Topsides | Applying Primer!

At last the day came to apply primer to the upper half of the boat. It had been so long since I did this that I had forgotten how to do it, so I just opened a tin of paint and rolled it on to the cockpit and forward decks. Just to see what happened.

As expected the first coat was very patchy. This is the cockpit deck, seatbacks and rear cabin wall.

And this is the forward deck.

I immediately remembered that the primer needs to be thinned for it to flow and cover effectively, so I stopped painting when the paint ran out and looked up how to thin it on my blog.

It turns out that 10 per cent thinners are required, so that is what we will do tomorrow when painting will recommence.

Upper Drop Board | Wet Sanding

 Way back last year when I started repainting the boat with Epifanes paint I made a test piece by finishing the upper drop board and leaving it outside in all weathers to see how it coped.

It was fine, except for some marking where chalk and salts from the rain had left marks on the surface of the paint.

This was because I had not left the paint to cure for long enough before exposing it to the elements.

In a spare moment I started to wet sand the drop board with a P400 grit, just to see what would happen.

This is it in progress.

The marks disappeared, leaving a lovely flat and smooth surface for the final coat.

So all is well with the new paint.

Rudder | Marking Up for Paint

 I needed to mark up the rudder for paint before I started painting the hull, so I dry fitted it and used the laser level to mark up the blue boot top stripe.

This is the port side with the laser beam in action. I made pencil marks on the rudder.

And here I am joining the pencil marks to get the boot top stripe marked up.

That was fun!

Preparing for Paint (2) | Bare Patches & Masking Tape

 While preparing the topsides for paint I noticed a number of very small patches where I had somehow sanded through to the marine ply. There were twelve in all but all small so I marked them with a bit of tape and applied a coat of clear resin. Here are two of them.

When cured I sanded them flat through to a P220 grit.

Then I masked off all the rails using 3M 244 professional masking tape. This is it.

And here are the rub rails, toe rails and companionway grab rail all taped off.

The transom was a little trickier. I only need to paint the transom skirt but I didn't want to completely remove the protective sheeting from the whole transom.

So I just rearranged the tape on each quarter to allow the side panels to be painted separately, leaving me to paint the transom skirt later.

This is the port quarter.

We are very close to applying primer!

Boom Gallows | Support Poles Test Fit

 I remembered that I had problems with one of the boom gallows support poles when fitting out the first time round.

It was binding inside the stainless steel support bracket because the hole through the seatback top was too tight and needed to be reamed out slightly and resealed.

However, I could not recall if I had actually done that!

So a test fit was necessary before we started painting again.

The brackets were dry fitted and the poles inserted. All was well. Here they are, in place.

I made sure that all the parts were fitted in the same places that they were first installed by labelling them. As here.

That's one less thing to worry about …

Tabernacle | Third Coat Clear Resin

 I applied a two more coats of clear resin to the tabernacle, making three in total.

I sanded between coats and sanded the final coat with P80/120/180/220 grits to obtain a smooth finish, ready for paint.

This is sanding outside.

And here we are inside, washing it clean and drying it.

That's one step nearer to painting the boat!

Companionway Hood | Clear Resin in Slide Grooves

 I wanted to make sure the inside of the companionway hood was as clean and well protected as it could be while I was repainting it, and resealing the slide grooves with clear resin was part of the plan.

The grooves themselves were inaccessible for sanding by hand, so I made a sanding tool by fixing a strip of sandpaper to one edge of a length of scrap ply with double sided tape. This is it.

I added a small handle to the top, like this.

It was then easy to use the strip in the grooves to sand them smooth and clean. Like this.

The grit was flat and level on the lower surface of the groove when its inner edge was resting on the cabin roof, which made it easy to operate. This, by the way, was pure luck!

I then used a 1" foam brush to seal inside the grooves with clear resin. This is it.

That was much easier than I expected. It's nice when that happens!

Preparing for Paint (1) | Sealing Portholes & Sanding Joins

I would soon be able to start painting the topsides so thorough preparation was required. First I sealed the portholes with discs of cardboard taped on from inside of the cabin, then I carefully cleaned and sanded the joins between the rub rails and the topsides to get rid of any old paint and to get a nice clean line for the new paint.

This is what it now looked like.

How exciting to be getting ready for paint!

Protective Sheeting | Repositioning

 Anticipating that I would be repainting the upper hull in the near future, I need to reposition the protective sheeting to to allow the join between the rub rails and the topsides to be carefully masked off.

Piece by piece I pulled the tape from the rails, sanded the rub rail, and then retaped the sheeting in place further out on the rail.

It now looked like this.

So now we have clean rails ready for varnish, and plenty of room for masking tape. Like this.

This is fun!

Toerails, Upper Breast Hook & Transom Skirt | Resin & Sanding

While stripping paint from the upper hull I also removed the protective coats of resin from some bare wooden parts.

So I sanded them smooth and applied two coats of clear resin, and finally sanded them smooth again.

This is the transom skirt trim.

And this is the upper breast hook and inwale.

The toe rails received the same treatment. This is the starboard rail.

They are now fully sealed and ready for paint. Hooray!

Mainsheet Block & Ventilator Pads | Stripping Paint

While stripping various components I remembered that  some small painted parts were packed away, awaiting the refit.

