punishment.

[D. Fox]

Yes, the toerail came standard. Its a nice feature, but its a PITA to keep looking good (mine doesn't right now) and the wood is beginning to deteriorate in places. I have one nasty split near the bow on the starboard side and a couple smaller splits elsewhere. Someday it will have to come off and be replaced...I'll have to think real hard about using something else like aluminum.

Paint removal has been a chore. Its not that difficult for the most part, with the exception of the boot stripe which had many coats of various kinds of paint, some which required a heat gun and scraper to get off. The cove stripe was bad because some smart guy decided to use metallic tape instead of paint - more quality time with the heat gun and scraper. But it's all down hill from here.....(I hope).

Dan

[Mike Goodwin]

Fox,

Is your companionway offset to starboard ?

Mike G

[D. Fox]

Yes, its offset to starboard a few inches. Not sure why...guess it allows more space for the galley, which is on the port side.

Dan

[commanderpete]

Fox

It seems like your boat is different than the other Ariels I've seen (toe-rail, backstay chainplate, offset companionway, cove stripe).
The last two don't seem like they would be owner modifications.

Do you know anythig about the boat's history? A custom model?

[D. Fox]

Thought I responded to this last week but now sees there's no post...

My boat isn't an Ariel, but a Bristol 27. I follow this and a couple other boards (like the Cape Dory board) because I'm interested in Alberg designs and similar boats. Unfortunately, there's nothing comparable for Bristols - there's an email list but I like this format much better.

Apologies for the confusion and non-Ariel postings.

Dan

[commanderpete]

Happy to have you. The Bristol 27 is a very pretty and stout boat. My friend just sold his, unfortunately.

Speaking of painting the hull, there is one consideration for those who are planning to do it with regard to the one-part/ two-part paint choice.

My boat had previously been painted with one-part Brightsides. I was considering trying the two-part Interthane. After all, Don Casey says that any idiot can use the two-part paint. I was going to put that theory to the test.

Interlux makes a product called Multithane primer. It says right on the can that it can be used over one-part paint in preperation for the two-part top coats.

I called the Interlux technical service line to discuss the project. Their representative denied that Interlux had ever made any such claim. He predicted disaster if I should persist in my foolish course of conduct. Not wishing to risk all that prep work in the face of such uncertainty, I used the Brightsides again.

So, if you're going to paint the boat with one-part paint, I'm really not sure if you can make the switch to two-part Awlgrip type paint in the future.

[D. Fox]

Thanks for the warning - I am using one-part paint, although I'm using Interlux Toplac rather than Brightsides. Interlux places it between Brightsides and Interthane Plus in terms of performance. I don't foresee switching to a two-part...if I need to repaint I should be able to lightly sand and recoat. Interlux says you can put two-part over one-part by first applying a conversion coat, similar to a primer.

Tomorrow is the big day - putting on the first coat. Hope the weather cooperates. Second coat will be Weds, followed by boot and cove stripes Thursday and Friday.

[Dan Maliszewski]

We are thinking of refinishing the hull on Adele M this spring, and ran across a product called Signature Finish. Seems ok, but not much info on user comments. Anybody heard of it or used this stuff?

[ebb]

That's a specific question. I have not used the product, but to get discussion going perhaps this is useful.

USPaint's Awlcraft, an acrylic urethane, is country cousin to Awlgrip, a polyester urethane, the top of the line coating. Signature Finish is an acrylic urethane. Every paint company in the world makes a paint or coating for every conceivable surface using acrylic urethane. Powered by no/voc-low/voc laws these films have moved slowly toward more solids formulations, not here just yet. My guess is that the kit you would get out of Florida from Fabula Incorporated would be shipped HazMat. My '95 Dodge has an acrylic clear coat over the color. It's getting eaten by the sun.

Awhile back I looked into Signature Finish as a varnish alternative: A 50 square foot kit is about $2 a square (his color paint about 1/2 of that) - you'll get 3 coats of Honey Teak what has the UV blocker and 2 coats of Clear which is the 'sacrificial' coat protecting the blocker. Interesting?

Here's a quote (sic) I copied off the website:
"Honey - can be applied over Money or Clear at any time.
Clear - can be applied over Honey or Clear at any tale."
Very Zen!

Also noted that the Finish has a 6 hour pot life which sounds like it's formulated to act like ole time varnish - for ole timer's ease of application. I'ld guess that the solid colors are likewise. Wouldn't that be interesting? You know, paint or roll this twopart stuff on like it was paint. Assuming that noone else here is into spraying. Repair and touch up are supposedly easy with acrylic urethanes, contrare to the harder stuff.

The president of Fabula Inc. is Tom Fubula. who makes a Big point on his website that he is available at anytime by phone for answers. Personally, if I was going to use a system for the first time, I would rather talk with Tom than USPaint. I don't Know that, I'm just assuming you won't get personal tips like you would from a small company, by Phone!

Be great if someone on the board was brave enuf to try this guy's product.
I didn't run into any color chips on the site or, if I may say so, too many testimonials.

[drp]

The hull above the waterline and topside finish on my Ariel is kinda old - checked and cracked all over - not deeply, but enough to be noticeable. It looks like it hasn't been painted in quite a while. Are these marks something that can just be painted-over, or do they have to be sanded out? What's a good paint (type and brand) to use?

Also, the interior paint is flaking and peeling, especially in the V berth. Same questions as above, I guess. I don't want to get some waste-of-time finish and have to go through this agin in 2-3 years.

BTW - Thanks to all of you who replied to my questions about refinishing the out-for-seven-years-in-the-winter wood on my Ariel. I've got my work cut out for me on that. Just brought the boat home for the first time this Sunday, so now I can have at it. It looks much bigger sitting next to a station wagon than it did next to a tractor-trailer! :)

[ebb]

Hello drp,
With the crazing you describe on the hull, you are looking at a paintjob beginning with deep cleaning, sanding, fairing if you wish, and maybe three coats of HIGH BUILD EPOXY PRIMER.

Assuming that you have no flaking and the hull is sound, you will be creating a brand new base to paint, roll, or spray on whatever film you fancy. What you get is ALL in the prep.


