Painting.... good enough for government work.

 When I changed the aft companion way hatch I had to enlarge the turtle. I cut it down the middle, reinforced it underneath and filled in the join. I did not spend a great amount of time fairing. Today I finished painting with Quantum 99 and Kiwigrip non skid. Its good enough for government work.

Painting..........Quantum 99

Let me start by saying, I hate painting.  It might be the trauma suffered over 24 years in the Irish Navy where the motto appeared to be "if it moves, salute it, if it doesn't move, paint it."   I hate the prep work, I hate the application but most of all I hate paying someone a ton of money to do a so-so job.  Sure, if I was prepared to pay out $$$$$$ I could get a yard to spray Awlgrip and have a lovely paint job.  But its still a 40 year old boat, with all the wear and tear that goes with that.

If I was in a location with reasonably priced labor, like Sea Biscuit,  I would probably spring to have a crew spray the hull. If I go this route I would still favor Quantum 99 over Awlgrip due to repair-ability.

The options most of us DIY types have are;

1.  Get a local painter to roll and tip Awlgrip.  I have seen some lovely work.  More often, I've seen lots of "adequate" work.  The price difference is not huge, its a bit of a crap shoot.  Awlgrip cannot be sanded out to remove imperfections or repaired afterwards.  My "ballpark" for a good painter in Miami is about $10K for the deck alone and I think that's on the low side. 

2.  Paint with Interlux two part, or similar.  I don't think this is long lasting enough to justify the time and effort involved.

Then along came Quantum 99 paints.  Read the history here;  http://quantumpaint.com/about-us/

Today I went to a seminar  in Forth Lauderdale taught my Jon Boswell.  It was attended by a group of professional painters for the area.  I kept my head down (yes I know, not easy for me) and watched them spray paint.  Impressive, but I think they are the wrong audience for this product.  I believe that some yards are using it but the change over from Awlgrip or Awlcraft won't be led by the shooters.  As the customer pays for the paint why should the risk learning new tricks and probably botch a job in the process.  This is why Awlgrip has been around since 1973.

My interest was in rolling this paint.  (Note: tipping is not necessary or recommended).  Here are some photos;

Seminar.

The Genius bucket, everything you need in a bucket; https://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/show_product.do?pid=336090

The aforementioned Jon Boswell.

My first attempt at rolling on this paint. I'm sure I'll get better.

 My second attempt.  Getting better might take some time.

A few points;

1.  This paint goes a LONG way.  Don't compere it gallon to gallon with Awlgrip. Jon stated that 2 gallons painted a 50ft Beneteau hull.  You have to roll most of the paint off the roller and really stretch it out on the surface.  The last roll should be in one direction and light.

2.  You can overcoat in 3 hours but better to wait overnight and sand out imperfections.  Did I mention that you can sand and repair this paint.

3.  It contains more solids that Awlgrip.

4.  I will definitely use the Quantum 45 Epoxy primer on the deck, first.

5.  I will still probably use Kiwigrip for the non skid.

I'm not saying that my deck with look as good as your sprayed Awlgrip, but I may have 10 cases of good single malt in my bilge, bought with the money saved, to ease the shame and embarrassment.


"I have no vested interest in this product and have not been bribed in any way.  Obviously, being a sailor I am always open to corruption."

Ceilings painted - again.....

We have had a sort of monsoon in South Florida for the last month.  I had a painter lined up for the deck but it was a no go.  I let him loose below decks and he did a great job, except for the dust.

I must admit I now prefer Interlux paint for this work instead of Pettit I had used in the aft cabin on the previous occasion.

 

Kiwigrip.......

I will have to face up to the deck on TIH in the near future.  The smooth parts will probably be Awlgrip which I will contract out as its too much voodoo for me.   The non skid parts I will probably do in KIWIGRIP.  I bought two quarts of it some time ago and always planned to do a test run, which the company recommends.  The top floor of my cockpit locker proved an ideal opportunity.

I am pleased with the results and ease of application.  Search kiwigrip on YouTube for advice.

KiwiGrip - deck paint....

I have always been interested in this product as a deck paint. But I may also use it as paint for the strips on the cabin sole.

Kiwigrip



To date they only produced white and pastel colors but I just go this e-mail from them;

"My factory is also brewing a "tan" color - something "teak-like" but I would stop way short of calling it dark brown! It'll be a light tan. They are brewing this week for shipment in a week or two. Then 25 sailing days, and 10 days getting thru customs and into our warehouse here in Seattle. This means it should be here end August, early Sept. If your schedule will allow, you may want to give our new "tan" a whirl. - Willy Stiggelbout "

If it looks horrible I can always paint over with a lighter color.