So I retrieved them and stripped them for repainting. Here are the mainsheet block support pad and the ventilator pads being stripped.

Every vestige of the old paint will be removed, eliminating the risk of blistering.

Companionway Slide & Tabernacle | Stripping & Sanding

Alongside other activities I removed all the old paint from the companionway slide and the tabernacle using paint stripper.

Here I am stripping the tabernacle.

And here I am stripping the slide.

Here are the fully stripped articles.

Finally I sanded the tabernacle, ready for sealing with clear resin. The inside faces had to be sanded by hand, so I did it outside. As in this pic.

We are getting there!

Drop Boards | New Lower Board

Part way through repainting the bottom of the hull with the original paint I thought I should make a test to be sure that the blistering would not reoccur when in contact with water.

I therefore painted the lower drop board and left it outside in all weathers for a while to see what happened.

To my horror it appeared to blister again, with tiny pinhead blisters.

I sent it to the paint manufacturers for examination, and never heard from them again!

With hindsight I think the blisters may have simply been dust particles, but I was taking no chances and switched to Epifanes paint.

Consequently I needed a new lower drop board, so I found a piece of scrap marine ply and marked up a board using the pattern.

Here I am cutting out the new board.

This will get two or three coats of clear resin to seal it, and will then be painted at some point.

Dorade Boxes & Seatbacks | New Drain Holes

It is of course very important that the enclosed spaces in the hull have drain holes so that water which will inevitably enter the spaces can easily exit them also.

I made the drain holes exactly as the build manual directs, which was through the sides of the Dorade boxes above the fillets which join the sides to the deck, and through the sides of the seatback lockers again above the stringer which joins the sides to the deck.

They looked fine and I thought no more about it, until we put the boat on its trailer for the first time about eighteen months ago.

This being the UK, it promptly poured with rain. Because the drain holes were effectively 30 to 40mm above the deck, the bottom of the boxes and lockers were then under water to that depth.

This, incidentally, was when I first discovered that the paint blistered when in contact with standing water. But the immediate problem was that it would do the boat no good at all to have all that water sitting around, not draining out.

I resolved to redrill the drain holes much closer to the deck, so this would not happen.

First I had to fill the original holes in the Dorade boxes. I sealed the holes from the inside with plastic tape. Then I filled the holes with thickened epoxy and sealed the inner hole with tape and the outer hole with a piece of plastic card taped in place.

This is the starboard outer hole, plugged.

And this is the starboard inner hole.

Then I drilled new holes. This was the result on the starboard outer side.

You can see that the new drain hole is much lower down, nearer the deck, and actually passes through the fillet.

Drilling the inner holes was a bit trickier. The holes are 12mm in diameter, so have to be made with a drill with a standard sized chuck. This limits how close to the deck the holes can be made.

This is a test with a 3mm bit which I did to see how close to the deck I could get.

Very little improvement could be made on the original hole's location. So that is the best we can do here.

This is the inner hole on the port side, with its first coat of clear resin to seal it.

And this is the starboard outer drain hole with its second coat of clear resin.

This is much improved and hopefully will prevent lots of water from lying inside the Dorade boxes.

The seatback lockers were a different problem.

Like the inner Dorade box holes it was impossible to drill a new hole level with the deck, so I simply enlarged them down to the bottom of the locker.

They do not look very elegant, but I think they will have to suffice.

This is the starboard drain hole with its second coat of clear resin.

And this is the port side.

Not very aesthetically pleasing but they will drain the lockers completely, which is the main requirement.

They should look better when painted... I hope!

Seatback Lockers | Stripping & Sanding

Stripping the paint from the two seatback lockers was always going to be difficult, so I left it until last.

The main problem was accessibility. Not only was there a fully enclosed space at the rear of the locker, but the boom gallows tube support block was smack in the way.

There was nothing to do but get stuck in. Here I am at the start of the exercise with paint stripper and a bucket of water.

This is the partly stripped starboard locker with a selection of tools which I tried.

As with the companionway hood, it turned out that a stainless steel scouring pad was the most effective method.

This is the stripped starboard locker with the mirror which is essential for seeing into otherwise invisible and inaccessible places.

And this is another view of the starboard locker, with the boom gallows tube support clearly visible and very much in the way!

I am pleased that paint stripping is now complete, and I can progress to getting ready for new paint.

Onwards and upwards!

Companionway Hood | Stripping & Sanding

I was not looking forward to removing all the old paint from inside the companionway hood, but it had to be done.

The first task was to cover the interior of the cabin to protect it from splashes of paint stripper, which would be inevitable no matter how careful I was.

I covered the floorboards with a sheet of plastic, and masked off the walls with polythene sheeting. Like this.

Then I got to work with the paint stripper. I mainly used a stainless steel scouring pad to strip the paint, although a pear-shaped blade in the small Bahco scraper was very useful in seams and corners. This is it.

It was messy, tedious and unpleasant work but at least it was not too difficult.

I eventually prevailed. This is the front of the hood, freshly stripped.

The drain holes were reamed out to get rid of the old paint and congested stripper. This is on the port side.

And this is the whole interior. Stripped, sanded and washed clean.

I think there is a good case for making the hood removable for maintenance, since it will inevitably require repainting during its lifetime.

So that's that - ready for paint!

Next job is the seatback lockers, which will be even more unpleasant...