Inside requires a particular kind of insanity. You have to decide what you want. If the flaking you describe is caused by damp, you have to fix the cause. 338 did not have any flaking inside after 40 summers and winters wet and dry hot and cold. You may have a former owner's attempt at painting there in the forepeak, usually without a requisite primer. You may be looking at scraping the loose stuff, and sanding. Not knowing what you got, I personally would avoid machine sanding unless you are into total renovation and want to strip the whole inside.

Look into PeelAway (sp?) as an alternative - a non-toxic paste you layer on thick, cover, and come back next day to remove. It works with varying success depending on temperature and paint and how thick you actually put the paste on!, but will not harm the polyester. Try the Search Button here. Do not use any commercial hardware store strippers. That is a small confined space.

There's a lot on painting on the board, and a lot of good looking boats in the gallery! :D

[commanderpete]

Painting the hull would be the easiest and most satisfying project. The hull is a nice broad canvas upon which to work. The prep work is pretty basic.

Painting the deck is more difficult--removing hardware, hand-sanding, etc.

Before you paint the deck you have to decide whether any core repair is needed, and whether you need to do the non-skid areas also.

In terms of paint, the choice is between one part ( e.g. Brightside, Toplac, Easypoxy) or two part ( e.g. Awlgrip, Interthane). Its generally thought that one parts are easier to work with and two parts will last longer.

There's probably not much difference between brands of paint of a similar type.

Has the boat been painted before? That would make a difference.

Nothing special about painting the interior. The working conditions are miserable.

I say paint the hull first. Its one of the least important jobs, but it will make you feel better.

[drp]

Hi Ebb and CommanderPete - Thanks for your tips! RE hull painting - it looks like it has been done before. The paint is oxidized, and it looks like the paint was pretty thick. The flaked areas show thick layers, and these are mostly around drain holes, etc., and scattered around the hull. I'm pretty sure the underneath is sound. Do the areas where the thick paint has chipped need to be built-up and feathered into surrounding areas, or can you just sand it close to smooth? Also (hate to sound stupid here) - what is "fairing?"

Topside paint needs to be redone, including the non-skid areas. Can those areas be re-nonskidded, so to speak?

Just got the inside wood removed and the boat covered before the snow hit last night. Alright!!

Thanks again. Happy thanksgiving!

[ebb]

'Fairing' is something you should try to find images on the net. Automobilers and hull painters do it a lot. On ebb's Gallery page you'll find some brownie mix on the hull sides that have been 'faired' Fairing on a hull is usually done by identifying low areas on a lowgrit sanded surface, filling by smearing on microballoons mixed in epoxy to a 'bondo' consistancy. Then you take your long board, in the case of hull prep is a bendy piece of ply or plastic with a handle or two, and tediously sand in long strokes at differing angles. I think I have attempted to describe the process adnausem on a thread or two. Or three.

C'pete's lovely young bow ornaments have 'fair' legs. Flawless, smooth surface transitions from one feature to the next. Fair are the lines on page 144 in the Manual. When the sun shines oblique across the hull surface there are no lumps in the shadows - the hull is sleek and smooth end to end with a long unwobbling shadow.

You'ld have to get the jaundiced eyes of a pro to look at the topsides. Could begin here with some photos. If the paint is really sound and sandable you can add more paint. If there is caking and chips or paint letting go from the last job, you are going to have to remove it because the problem will always be there and get worse. If these are isolated, you could fill with onepart fairing compound, even bondo, and hope it'll hold till next time. If the surface is bad (after you have sanded a sample patch to see what happens) you are looking at restoration. That means taking the topsides back to the gelcoat. And the hull also if that was painted. Old dull paint that's holding on teneciously is a good surface to add on to if you go thru the steps to prep.

Gelcoat should only exhabit crazing, hairline cracks in corners and so forth. After cleaning and sanding the surface, wider crazing fissures can be scored with a sharp tool and filled, the rest can be ignored and painted over.

I personally would put on a sandable high build epoxy primer after filling and fairing. After sanding with 120 and higher grit this would have the smooth unbroken surface for laying on the film of your choice. Epoxy sticks to the boat, and all paints stick to epoxy.

Using West Marine products (Defender, Jamestown, Hamilton et al) will probably get more responses here on the board. Been there - done that. The fleet has more experience with epoxy and paint from that marketer and can respond with specific tips and procedures if you decide to use the same products. West System, Interlux, Pettit hope you do.

Once you get the ducks identified in a row, it's a piece of cake. :D


If your deck has been painted, the original anti-skid patterns have been filled either a little or a lot. Or has sand in the paint. That's something that has to be addressed. Also how to proceed with all the fittings there, and hopefully no unpleasant surprises in the deck core.

Images would be very helpful and more specific.

[commanderpete]

Yeah, some pics would really help. The more the better. Are you sure those aren't chips of gelcoat?

Anyway, you need to examine how and why the surface has failed. What type of cracks, where are they located, what is the pattern?

Did a prior owner just try to paint over the underlying problems? It never works.

Like Don Casey says, you need to address the safety/structural issues first.

Paint is cosmetic. Except maybe non-skid. Otherwise somebody might fall down and need help.

[Stephan]

Hello guys,

I've gone from blithely saying "I'll repaint the hull completely anyway" to "Maybe I won't repaint anything at all, only the little repaired spots", and anywhere in between.
I didn't realize how expensive the 2 component stuff is until I looked at the price lists. Then it starts looking as if I would have to pay maybe $800 for primer, 2 part enamel, 'converter' (whatever that is) for my commander's hull. Or am I missing something? With the coverage figures and the books saying you need to use at least 2-3 coats (since I'm painting over existing paint) I'd think I need a gallon of each, or even more???
With one-part enamel like Brightside or Easypoxy it looks like 1 gallon of primer and 1 gallon of enamel will be needed. And what else? That would run a lot cheaper, maybe $250, right? And then there's the even cheaper 'Alkyd' based stuff. In weak moments I considered that, too. But I reckon with all the work of sanding and painting, it makes little sense to save too much on the material itself...

So, what's your advice? And am I right in guessing at 1 gallon of primer and 1 gallon of paint? As I'm a bloody beginner at all this, would you recommend the 1 part enamel to me?

Greetings, Stephan

[bill@ariel231]

Stephan

I've used both the two part and single part polyurethanes like interlux "brightside". Regardless of the choice of paint, it's the work you put into the prep work that counts. If you are painting outside I recommend the single part paint. Why you ask? you may have to sand off a coat of paint if you get attacked by bugs or dust while the paint is wet (it's happened to me on a couple of occasions). Before you jump in, recommend you look at Don Casey's book "sailboat refinishing" or Dan Spurr's "Upgrading the Cruising Sailboat". Both cover the sort of prep work you'll need to do and the roll-and-tip technique.

