Finally! - Bottom Paint!!

     Over the coarse of three days in late June stretching into July, I prepared for and applied Froonie's bottom paint: Interlux Micron CSC.  I had plans, after consulting with my daughter on numerous occasions, to use a blending of Petit's Vivid products to get a purple color of her fancy.  However, I chose the Interlux product over Petit for a couple reasons: reading some user remarks lead me to feel I would not get the best protection from marine fouling organisms by using the Petit product, and secondly, I received a great deal on the Interlux CSC product.  I did stay with the captain's color choice, purple, and achieved this by blending Interlux's red and blue CSC color choices.  On with the application...

     Wednesday, June 29th, I raced down to Froonie after leaving the office to begin readying her for the application of the bottom paint.  I should note that the weekend just prior, I moved the keel blocking around to apply a couple coats of the Interlux Interprotect 2000E on the portions of the keel and bottom hidden by the blocking and jack stand pads; so on Wednesday, I was ready to begin with completing the bottom.  I wiped the surface with a towel dampened with solvent - riding the surface of weeks of dirt and debris build-up.  Next, I again taped the water line.  The bottom margin of the tape would be the highest mark of the bottom paint.  Once I had the tape applied, I began hand sanding the first couple of inches immediately below the tape line, as well as those areas that the VS random orbital could not easily access.  The picture below is post wipe-down and just prior to application of the tape and sanding.  In a fit of perfectionism a few weeks ago, I decided to apply yet another coat of topsides paint (the pink) due to some irregularities in the finish on Froonie's counter - opposite the engine well opening.  

Thursday was the day to paint! ...a wet and windy day at that, but I was determined to use the time that I had to accomplish yet another milestone in Froonie's refit.  I had completed the sanding on Wednesday - 80 grit by hand and random orbital sander to create a good mechanical bond surface for the bottom paint to adhere to.  A few days prior, I emptied the four quarts of Micron CSC into a purchased gallon paint container.  Now, I was bound for the building center to have them agitate the paint in their mixer.  The weather combined with work traffic prevented me from getting to Froonie early, but arriving at 7:00pm did not deter my will to complete this job...

I first wiped her surface down with a water-dampened towel, followed by a solvent-dampened towel.  Once I was confident that all residual sanding dust was removed, I prepared to move forward with the bottom paint.  A steady rain kept me company...and my feet wet.  This picture does not show it, but the first coat of bottom paint was applied!  I closed shop with the sun below the horizon.

Friday, July 1st, after leaving the office, I was right back down to Froonie for her second coat of Micron CSC bottom paint - custom purple blend.  The first coat appeared to be fine, the weather was more agreeable, and traffic allowed an early arrival - an auspicious start!  I immediately set to painting the water line using a two-inch brush; I also painted the bottom of the keel and the leading edge of the rudder with the brush - as I had done on the first coating.  After the portions to be brushed were completed, I turned to the 3/8" nap roller. Working my way from port bow around to starboard bow, I completed the second coat of bottom paint.  Felt good to have this done, and I immediately thought back to her bottom condition as I took ownership.  I will allow a sufficient cure time prior to moving the keel blocks around to access and paint the "hidden" areas - underneath the keel blocks and jack stand pads.

Looking to stern, Froonie's cute bottom.  Prior to leaving on this day, I drilled and tapped the new aft chainplate machine screw holes, and secured with 1/4" stainless steel machine screws, nuts and washers (bed in Sitka 291).

A Milestone, Plus Odds & Ends

It was finally time to conceal that ugly random pattern of fairing filler below the waterline. Sure I had achieved a bottom that any racer would envy (e.g. baby-bottom smooth), but the appearance each time I pulled up to Froonie to work was seriously getting to me. And I admit to succumbing to marketing-manipulation by deciding to apply a bottom barrier coat, "as a preventive measure against hull blistering." The camps are pretty black and white when it comes to applying a barrier coat, and I can understand the logic of "if you don't have blisters after 30 years, chances are you are not going to get blisters, so slap some more bottom paint on and go sailing." It's just that I have taken everything off the hull, filled and faired God knows how many hours, so why not?!! I see the application of a barrier coat as yet another layer of protection that is certainly not going to hurt anything. That decided, I took a vacation day on Friday, October 8th, and began preparing the hull for the barrier coat.

