Exterior Painting

New coatings above and below the waterline

With exterior paint contributing to such a large part of a yacht's overall aesthetic, I set particularly high standards for this part of the project. The goal of repainting the hull was to achieve a Bristol finish. The topsides were previously painted with Awlgrip and although, needing to be repainted, provided a sound substrate. The first step in the process was to sand the old topside paint from the toe rail to the waterline with 80 grit sandpaper using a random orbital sander. I filled larger scratches and imperfections with a two part vinylester marine filler before taping off ready for primer to be applied. The only part of the job that I didn't do myself was the actual spraying of the paint as I was friends with a local painter very experienced in spraying AwlGrip products. After three coats of Awlgrip 545 finish primer were applied to the hull, I meticulously filled any pinholes with lacquer putty and block sanded the primer to 220. Three coats of topcoat base in AwlGrips 'Flag Blue' were applied before I wet sanded with 600 grit by hand. This was followed by three coats of clear coat to provide maximum longevity of the paint job. I was very satisfied with the end result.

Below the waterline, I stripped multiple layers of old antifouling paint to expose a bare gelcoat in preparation for applying a new epoxy barrier coat. The process of painting the bottom had to be carefully coordinated to achieve maximum adhesion through chemical bonds of the coatings. I applied each coat of epoxy barrier paint within the manufacturers recommended intervals and the first coat of antifouling paint while the last coat of epoxy was still tacky. I completed the bottom job with two extra coats below the waterline and a white boot stripe in hard antifouling above.

The deck and cabintop also required a full repaint. I applied multiple coats of high build epoxy primer, sanding in between coats to achieve an even deck before rolling two coats of Awlgrip 545 finish primer and sanding to 220 grit. I then taped off the non-skid pattern of the decks and used Awlgrip GripTex non-skid particles broadcast into a wet coat of Awlgrip topcoat. After letting the paint cure overnight, I removed the tape and applied two subsequent coats of Awlgrip Matterhorn White to the deck and cabintop.