As for durability, both single part and two part paints will give you similar years of service. Around the boatyard, my boat gets an occasional scuff mark from other boats, ladders and the like. As a result I've painted the boat about every 4 years.

If you are going over existing paint, make sure the paints & solvents are compatible before you start painting the whole boat. Brush some of the converter over the old paint (for two part) or some the single part and let it dry before you commit (you may find the old paint needs to be sanded off).

cheers,
bill@ariel231

ps. my last paint job required just 2 1/2 quarts for the topcoat (two coats).

[Bill]

I didn't realize how expensive the 2 component stuff is until I looked at the price lists. Then it starts looking as if I would have to pay maybe $800 for primer . . . Stephan

You can have it done professionally for about $2k here in the SF Bay Area. That's only about a $1k more than you will spend doing it yourself :rolleyes:

[Mike Goodwin]

I painted #45 for less than $160 , 2 coats primer & 2 coats Brightsides poly , that includes sandpaper, solvents , etc. Use foam rollers and roll it out good, not too thick . Most people put on too much paint per coat .

That was 4 or 5 years ago and it still looks good today .
Here's what it looked like before;

http://www.pearsonariel.org/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=237&stc=1

And after;

http://www.pearsonariel.org/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=269&stc=1

[Stephan]

Mike,

does that mean you used less than a gallon of each? Here in Chicago at West Marine a gallon of primer is $100, and a gallon of Brightsides is another $100. I'd spring for that, but if you say I might need a lot less, I'd buy less than a gallon, or at least single pint cans of the stuff, instead of one fat gallon can.

Your paint looks gorgeous! I'd like to post a similar success story. Weather tomorrow is supposed to be fine, so I can do the primer coats. The real paint goes on next weekend then...

[Mike Goodwin]

I used 2 qts of each .
Look at the West Marine house brand single part poly paint . It is made by Interlux for West Marine and is the same thing as Brightsides , just cheaper!
I think I usd the 333 thinner , I pour both cans into a gallon container , add max amount of reccomended thinner , mix well and pour back into original containers.The amont that won't fit is what you start with.
Use the small, hard, white foam 'hot dog' rollers and roll the paint out as far as you can , really work it, but roll slowly . Too fast and you get bubbles in the finish that may not go away .
The best foam roller covers are made in Germany and are available at the Depot or Lowes and get the small plastic roller pan .

Prep everything with a Porter-Cable or DeWalt 5" random orbital sander .

[Stephan]

Thanks for all your tips, Mike. The thinner is the trick maybe to get thin films and make do with 2 quarts of the stuff. That's nice to know. The West Marine brand you mention is 'Seaglow', right? You think it's the same as Brightsides? Great! I'll head to the store soon and buy the stuff then and try my luck later today, weather is perfect...

[Mike Goodwin]

Sea Gloss !
My buddy that worked at West , assured me it is the same , as Brightsides.

[Stephan]

Thanks guys for all your tips. I still didn't paint her because last Sunday it turned very cold suddenly, and I understand that you should paint within a certain temperature range. I wish I'd have the weather you enjoy in California.
I got Brightsides 1 compontent polyurethane paint (thanks for the hint about West' Sea Gloss being the same, but they didn't have the color I liked). That cost $34 per quart, and after reading up on your posts and Don Casey's tips I guess I might be fine with just two quarts after all. The old paint is Awlgrip (according to an old surveyor report) and maybe 16 years old!! However, apart from multiple scratches, being generally dull and the damage I showed you guys before, it's in 'good' condition. So I will sand the surface and currently I'm considering skipping the primer altogether -according to the books it is maybe unneccessary. I'll report after next weekend if that went well...

[Mike Goodwin]

Primer is good for filling all the minor scratches that dont show until the final coat is on .
I usually spot fill bad gouges with surfacing putty from 3M , sand them down, prime 1st coat , sand that with 180 on an orbital sander , then prime 2nd coat & sand .
Wipe the boat down with de-natured alcohol and lots of clean rags between coats .

You can paint as long as it is not windy and the temp is over 50 degrees , 60 to 70 is best .

[epiphany]

Instead of the roll-n-tip method, has anyone given thought to (or even better, tried) using one of those "paint pad" applicators? They're like a thin sponge-backed furry piece of cloth which tips out the paint as you draw the applicator along. Seems like they do the same function as a roll/tip job, but in one process...

I'm wondering about it for boat use, since I've used them with great success while painting interior walls of houses/apts. I worked as a commercial painter for about 10 years, and had *plenty* of experience with conventional rollers/brushes/sprayers. The paint pads worked surprisingly well, when I tried them a couple years after becoming a not-a-painter...

"Katie" suffers from inadequate prep work done prior to her last painting - she has places where mold/mildew is growing *under the paint* on her hull, so a redressing is in her future...

[Robert Lemasters]

Do not use the paint pad applicators, tried one on my Commander as an experiment when I painted it the first time too many bubbles and it streeks. I have repainted my hull two times sinse I bought the ol'boat. The first time was restoration and the next hurricain damage. If I ever do it again, I would follow Mike Goodwin's advice as to fairing and preping the hull. From my experience and temperment, I would use a good quality artist's synthetic flat (Bright) brush) 3"or 4" wide and apply the paint to the hull in very thin layers, as thin as I could get them, maybe three coats for real good finish. More control and management of finish with the synthetic haired flat artist's brush. It would take time but it would be time well spent. I allways admired black hulled sailboats and painted my hull black, no noticible effect on temperature inside; although, dings , scratches and dirt show more so than white.White in my opinion seems to run a lot, and it seems that everything is painted titainium white, it's even an ingredient in Zero candy bars. My wife got me a special water activated $200 a gal super coating that was real hard to apply and a real mess. I went with Interlux and am sure West Marine would be just as good and had no problems except that I applied it too thickley,from inexperience. Get the job done, you don't have to be too perfect no one gets that close to your hull to see little imperfections or cares. Have fun. Sailed yesterday, learning to sail on one of these Pearsons is great.