Cabin Sole and saloon deck...advice needed.

At some stage I will have to face the cabin sole paint project. New W42 owners were give two options for the cabin sole;

1. A full teak and holly sole at extra cost.
2. Drop in floorboards (teak and holly) which fit into the molded inserts in the hull liner.



The second option, which I have, leaves a painted white strip between the floorboards which I think looks a bit weird.



The PO was kind enough to include a complete set of new drop in boards with the boat. These have been languishing in my apartment for some time.



My two questions;

1. Any ideas on how to deal with the fiberglass strips between the boards (paint, what color, teak strip glued on, etc)?

2. What type of varnish for the new floorboards?

Half the ceiling finished.....

I will NOT be showing the mess behind the camera.

A 5ft painter.......

Which means that my painting is acceptable when viewed from at least 5 ft away. For some reason I had totally forgotten my previous experience with Interlux Brightside and that I had found Pettit Semi gloss more forgiving. Well I have now relearned this the hard way. I found getting the right mix of paint and thinner (333) difficult to achieve and ended up with some areas with roller marks on the ceiling. I will just have to keep the lights dimmed.

Finally back on the boat.......

The boat looks like a bomb hit it. I have about 12 half finished projects on the go. I think I had ADHD when it was called "not paying bloody attention". The problem with boats is that they are "layered". You pull something out and then realize that if you put it back you will have to pull it out again at a later stage to get at something else. At least that's my excuse. I did manage to finish painting the port side of the saloon and got some paint/varnish on the shelving/partitions.

Putting the pieces back together...at last..

More painting...ZZzzzzzz......

Cetol V. Varnish...

When it comes to stuff like varnishing etc. I am very much in the 80/20 camp. If you can achieve 80% of the results in 20% of the time - party on!!!!!!.

In the lower photo the door was lovingly sanded and painted (not by me) with three coats of varnish. The panel on the left and in the top photo were sanded and painted with two coats of Cetol Light followed by two coats of Cetol Gloss. Spot the difference???



Before photos for reference.

Painting

TIH as found.


Deckhead painted.


For the aft cabin I used Pettit Semi-Gloss. It seems more forgiving that Interlux Brightside.

Sanding, Sanding, Sandingggggggg......

The after cabin is now sanded and prepped for painting. Least said about sanding a boat the better. Five NFM ports are now installed in the after cabin and one in the forward heads. The plan is to have at least one area on the boat that is clean and habitable. Next week I paint the deck head and some more lockers. After that varnish the wooden bits.

"Work is the curse of the drinking class." Oscar Wilde.

Finally got back on TIH after 10 days away.





I had contracted out some woodwork and varnish work because;

a. I have no time.
b. I am c$ap at woodwork and varnish work.

The results look good (photos are from my phone - will replace with better ones later).

The lockers above the woodwork were painted with Interlux Bilgekote, which I am beginning to really like.

Fun with the power washer.....

Men would do a lot more work in the home if housework involved the use of a power washer....


The after cabin has been cleaned prior to painting. Now I just have to vacuum up the paint chips.


This is the Stbd. Aft. Mizzen chainplate. The chainplate access on the Whitby 42 is excellent.

Mock up of Lavac installation

The difference a little paint makes...

Roll and Tip.......

Well, I know the theory. I've watched the video. I told people "just roll and tip". But I never actually did it,,,,,,, until now. Amazingly it works just as advertised. You roll it on, and tip (brush gently holding a dry brush at 45% in one direction only) AND you never, ever go back to touch up any blemishes. How do I know the last part is true......doh!

Still not bad for a first attempt.





I will leave the ceiling in the heads high gloss, but may use a flattening agent for ceilings in the rest of the boat.

17 minute response from Interlux, outstanding service...

-----Original Message-----
Sent: Thursday, January 08, 2009 9:04 AM
To: Interlux Technical Service
Subject: Technical

I plan to use Interlux Brightside to paint a head compartment on a sailboat.  Will it be hard wearing enough?  The fiberglass hull liner is in good condition, should I use a primer?  Thanks Gerry

************************************************************************

Good Morning Gerry,
Brightside is a very hard wearing one pack product and should certainly be suitable for your application. I would recommend applying at least 1 coat of Pre-Kote prior to applying the Brightside.

Thanks,
Jay at Interlux Technical Service