1st Interior topcoat

Saturday was high in the low 70's, so I decided to paint the 1st top coat in the interior. I am using Interlux Brightside. Due to the fumes, I pulled the boat outside and painted there.

Before I started, I needed to sand the primer in the bow area between 1&2 bulkheads. I also touched up a few spots earlier in the week with thickened epoxy. Some places I sanded too much! I sanded those areas down and then wiped everything down.

Another reason I pulled the boat outside is the wife complaining about the fumes. The Interlux Brightside is definitely strong smelling. I also bought a new full face respirator from Jamestown Distributors. I think it works better with a beard and also has the eye protection. I was using the standard one that CLC Boats sells.

Below is my setup. I used a portable shelter to shield me from the Sun. It was getting a little toasty! I also had some fans running behind me blowing the air out of the garage.

I spent about 4-5 hours pre-sanding, wiping things down and then painting. After I finished, I decided I was going to leave the boat outside to dry and it was better with the smell. They were not calling for any rain (10% chance), but I decided to put a tarp over just in case. It did sprinkle some, but no damage done.

Below are some pictures of the finished work. I still have another coating or two to put on, but I like the way it is turning out. The shine is nice! As info, I have used the following so far.

1 - Quart Interlux Pre-Kote
1 - Quart Interlux Brightside. ( I still have a little left)

I am estimating about another quart or 2 to get a nice finish.

This is only the 2nd time I have pulled the boat out into the driveway. I am very glad that I put the building frame on dollies.  Below is a good shot of the 4 dollies I am using.  This will allow me to push the boat outside to paint.

Yesterday I had to do some other things, but I did go to Home Depot and bought some insulation. I will be posting some pictures of that as I cut it out for the bow area and the area in the the stern.

Started Priming the Interior!

Well I finally started to paint the interior. It seems like for ever that I have been sanding on fillets and fiberglass. This is a big milestone for me! I had a rough week this last week at work, so I was able to take a day off on Friday. I took the opportunity to start priming the interior and chilling out working in the garage on the boat all day.

I have sanded, done a little sanding and then sanded some more, but I think it definitely paid off. In applying the primer, I think the final finish is going to look great! Any issues I thought I had will be covered with the high build primer. But actually all the sanding, I don't really think I even needed the high-build primer.  Again, I chose to use Interlux Pre Kote. The manual calls for oil-based house paint, but I really didn't see anything I wanted to use as the big box stores. I also thought it would be good to do some practice with what I plan on painting the exterior with.

If you have been following my blog, you know I have been sanding a lot and it has been a few months. I vacuumed the interior again and then took a rag with some denatured alcohol. I read this on the hints section on the CLC Website. I had previously gone over the entire interior with my hand and sanding pad, but as I wiped over the sections, I found some little bits of epoxy that my rag caught on. I found it weird that I had not discovered them. I think my point is that using a rag will definitely find any little blobs that you may have forgotten. I just took a small piece of sanding paper and rubbed them right off and wiped any dust away.

Another thing I found with the Interlux Pre Kote is the smell. You definitely need to be in a well ventilated area when using this, so keep that in mind. Since the weather was barely above 50 degrees, which is the minimum, I had to run a little heater while I had the window fan going to move some air. Normally I would not have worried about it, but I have a cat that lives in the garage and I don't want to cause her any harm. Long story about the cat, but she is there and I need to be cautious. I did use a respirator. Maybe they have one for cats.

I found the Pre Kote went on very easy. I used a small roller and brush to apply and they were disposable, so I didn't have to worry about much cleanup. I first poured some of the paint into a mixing cup and stirred with and then put it into a small paint pan I purchased.

I applied the Pre Kote on 2 different days.

• Friday was the main interior and it was low 50's in the garage. I just mixed the Pre Kote and then poured it into the roller pan. I did notice some roller marks after it dried.

• Sunday I finished up the storage section between bulkheads 1& 2. This time I did the same, but added a 1/2 cap full of Interlux 333 to the paint. It seemed to roll on easier without any marks. There was also a noticeable difference in temperature. It was in the upper 70's.

Moving ahead I think I am going to have to wait to paint on warmer days to get a good finish. Next weekend is calling for 60's and 70's. I also think I will add some of the Interlux 333 to thin the Pre Kote as well. I think this is the reason I didn't see any roller marks.

On Sunday it was so nice, I rolled the boat outside to sand the primer. I used 220 grit on my orbital sander and went over the entire interior. All I need to do now is wipe down again and start with the finish coats. This is the first time I have really used the dolly wheels I had built. I am still on the fence as to whether or not they were worth it to build??

Below are pictures of the prime coat applied.

After the prime coat dried, I sanded the interior with 220 grit with my orbital sander.

On Sunday I applied the Interlux Pre Kote in the bow section between bulkheads 1 and 2.

Different view of the bow section looking through the access holes.

This is the type of roller I am using to apply the Pre Kote Primer.

Some painting, but not what you think!

I have not been very productive on the boat this past week, but I did do some painting! The wife wanted me to paint a few walls in the living room. So like every good boat builder should do, you need to keep the admiral happy! If the admiral is happy, then you will get more support on your project. Just a word of advise that helps me! 😀

So yesterday was boat building day after spending Saturday painting in the house.  I spent about 4-5 hours sanding! 95% of this was by hand crawling around checking every inch of the boat.! I could probably make a career sanding, but like other bloggers have quoted, enough is enough. I think I am there. For the most part, I did a good job and all of the highly visible surfaces are smooth. If I have issues, it is in the floor support area. It was difficult for me doing that area and keeping things smooth. So this coming week, I am going to tape off and paint the aft compartment first to see how things go.

I do have a little sanding to do where I filled some screw holes with thickened epoxy yesterday. These were screw holes to hold the cleats on the transom for the deck and cockpit area. Also I noticed late some of the cleats needed a little work. I also have a little sanding to do on the battery support fillets I recently did.

For paint, I have decided to use Interlux Pre-Kote and Interlux Brightside for the interior. The manual said you could use an oil-based paint from the hardware store, but I didn't see much when I last visited the store. I also want to see how the Pre-Kote takes care of any minor issues and to also get familiar with the product and application before doing the external surfaces that everyone will see.

The weather is supposed to be warm enough to paint a couple days this week with highs around 70 degrees and high 60's next Sunday.

I don't really have an pictures, so hopefully my next post, you will see a bunch of white paint!!!!!!!!!