[Howard]

I just had the bottom done on 355. $800. While she was out I rolled the topsides with Brightsides - 1 gallon. Got some lovebugs in there but still looks good. It is a three foot job if you know what I mean.

[tha3rdman]

whom ever painted "III C's" last time could have benifited from some of the advice here, it looks as if A) they didnt thin the paint enough, or at all; and B) they did not put the paint on in thin coats. Bursh marks are horrendous as are the few runs. About a 20 foot job.

[Stephan]

That 20 foot job sounds like the crime I committed on my poor commander. I painted using brightsides 1 part polyurethane last weekend and thinned it as much as allowed (10%). Since I did it alone I used only a 3'' brush - had no second person to help with rolling the stuff on.
I was surprised to see how thick the paint was. Maybe the low temperature was still a factor (60F or so). I simply couldn't get the coat to be very thin. I used one quart for one coat for the whole hull, which seems to actually be close to Brightside's coverage figures (550 square feet per gallon, stated on the can).
:eek:
The hull was pretty dull before, but now she is very shiny. But the problem is that a shiny surface shows uneven spots (crazing, cracks, scratches) so much more than before that now you can see the 40 years of age. But the worst is that the brush marks and uneven 'runs' are very obvious. And I think darker colors actually make the effect even more obvious...
The next day I sanded the worst bits down a little and put another coat on, but that didn't help much anymore...
I'm pretty disappointed, maybe I was a bit naive, but the finish is much poorer than I hoped it would be. Maybe filling all the little scratches, sanding and priming would have helped, but what seems worse is that the paint looks uneven also on previously undamaged areas...
My consolation is that from afar the hull looks very nice now, but don't get close! :(

[Mike Goodwin]

Prep work is 90% of the paint job , if you don't fill , prime and sand , it will look like you didn't prep the boat . The paint is always the cheapest part of a good paint job.
I fill all the cracks and dings , sand, prime, fill again if needed, sand , wipe the baot down with tack rags and then paint it .
BTW, I roll Brightsides by myself all the time . Tipping isn't always needed if you have the right roller and the paint if conditioned just right .
When it is cold and 60 is getting in that zone , you may need to add a dolop of Penetrol to may it flow better .

You can roll it out a lot thinner than you can brush it out .

[commanderpete]

Consider it practice. It will look fine once she's in the water.

My hull is ready for another paint job.

I think scrubbing the hull with household cleaners in the off-season didn't help matters. This year I used the new paint-safe Interlux cleaner. Worked quite well.

http://www.yachtpaint.com/usa//product_guide/boatcare/stain_remover.asp?ComponentID=22070&SourcePageID=6716#2

Also have to watch out for the Travelift slings. They can chew up the paint pretty good, especially new paint. I like to grab some medium size flat Fed-Ex boxes from work to put under the slings.

Forgot this year. Oh well

Only got 4-5 years out of this job.

[Stephan]

Ah, so maybe I should have rolled it after all. My mistake was to think that the purpose of rolling is to get paint on quickly, and I thought that since I go through it with a brush anyway I might as well brush it only. I have to learn a lot...
I think I've had enough of this this season, now it's time to get her in the water. But the weather is still bad...

[commanderpete]

Saw this on another Bulletin Board. Somebody had posted a question after getting a quote of $200 a foot to paint his hull. Wanted to know why they charged the same price for powerboats, even though powerboats have more freeboard.

A guy who owns a boatshop "gouvernail" tries to explain:

-------------------------------------------------------




One thing is certain, sailors and powerboaters are generally different sorts of people. Powerboaters stop by or call one time and ask, "How much?" followed by "When will it be finished?" They expect the prices and dates to be real.

Sailors stop by five to fifteen times to talk about the concept of the possibility of maybe doing something to their boats when they get around to it if by then they still want to do it. They want to know about the sandpapers, thinners, fillers, primers, topcoats, number of coats, dry times, durability, possibility of blistering, colors to match their significant other's favorite pet's favorite chewtoy..which was lost many years ago but looks a lot like the corner of a photo on the cover of a magazine they have at home and thought to which we might subscribe.
Sailors usually do not actually ever get around to signing up for 80% of the work they come by to discuss and think nothing of the hours wasted by various vendors who have to set aside other tasks to endlessly chat about the sailor's dreams and ideas.

When the sailor finally does decide to have work done, the work must be scheduled between the high school graduation party for the daughter who never sails but might want to take her friends out after that party and the beginning of a series of races at the local club.

Once in the shop the sailboater will visit the sailboat and probably bring a significant friend who convinces the sailboater that the entire paintjob should be a different color and perhaps have a new stripe combination.

Wait! If the boat is being painted there is the issue of the name. A powerboater either shows up with a plastic name on a scrim which is ready to install or takes the advice to go to his favorite sign shop, buys, and delivers a ready to use name appropriate to the task.

The sailor wants to hang paper on the side of the boat, which of course the sailors mooches from the shop, and draw, with the shop's marking pens, name after name after name until the sailor has a pretty good idea of what name is perfect. Then the sailor has to hear the dissertation about painted names and plastic names and consider the possibilities. ...while consuming more time at the shop not only in labor of the guys who have to coach the sailor but just by having the boat sitting in the limited work area.

Eventually the sailor manages to agree and let the service provider actually write down a plan and that plan can be accomplished by the service man....unless the sailor calls half what through the job and asks." Is it primed yet? Can we still change our mind about the color of the paint? OH can you send that color back to your supplier or use it on something else? My baby just barfed and I love the color of the sweet potatoes speckled through that barf. You know what color I mean? Oh you don't have kids? You wouldn't understand. I will bring the barf by...."

[ebb]

I've reached hivernot status in hull prep. Don't want to remember how many months/hours spent fairing the topsides - how many two pot compounds mixed and spread and mostly sanded off. I think I have photos to prove there was hardly 3 square feet of the original gelcoat surface left when I finally retired from longboarding. With some trepidation I approached our 'resident' awlgrip guy to ask if he would DO IT to 338.

When it came time to write a check he told me he had two methods of charging a customer. One was by the job and elaborated that this was for those who arrive, get the work done mostly by yard people, expecting the work to be done on schedule. The other was time and materials, for guys who actually work on their boats. I already had the materials and he charged actual hours painting.:cool: 338 has just had 3, one right after the other, coats of Proline (a high build epoxy primer) sprayed on with not a hint of orange peel. The boat looks ready right now to launch - without the color! So S M O O T H - Amazing.

