I don't believe the deck has ever been painted and she was built in 1983. Thirty-two years of wear and tear urges the deck to whisper to me its need for attention every time I walk it. Today, I yielded to her urgings and decided to start that job.
Annie's deck, being thirty-two years old, has spider cracks in the gelcoat, and well as numerous nicks, dings, gouges, cuts, butyl putty filled abandoned screws holes, coupled with both textured and non-textured sections. Some areas will require more attention than others and will take more time than others. Today, I started with the easy stuff. The textured aft section of the boat.
Some more difficult sections that will come over the next few days/weeks...
I'm not a wealthy man by any stretch of the imagination, so I'm constantly looking for cost-efficient ways to accomplish various aspects of Annie's refit. A fellow Westsail owner and friend, Peter Ryan on Onapua, recommended a very inexpensive topside paint that would do the job - Rust-Oleum Topside Paint. It had great reviews and made my wallet's heart skip a beat, so I ordered a quart. This stuff is great! Only time will disclose its longevity and wearability but as to coverage, flow, gloss, and ease of application... Five stars!
This will be an ongoing project for the next few days/weeks due to the weather and the need for dry days, so I will keep coming back to it with additional posts to document the progress, but we are off to a good start.
Fair seas and God bless!
David, those decks look amazing. They say that the most important thing in painting is preparation and you have nailed it. It makes a huge difference in the way the boat looks.
ReplyDeleteThanks Peter.
DeleteThanks for the paint recommendation, it saved my wallet. Got lots to still do but I'll get there.
Thanks again.
Really nice. I don't think I've heard of that type of paint by Rustoleum. I have the same issues on my boat too. I'd try painting a color similar to what's already on the deck. I think I have a bit more texture to the nonskid areas.
ReplyDeleteI didn't do much today. I drilled out a couple holes that were leaking through the boat from bad patch work in the past. When I drilled out the old patches, I was greeted with a little bit of mushy wood, but I still went ahead and filled them with epoxy and a little thickened epoxy. Mostly a band-aid but should help keep more water from messing things up for now.
Thanks Dan.
DeleteHope the damage wasn't too extensive. I read somewhere about injectable epoxy that reconstitutes soft decking but I can't remember where. I'll post a link if I find it.
The paint comes in lots of colors.
Wow! That's a lot of work. Nice job!
ReplyDeleteMark and Cindy
s/v Cream Puff
Thanks Mark & Cindy.
DeleteIt is a big project - it started raining 8 hours after I painted the first section and hasn't stopped. Waiting for the next dry spell to tackle the next section.
Thanks for stopping by.