S/V Refuge : January 2015

After much labor the top sides have been solvent washed, sanded, solvent washed again, sanded again, solvent washed yet again, then tack clothed and primed. Again we sanded and again another solvent wash. Repeat one more time with the prime. And finally one more solvent wash. Most nicks and gouges have been faired and sanded, but it's not perfect. That's the difference between a $2000 dollar paint job and a $10,000 paint job. I can live with it. But like my buddies say, she's good from afar, but far from good. Do not laugh at this next picture.

If you look closely you can see zebra striping. The kids think zebra stripes are cool, but when we're away from the boat I'm sure crowds of marina dwellers gather round to discuss the finer points of where we screwed up. And I wouldn't be able to help figure it out since I have no idea. We followed the directions to the point. One professional painter eased my fears by saying 'Maybe you just got a bad batch.' So I'll stick with that.

Here is the prime job. It looks better than the actual paint. Anyway all the grunt work is done. The sanding and priming are both complete so for the rest of it, we hired a couple pro's. We already have the supplies so these guys just have to roll and tip the final three coats of paint. Since they paint million dollar mega yachts on a regular basis, I expect the end results to be outstanding. Let's hope so. For those of you who have no idea what this is about, we are trying to turn the white part of the boat to blue. Pay no attention to the blue bottom part as that will eventually be red. But we can't paint the bottom until a day or two before she goes in the water. The professional painters start this week. I'm stoked to not be the one doing it. As much as I love hard manual labor in the hot Florida sun, I enjoy watching others do it even more. Topside paint is a delicate thing that must be applied by someone with an artisan's touch and the patience of Job. Neither of which apply to me.