The beautiful spray job reveals a bunch of pinholes in many places. This is why my perfect sanding required ANOTHER sanding coat. Ve must reveal these anomalies so they don't show up in the expensive urethane. They aren't imperfections in applying wet paint like fisheyes but glitches in the hull surface from various trowelings or gelcoat sand-thrus into the fiberglass which often has porosity. Tiny nasty craters.

I was told to "hard trowel" them without build-up. Just fill the buggers, no build-up. The trick is to mix West System 407 filler into the high-build paint itself to make a nice moist spread. Did a lot of fairing in the last weeks this way because it's very easy to sand. I'll be longboarding on Sunday one last time, very lightly with 150, never breaking thru the job. Can't bring self to use the rotary sander. It IS ALL in the prep!!! Then the awlgrip system goes on with 545, their epoxy sealing primer. This gets sanded with 320! Probably use the rubber block for this. Lightly. Then the LPU color gets misted on. Two, three right after one another.

Three coats Proline on 338's topsides came out to nearly One gallon. You need some Proline thinner for the mix and the gun. You can use ANY epoxy, any epoxy hi-build under the awlgrip sealing primer. It doesn't matter because when set the epoxy is essentially inert. Whether a plastic sticks to the substrate, that's the important part. Have to use good epoxy.

Forget the countless countless hours of prep and countless trowelings of mucho dinero. As I gets older forgetting gets easier.:confused: All that hard work is just getting painted over!! Damn, forgot to take a picture again.

[c_amos]

You are killing us Ebb.....

We wanna SEE it! :D

[mbd]

The boat looks ready right now to launch - without the color! So S M O O T H - Amazing.You tease! :rolleyes:

I second that Craig! A new paint job and those toe rails? Mmmmm...

[ebb]

The Proline high-build went on like a latex exam glove. Transformed the hull like a hand is transformed in a tight rubber glove.

When the last longboarding begins I notice immediately that the primer surface retains its shine where the grit (clothbacked 'anti-static' 150 grit sanding belt stuck on lexan sheet with carpet tape) skips and doesn't bite. There is enough difference to see so that the recommended contrasting 'guidecoat' seems unnecessary.

So there is a hell of lot of work here - more and more strokes - because the shiney spots don't disappear all that easy. Removing material has to be done with long strokes. Every spot dulled. I'm happy for the extra full coat of primer.

If I had an arguement for longboarding this late into the prep it's that if I were using an electric sander I know I'd dwell longer on that difficult spot there and create an unrepairable depression in the process. But the sander would be hooked to a vacuum. The dust from longboarding you eat and you're covered in it.

As it is, the edges of the grit on the longboard also can make lines in the sanded surface. Especially when I'm pushing it and getting tired. Can't win. Because the longboard has a lot of surface, colonies of particles can build up on top of the grit that will also scuff the work. Flick these off with the corner of a putty knife. It helps tremendously if the high-build is really set dry. With Proline, it's better 3 days after you painted. We're talking about 65 - 75 degree good paint drying days. Stop sanding if there is any build-up on the paper.

Use the quarter sheet rubber sander with the same grit (but in paper) to smooth the lines away. I'm scared smoothing the quarters just forward of the transom! Tightest curves on the Ariel. That's the area of the topsides that always catches my eye, and I'd hate to end up with cellulite ripples here. The longboard, while bendy, is afterall a flat surface - and these are the sweetest curves! The sandboard 'lines' are hardly scuff marks but you hear how EVERY imperfection shows up in the final awlgrip. I scrub with the rubber sander. It removes little remaining ponds of shine like magic - oh - oh h h! 545 will make it all OK again.

Some glitches showed up that have to be 'hard troweled' when the port side gets done. Can't be sanded out. There will be some more. "How did I miss those?" Some areas that got extra strokes are dangerously translucent with chocolate fairing lurking under a micron of primer.

Rainy season is threatening.:eek:

[cbs]

Hello I Own Hull #272 Commander, Just Had Her Painted This Summer With Awlgrip Lt. Blue And And A Bit More Tint To Brighten Up The Color A Bit, It Looks Great Anfd I Feel The Awlgrip Is The Superior Product Over The Long Haul , I Paid $1500 To Have It Applied, It Was Brushed And It Looks Beautiful, From A Foot Or A Inch Away, But It Was Done By A Professional, I Know I Never Could Have Achieved The Same Look, The Decks Are White And The Nonskid ,bluewhite For Contrast , Witha Red Boot Stripe And Fresh Varnish She Is A Real Head Turner.
I Put Up A Few Photos When It Was In The Yard, I Will Add A Few In The Water. Recards, Cbs

[ebb]

Side two is now sanded. Sanding high-build primer is an interesting phenomena. Imco you need all the high-build you can get to be able to sand it nearly all off. It is awsome how evenly our awlgrip guru sprayed the three coats of hibuild on! Obviously the best is to spray, but I've read (and rolled-on small areas) that rolling on the primer is OK too. Not quite as smooth. You need the buildup to sand off. We're trying to achieve a single surface consistency for the urethane.

If you have a run or a sag, the paint pulls the upper part it is trying to separate from and it gets thinner there. The drip sets up and is easily sanded but there is a mini hollow above it. My method of long-boarding to the bitter end means I'm going back and forth over a large area just trying to work a one inch wide sag down flat. Takes a while.., because if I impetuously bear down on the sander I'm still unable to gouge. Feathering is what I'm really doing working down a flaw. Doing something anyway. Really cannot make a depression to erase a shiney spot even if it is only microns. Keep telling myself that.

I know the hull was fair befor the high-build coat was put on. Certainly doesn't seem like it. After a while the longboard will not remove some spots without breaking thru the primer somewhere else close by. Can't do that! My arms about to fall off anyhow!
So I use the 1/4 sheet rubber palm sander as a 'cheat'. And it works wonderous well! It is like using a pink pearl on a pencilmark - many a little shiney spot is entirely erased with just a few light scrubs. Really is microns.

