[ EP 24 ] Painting the Deck of My Sailboat

[@markmatthews4652]

Nice work, man! I love seeing the progress 🙂

[@ontheruntonowhere]

Hey! Thanks for the encouragement. It's been a process. I might do a before and after video to remind me that all the things I think I could have done better _are_ actually better 😂

[@quoththeraven2084]

I didn’t get to see it last time I was there, hopefully next week. Great work

[@ontheruntonowhere]

Hope to see you soon!

[@sullsurfer]

I am just finishing up with painting my 1964 Pearson Electra. I had a similar experience with the Total Boat products. After painstakingly sanding, grinding and filling spider cracks and fairing the hull, I applied Total Boat Wet Edge primer. Using foam rollers in 75-80 degree weather at about 40-50% humidity, the primer went on thick, lumpy and gooey, taking several days to dry. I had to sand nearly all of it off. The next 2 coats went slightly better after thinning about 15%, but still unable to get a smooth finish. The primer took about 72 hours to dry enough to sand, still gumming up the sand paper. After wiping the boat with denatured alcohol as recommended, the hull was the sprayed with TB Wet Edge topside paint. There were several places where the paint had millions of pin holes where the paint didn't seem to adhere to the primer. When removing the tape after painting the boot stripe, the finish paint came right off in numerous places. This has been a very frustrating experience, and I wouldn't recommend Total Boat primers or paints for diy'ers. Maybe an expert can get great results under perfect conditions, but I am pretty disappointed after spending so much time carefully prepping the hull. I have never had so much trouble with primer, it is usually the easiest thing to do. I would recommend Total Fair and Thixoflex for filling chips, spider cracks, etc. Those products work great.

[@ontheruntonowhere]

I use Total Fair and like it. Thanks for sharing your process. This was daunting job but I think I'll do better next time. If I don't pay someone to do it!

[@yas46]

Looking good!

[@ontheruntonowhere]

Thank you! It's been a process, to put it politely.

[@vincentmiceli2554]

Looks very nice. Good job

[@ontheruntonowhere]

Thank you! It was definitely a project!

[@lamlammetod]

Fortunately, I don't have a credit card, just a normal bank card, like most here, fortunately you don't have any bills afterwards, everything is paid immediately. You then know where you stand and will not get into debt, saving is also automatic. Here in the Netherlands we are used to saving, you are taught that as a child, if you have no money, you cannot buy anything.

[@pontoonrob7948]

I am subscribing. I believe we have a similar goal. I am only up to your 2nd passage video. I am also looking for an inexpensive boat that doesn't need a complete overhaul. Is there a way to email you?

[@kkots]

Did you contact totalboat and explain your experience?

[@ontheruntonowhere]

I probably should have but didn't. There wasn't much I could do by that point anyway. Even if they replaced the product, I wasn't about to strip it all off and start the project over. Oh well, lesson learned for next time.

[@kkots]

@@ontheruntonowhere I understand!

[@mickey1299]

Hmmm , personally i think your problem with the paint , is due to the fact , you appear to have used a primer then top coat . I don't see the use of an etch primer anywhere . Now fibreglass is a pain to paint at the best of times . You should dull the paint as a first step , to a matt finish . Now this is pretty standard practice , so i'm guessing you did do this . Can't fault your cleaning process so your problem is not there , despite this being another issue if not done correctly . Where you do appear to fall flat on your face , is the lack of etch primer , probably known as a bonding coat , your side of the pond . Now this stuff actually eats into the surface , though you wouldn't know it , to create a firm foundation for the following coats . The surface should ideally , be scuffed heavily with around 120 grade to provide a good key , then etched primed after a thorough cleaning . The stuff i use needs to be left for 24 hours to do its work , before any more work can be carried out . Then what i do is apply a second coat , and leave for another 24 hours . I do lightly sand between coats , but it is very light . Then i apply two coats of primer , sanding between . The reason you sand is due to overcoat time , but this also flattens the finished surface . Overcoat times are normally limited to around 24 hours , but i sand anyway for extra grip . The second sand is a bit more aggressive , but with a lighter grade , around 240/320 . Don't whatever you do , break through the etch primer at any cost . If you do , reapply more etch primer to that spot , and start again . Then apply a third coat of primer , followed by top coat , sanding lightly between . Apply a minimum 2 coats of finish paint , but i would go for 3 , again lightly sanding between all coats . Stay off the painted surface for at least a week , and personally i would leave any further work on that surface for at least a month , for the paint to fully harden . That includes further painting of any kind . I'm no expert with boat paint , but this is the process i use for painting fibreglass , plastic , and aluminium . All tricky surfaces to paint , as all have keying (grip) issues . Initially , i was taught in an aircraft paint shop , though i never completed the training , i do regularly paint my own vehicles with perfect results .

[@ontheruntonowhere]

That's very insightful. I actually did sand between the coats but I've never heard of etch primer, and the manufacture didn't mention it in their literature. It's a half hour drive to the marina from where I live and I also work a full-time job, in addition to freelancing. If I remember correctly, it was also raining a lot so I missed several opportunities. As a result, I think where I really went wrong is that I waited too long between applying the primer and the top coat, giving the primer time to cure and prohibiting the top coat from bonding with the primer as it should have. Lesson learned for next time. It's actually been holding up pretty well this year, so I'm hoping that maybe the top coat hadn't fully cured when I made this video.