Painting the hull

Once again I’ve been very busy working on the boat, even though it’s been a long time since I posted. I missed a week working on the boat to go to vegas for a conference. My wife and I also took two weeks of sailing lessons together so I couldn’t get much done then either. We learned on Sunfish, which are more like a paddle board with a sail than the 25’+ keel boats I’m used too. Hoping this boat will be somewhere in between.

The time I did get to spend on the boat was spent preparing the fiberglass for paint (i.e. sanding), researching paint, and painting the hull. I’ve also been working on the rudder and centerboard, which I’ll describe in my next post.

I decided on a two part epoxy paint because of its durability (I hope).  I decided on Interlux and ordered their Perfection in super high gloss white with some Primekote two part primer. Then I learned that the Perfection is a topside paint and will blister if left in the water more than 24 hours. I plan on trailering the boat but didn’t want to risk it, so I ordered some Interprotect 2000e primer and Bottomkote NT. I was originally planning on painting the entire hull white, but that was no longer an option because Bottomkote doesn’t come in white so I went with the classic blue bottom paint.

Here are some of the materials I used to paint it. 

I debated whether to have the line between the bottom and top paints follow the waterline or follow the curve of the hull (the chine). I decided to follow the waterline and taped it off an inch or so above what I hope will be the waterline.

I then put three coats of Interlux PrimeKote primer on the bottom with a 1/4” roller and sanded it smooth.  In retrospect, I should have used an 1/8” foam roller like I did with the remaining paints. The roller left a nice consistent eggshell texture that I kind of liked, but I decided to sand it smooth to go for the full high gloss look. This meant I had to sand the hull. It took a few hours but fortunately the primer sanded pretty easily so I was able to sand off the eggshell and get it very smooth.

I thinned the Perfection about 10% and rolled it on carefully with a foam roller moving as quickly as I could to keep a wet edge. The paint did an amazing job of self-leveling and came out very smooth.  It almost looked like plastic (as long as you don’t look too close). I wore a disposable set of painters coveralls and wet the floor to keep the dust down. The paint dries really quickly which also helped reduce dust. 

I re-taped the sides to get a clean line between the sides and bottom. 

Then I primed the bottom with 3 coats of Interlux InterProtect 2000e, also using an 1/8” roller. 

And then I rolled on two coats of blue Interlux Bottomkote NT. 

I am very very happy with the way it turned out!

The boat is now ready to flip right side up! I picked up the trailer a couple of weeks ago, so I’m going to flip the boat onto the trailer with the help of a few friends (if I can bribe them to help with pizza and beer).  My plan is to then finish building the boat on the trailer.

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