Letting the front tarp down for some air, an afternoon shaft of sun smotes the bow. And the lord sez, 'What is this sh..? there are pin holes here and 80 grit scratch marks (Yes, there really was!!) -wod you call DONE, you old fool?'
Yea, suh, Ahm way past mixing filler, way way past the 'final longboarding.' So I takes the bitty sander and erases the revelations, likkety-split. And the rest of the boat is in tent shadow, obviously can't see the unsunsmote topsides worth a damn anyway, so I lightly scrub the whole topsides everywhere, port and starboard, stem to stern, rail to boot-top - one last time - with continuous circular motions. Madness. Used one piece of paper per side - and it still had tooth when I changed it.

So here is a fair dull hull now with trillions of 150 grit scratch marks on it. Very obvious to see in the secondary light.
On orders I wash the boat with Joy dish detergent. Nope, can't use SimpleGreen. The bubbles help lift the particles away. Detergent cuts I don't know what grease. Then I quickly hose the topsides off. The masking paper doesn't mind at all. Ready, boss!

[ebb]

545 (Awlgrip system primer) is then professionally sprayed in 3 consecutive coats. 545 is a sanding primer. This is the last chance for perfection.

Then spraycan guide coat is applied by the sander. Sanding is my game. With practice I suppose it would be fogged on with finesse. I make an uneven blotchy mess.
This happens to be a Rust-O-Leum quickdry darkgrey primer. Wait a couple days for dry and cure, then it begins: Use a rubber 1/4 sheet holder with 320 Norton paper. The grey mixes with the 545 creating a dirty, dusty dry 'slurry' that stactically stays on the topside until wiped with a terry cloth. I have, of course, sprayed on too much guide coat. Guide coat is to tell the sander where his sander hasn't sanded yet. Turns out there is a lot of hasn't yet and too much guidecoat. And the 545 is not utterly smooth either, it has a bit of 'peel' to it. Strokes are light. After the guidecoat breaks up and goes, the progress is slow but visible every stroke.

Could use a much softer rubber sander. The ones available are not pliable and conforming enough. With coarser grit I could do some damage because the rubber doesn't hug the surface. Also, every time the paper is changed and I attempt to get a fresh one on tight those damn sharp teeth inside the rubber lips want to hypo fingers.

THREE HUNDRED
BLACK PINHOLES surface after the topsides are 90% sanded back to white. Acne scars appear in patches with dozens in groups. Where in the hell do they come from?
The too much spraying of grey easily pinpoints every one, small and miniscule. Every pinhole is scratched and probbed open with a sharp new dental pick. Many are surface, but many are surprisingly deep. And but for the guidecoat many would have tragically showed up only as the last beautiful coat of Cloud White was drying.

On orders I get a quart of $32 EverCoat metal surfacing fairing compound from the autopaint supply. Soft, loose, lightgreen bondo. Total use maybe 1/2 cup. This stuff fills imperfections where there are no imperfections. Waste happens because it sets up in about a minute. We (Andy and I) hope the color coat adheres well to these tiny spots which are clearly visible with my reading glasses. Yes, indeed. Andy sez he'll spray on two finish coats and check then to see if the paint spans them without soaking in. If he can see them he'll stop, let the paint dry, and let me use some scotch-brite pad on the hull. Gee! Then he'll spray on the final coat. That'll stick, he sez, the wet over the already dry. The spots will disappeared. If the spots aren't showing after two shots then he'll go with three coats all together.

Luckily I don't put the polyester filler on too thick. It sands tediously easy. But if you still leave overall sanding to do (just the lightest bit of grey) to get from 90% to a 100% and then apply the green filler, all the pinholes will fair away smooth. The stuff likes to enter the smallest scratches and chinks and does it without making a bubble over the holes. And the surrounding green stain from the spatula smooch also sands away, all with 320 grit! Now I've got 300+ green beenholes all over the s m o o t h topsides.

When it's finally sanded back to white, I take a 1/3 sheet of 320, wrapped around a small piece of orange shag rug and rub the whole topsides down in circles. It looks burnished now, even shiney. Do this in an attempt to remove real and imaginary lines made by the edges of the sandpaper on the too-stiff rubber block. Thorough, if nothing else.

Rain has arrived,
now it's a matter of what window when. Andy recommends the waterline masking paper be replaced because the buildup of primers and the color film could make removing the masking after the color coat a nightmare. I remove all the masking, and he's correct, some of it is welded under the waterline edge, which has built up. Not too much, I hope, but there is definitely a ledge there! I'm a blue tape kinda guy, but I can see even the stronger - and even more expensive - fineline would have to be replaced if I'd used it.
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ _
Rant:
3M blue tape is a painter's tape. Now the happy homeowner is the target of TV ads I've never seen befor. All-of-a-sudden the blue tape comes in 3 lastings: short, medium, and long, each one more expensive than the other! For cryinoutloud! Wouldn't it be simpler (cheaper) to have one good long lasting tape, rather than all the manufacturing complication and packaging, stacking, shelf talking and advertising? Have to read the blue tape label now to find out which one you've picked up! The cheapest is way over priced as it is!:p

[ebb]

Awhile ago I took the sailplan page out of the Manual and had it enlarged.
This is the drawing that shows a very tall coaming (13" at the cabin) that I've always wondered about. Wondering how acurate the drawing actually is.

I've also downloaded and had corrected at the copyshop a doll's house scale rule that has the inch in 12 sections. Seems quite acurate. The enlarged drawing measures the actual rendered waterline at 18'7". Not bad!
This line is below the bottom of the boottop. Take a look. The drawing has a solid stand alone bootstripe with a curvey top. Here are the scale measurements from the top of the bow and top of stern. Give or take a doll's inch.

Bow to top of boottop - 34"
to bottom of boot - 38"
to waterline - 41"

Stern to top of boot - 24"
to bottom of boot - 26"
to waterline - 29"


When I taped off 338's waterline DFO's and I and time had already erased much of the original two sets of incised lines that one assumes came from the factory. So I chose the top line which had the most marks remaining. They were few and I had some trouble getting something that looked straight (under the tight constrictions of the tent.)

Often backasswards, I decided finally to find out exactly how much of the awlgrip is going to be sitting in the water. Now that the topsides are cast in primer and ready for the Cloud White. (Allgrip is not supposed to sit in the water!)
From the bow to the bottom of the primer - 32"
From the top of the transom to the bottom of the primer - 24 3/4"

Gee, probably don't have a straight line after all! Must have taped the top of the old factory bootstripe. Still have a chance to straight the bottom of the bootstripe. At least the Awlgrip stops way above the designed waterline. Good thing too, with all the weights and measures 338 is going thru. And the best boottop paint these days is a different color bottom paint, Right? Do wonder about how true that drawing is.......

