Upper Side Panels | Paint Stripping

I pondered on what other work I could do while PocketShip was still upside down, and immediately realised it would be easier to strip the upper side panels now rather than wait for the hull to be righted.

In fact, I should have done this while stripping the side and bottom panels. It would have saved the time and effort of masking off.

Nonetheless, it had to be done so I set about covering the newly painted hull to protect it from paint stripper and the resultant mess.

I did this with lightweight polythene dust sheeting, carefully cut to fit. This is it.

The material folds out to give a sheet two metres wide. 

This is a view of the fully covered hull from the rear.

I have only taped the sheeting to the rails and to itself to join the two metre wide strips.

I have found that masking tape almost always leaves a mark or a stain if left in contact with paint for any longer than is absolutely necessary.

This even applies to the expensive specialised tapes recommended by expert marine painters, so beware ...

We don't want any tape marks on our lovely new paint!

This is the stripping kit.

I'm using water-based, eco-friendly paint stripper and a sharp Bahco scraper. See previous posts for further information on how this works - it's very effective.

This is the starboard upper side panel during stripping.

And this it afterwards.

This is the port side, after stripping.

You can see that all the paint has been removed, with no scratches or tram lines from the scraper.

This is much easier than sanding the paint off - it's virtually impossible to do that without sanding through the fibreglass sheathing.

That's nearly all that can be done before the flip.

My plan is to strip inside the Dorade boxes while the boat is upside down. I think it will be easier that way.

We will see!