[mbd]

Hey Ebb, would it be possible to borrow the yard's lift for a few hours and float your boat to determine where the real water line is?

Here's how Tim L. did it with his Daysailor project: Striking the Waterline (http://www.tritondaysailor.com/rebuilding/waterline1.htm)

With all the variances in construction we've seen with these boats, different bilge configurations, lead pigs, inboard vs. outboard and the like, a "factory waterline" seems a "qualified guess" at best. I know mine doesn't sit on the factory lines, but squats quite a bit. I've marked the actual waterline, but I've got some ballast to rearrange and a host of other projects to do before I get to the topsides.

Just a thought... :rolleyes:

[ebb]

Mike, that's a good un. I like Tim, he tells everything, which I obviously admire, including where he keeps his chewing gum. I'll study it later. We may have it there in that set, but Tim showed us once a way of using string to get the waterline. I liked it because it was low tech. I shuda done it like he said instead of relying on blind faith.:p

I think we would want our boats to float in relation to the designed waterline(s). I say 'sss' because boats for all sorts of reasons get heavier. Unless we cut the top off! We have to keep track as we sink lower.

Knowing the Ariel squats when the outboard is working. And squats at certain angles of sail that I am not really familiar with... I will be surprised if it is not only where ballast and stores and junk are placed but where all the more or less permanent loads are that will make the boat well-found, or not. There's science to placing weights in a boat to keep it seaworthy and bouyant. "Heave ho and up she rises..."

It's pretty obvious that some important weights will end up in the ends of a cruising A/C. (see Geoff's 'helipad' in the Gallery) Or off to one side or the other. But the original waterline, maybe favoring a bit of extra lightness in the stern, is the holygrail of handling and voyaging.

For what its worth, I believe the measurements are pretty accurate. Whaal, I mean, I took em out of the Manual! At least they could be used to check a current waterline on any catagorical ARIEL. You know, that ole fore and aft trim. Ballast weights moved around to see if trimming towards this assumed datum makes the boat more or less efficient. May be though that each individual Ariel has it's own sweetspot, its own sweet line in the water.:D

Think I'll find that Alberg fore and aft line and incise the datum points on the bow and stern. Or drive in a couple small bronze roundhead screws. Harbor Freight had a laser level for $6.95, including battery, that was used on a sliding stick jig to raise the WL when the epoxy bottom was put on. Theory is that the barrier coat would incorporate the bootstripe to take into account settling and overloading. Brought the topsides back down to the present lines over the barrier. If I was doing it over again, with another lifetime and lots of money, I would barrier coat the whole hull, keel to sheer!

[dasein668]

Tim showed us once a way of using string to get the waterline. I liked it because it was low tech.

String Method (http://www.triton381.com/projects/smallprojects/waterline.htm)

[cbs]

I used awlgrip and had a pro do it , hull and topsides $3500 for everything including materials , it looks fantastic! I painted the bottom including barrier coat myself, thats where i belong where no one can see my work, it was brushed on the hull and sprayed on the deck. light blue with a little extra color on the hull, decks white and non skid bluewhite for contrast, I can't say enough for the pro painter , at the dock or on the water always compliments, for me worth every penny. I posted a few pics when it was in the yard , if you like i can take a few more at the dock.

regards, cbs, madras #272

[mbd]

I posted a few pics when it was in the yard , if you like i can take a few more at the dock.Do you even need to ask? :D

[ebb]

"Do you even need to ask?:D "

REALLY!
We want to see your boat!!!

[cbs]

sorry, had a opti regatta last weekend which has taken over our sailing time as of late, could not get down to boat for pix. i will get some this weekend,

[cbs]

sorry it took so long to get a few pictures of #272 Madras, up anyway here are some shots at the dock here in Stuart Fl. , both hull and top sides are in awlgrip hopefully the contrasting nonskid color will show up.

regards, cbs, P.S. 75 degrees and a good sailing day in S. Fl.:)

[ebb]

Must be that mirror finish!
Your boat has disappeared in reflections.

[tha3rdman]

Well the mess of PO paint is off 97's sides, now the paint choice looms, I originally had been thinking "perfection" but all that I've read says "whY" esspecially if roll and tipping, so I'm nearly set on Awlgrip, but which Awlgrip, Awlgrip 2, or Awlcraft 2000. Being as the house door could use a paint job I deemed it as a prime test bed to get a technique down.

[c_amos]

FWIW,

I am two coats into a 3 or 4 coat topsides job with Interlux Brightsides.

I have followed the advice of the pannel, and am rolling the coats on very thin... I was suprised to finish the second coat today and still have some left of the first quart.....

I looked for the white foam rollers Mike spoke of. I can find white foam, but I do not think they are the same. They are not made in Germany, more like an Asian import... :( They break down and leave bits of roller in the paint.

I looked for the dark foam ones I had used with sucess doing the decks, to no avail. I was talked into a short nap roller and will post the results when the job is done.

I am wetsanding between coats, it seems to be smoothing things out... I will let you know how it works out.

[c_amos]

.....with the exception of the boot stripe which had many coats of various kinds of paint, some which required a heat gun and scraper to get off. .....(I hope).

Dan

I found the same thing. I wonder if some folks don't tape and just use the boot stripe as a 'margin' to be over rolled with topsides and bottom paint?

[c_amos]

I looked for the white foam rollers Mike spoke of. I can find white foam, but I do not think they are the same. They are not made in Germany, more like an Asian import... :( They break down and leave bits of roller in the paint.

I looked for the dark foam ones I had used with sucess doing the decks, to no avail. I was talked into a short nap roller and will post the results when the job is done.....


I was at the local box store... I asked about the 'good' foam rollers, and was told that the cheapies were all that was to be had (from the box store). I was directed to a short nap roller, that was promised to apply the paint as smooth as I pleased... the sales person said they had painted with poly paints with it and it worked great.....

I had the transom done, and was working up the port side (third coat) when Rose said I might want to go back and look at the transom.....

When the paint laid down, there appeared about 1,000,000 little bits of lint in it. :eek:

I quickly wiped all the paint I had applied off with thinner.... used 2 quarts and had paint dripping down my arms and burning my pits... :mad:

I waited for that to dry, and continued applying my third coat with the second rate white foam rollers....

When it dried I had to wet sand it, as there were still a few lint balls in the paint. The fourth coat went on Saturday, I used a short nap epoxy roller sold to me by the boat yard I am working in. It worked well, and with tipping the paint came out pretty good.

[c_amos]

My Haul out;
She looked pretty slimy on haul out;

http://sailfar.net/gallery/albums/userpics/10014/1Haul14.jpg

The Slime layer was worst at the water line;

http://sailfar.net/gallery/albums/userpics/10014/1Haul15WLmuck.jpg

I had not scrubbed the hull since the fall. I normally dive on her for a good scrub before a race. The boot stripe paint has been failing since I got her, I do not think it was the correct type, and it has spent a good deal of it’s life below water due to the boat being loaded with too much gear. I have tried to remove stuff, and for everything I take off I find I need to add two more. I will raise the waterline by about 1 ¾”.
Sanding down the high spots, and filling the lows begins;

http://sailfar.net/gallery/albums/userpics/10014/normal_2Haulout_0018.JPG

There are many, many pictures of this activity, I will spare you. Basically the process was to sand every inch with 80 grit, then with 100 grit I took down all the bad stuff I could see. The obvious bad spots were filled, and smoothed.

Interlux ‘precoat’ high build primer was then rolled over the whole thing and all the stuff that looked pretty good suddenly no longer did. Several rounds of wet sanding and filling took place over the next few days.

I thinned the topcoat (interlux brightsides) as thin as I dared, and rolled it on….. as you guys said it would it looked horrible! :eek:

It was so thin that you could see all the variations in the primer through it! Wet sanding only made matters worse, but the second coat seemed to help a little. I had thinned it so much that we did 2 coats with the first quart and still had paint to spare. We ended up doing 4 coats, 3 might have been fine but for the roller fiasco I mentioned earlier.

I went on applying thin coats, and wet sanding with 400 in between to remove the orange peel, and ‘no-see’em’s’.

Guys, here is a tip for you. Make sure you have a big stick with you because when the rest of the guys in the yard see your first mate wetsanding they will try to steel her from you. :D

We have been on the hard for over 2 weeks now, and Rose has been the only spouse I have seen working in the yard. When asked about this, she answers matter of factly “it’s my boat too”.

The port side after the tape comes off of the boot stripe;

http://sailfar.net/gallery/albums/userpics/10014/normal_101_9691.JPG

http://sailfar.net/gallery/albums/userpics/10014/normal_101_9690.JPG

The starboard bow;

http://sailfar.net/gallery/albums/userpics/10014/1Haulout_Stbd.jpg

We are still working on re-installing the s/s rubstrake. The hull to deck joint was dremmeled out, and the seam and screw holes were filled with thickened epoxy. I am bedding the rails in polyurethane (PL window and door, I love that stuff). It is messy work but should look nice and leak free (I hope) when I am done.

[mbd]

Finally some pics! Looking fantastic Craig!

[commanderpete]

Ahhhh...the glory shots.

Craig has been on a mission.

Looks great. Keep the Faith

[ebb]

Well......last post from us was almost a year ago!(11/30/2006) Andy finally shot the color.
He did an amazing job in the tight quarters of the tent. I was the halogen light holder, and I had to hold the light facing the spray. Thank the 3M gods I had a fairly decent half-face vapor mask.

He misted on 3 coats about 1/2 hour apart. Amazingly there are no skips. May be partially due to very professional light holding. One thing, each stroke of the paint gun is started and stopped, often instantaneous, there is NEVER a runon. Every stroke is separate. The cut was 25% thinner. BUT I know I'll never get it: Air moisture, time of day, wind conditions, temp. Spray tip, air pressure, solvent mix, etc.
Time and materials again. A REAL deal because he charged me in half quarts, essentially for what he used - including the color. If I had to buy all this stuff there would be all kinds of liquids left over. And a DEEP excavation in the wallet. He brought over a used hooded Tyvec coverall for me to wear - on the statement spreadsheet he charged me $2 for it! That's style!


The result is truely spectacular. Now that the lpu has dried and shall we say tightened up (lose of solvent) we have the barest barest barest hint of orange peel. FLAWLESS hints! Only a jerk like me notices this. No runs and few curtains. It's actually difficult because you get whoosey trying to find the surface to focus on it - because it is so shiney. It's a FABULOUS mirror, almost no wobbles in the reflection, the endless fairing seems to have paidoff. If I say so myself.

Little Gull's sexy transom sits outside the tent so you get a pretty good idea of the color. It is a senrendip choice, that came from seeing other larger topsides dressed in it. It's a stand alone white. No red, blue, grey, or green undertones, appears warm, not piercing! A NICE, LIVE white.

Now, how do I protect the topside where I have the stepladder? That's where I impulsively used chocolate filler (407) at the last moment to repair a half a dozen ladder dings in the 545!
No evidence showed up!


3M makes a rainbow of colored masking papers, each for a special use. It is ususal to see greenish, gray and brown - the yellowish one, I've not seen on the shelves, does not imprint on new (dry) paint surfaces. (Actually it is LINTLESS.) According to Andy. I used the greenish, and under the tent blue taped 15" wide to the waterline and 6" over the toe rail. Went thru a winter of damp and one last Joy detergent washdown and hose-off befor painting. That's pretty good 3-wash paper! It is tuff!

What tape do you use on new (dry) paint. The boss says 3M blue that is ORANGE inside the roll. For a sharp no leak line (rather than any blue tape) the translucent greenish tape (Fine Line?) is still the way to go, BUT you have to take it off right away. After more than a year, way more than a year on the waterline the original everyday bluetaped masking came off with minimal cussing. Not a secret, it just was never in direct sun.

One of these days we'll show her flanks off in the Gallery.....

[Lucky Dawg]

We have been on the hard for over 2 weeks now, and Rose has been the only spouse I have seen working in the yard. When asked about this, she answers matter of factly “it’s my boat too”.


Cheers to Rose! Though on many occasions, Amy has hoisted paintbrush and tools for our various remodels at home, boat maintenance has come under my manly purview thus far at our house.

“it’s my boat too”. Well played, my dear!! To bastardize the toast on Pusser's bottle - "To the wind that blows, a boat that goes, and a lass who loves (her sailboat)!"