I dedicated Friday as a sanding day, so come Saturday morning I would be ready to roll - literally. Well, I didn't get to all of the sanding I wanted to on Friday, and actually was able to somehow run out of time and not sand the bottom - which was my main intention. What I did manage to accomplish on Friday was the sanding of the recently primed decks (Interlux Epoxy PrimeKote), and the topsides (also Interlux Epoxy PrimeKote). All the transitions from nonskid to smooth deck, as well as the 'tight' areas were sanded by hand with 220 grit paper; the balance of the open spaces were sanded using my DeWalt random orbital / variable speed finish sander with 220 hook and loop pads. It was good to get this sanding round out of the way.

Saturday morning, the 9th of October, I continued to sand the bottom with the finish sander and 80 grit hook and loop pads. When I had completed the sanding, I used damp rags to take the bulk of the sanding dust off of the decks, topsides, and bottom. I then solvent washed the same areas to pick up residual sanding dust and to create a clean surface for the barrier coat application. I chose the Interlux product InterProtect 2000E for the barrier coat. It is an epoxy-based product that serves to protect the hull against, or at least minimize the chances of, osmotic blistering - water intrusion that fills voids in the fiberglass layup, a chemical reaction then occurs between the water and glass which builds pressure and pushes out with a blister-like appearance. A hull covered in these blisters could potentially be fatal (to the boat); while a blister here and there can be dished out, filled, faired, and bottom paint applied. The Interlux InterProtect product contains millions of microscopic plates that overlap one another similar to roofing shingles, and thusly creates a water barrier (marketing manipulation!).

Here is the first batch of InterProtect being mixed, and calls for a 3:1 mix ratio. The tight areas around the rudder were applied with a foam brush, while 99% of the surface area was rolled on with West System epoxy-safe foam rollers.

Here is Froonie's bottom ready to receive the barrier coat. As you can see, the bottom is not a pretty sight, but smoooooooth! I moved the jack stands as high as I could to paint as much as I could, but will still need to reposition the jack stands and blocking to apply the balance of the barrier coat. I will also have to move the stands and blocking around when I apply the bottom paint - hopefully within the month. The white of the topsides you see in the picture below is Interlux Epoxy PrimeKote - a two part epoxy-based primer for surface preparation for two-part polyurethanes, like Interlux Perfection. The PrimeKote has been applied three times to the topsides (with 220 grit sanding between coats), and is ready for topsides finish paint - you guesses it...Perfection.

Over the course of the day, I applied three coats of the Interlux InterProtect 2000E barrier coat...and the results are transformative. Froonie's lines are really showing off now! One of my next steps will be to strike the planar waterline. And because I did not know exactly where this line would fall on the hull, I extended the PrimeKote down a bit father than was likely necessary and the InterProtect up a bit father than was likely necessary - the waterline will prove indestructible I am sure.

To the Odds & Ends...

The mixing of part A and part B of the InterProtect barrier coat system calls for a twenty-minute induction time. So for the 20-minute induction time for the second coat, I applied a four inch wide strip of 6oz fiberglass cloth to Froonie's taff rail. I have been fighting cracks reappearing on the taff rail shortly after an application of PrimeKote. At one point, I sanded to remove the PrimeKote, and then dug out the cracks to then fill with thickened epoxy. The cracks came back. So earlier in the morning, I removed the Primekote from the top of the taff rail and for about four inches down the transom. While the second coat was in its state of chemical flux, I painted on 'neat' epoxy, applied the four-inch strip of cloth, and then ensured the cloth was fully wet-out. By the time I wrapped this up, I was ready to begin rolling on the second coat of InterProtect 2000E. On Sunday, October 10th, I water-washed the amine blush with a 3M scotch pad, sanded, and filled the weave in the cloth with epoxy thickened with West System 406 Colloidal Silica and 407 Low-Density Filler. I will sand to fair...

While I waited for the third coat's induction time to expire, I turned my attention to re-tabbing the port side forward bulkhead. The tabbing was applied poorly (might have been a repair at some point), and it was time to do it properly. I had sanded the area in preparation a couple weeks ago, so I solvent washed the area, applied 'neat' epoxy, created a fillet with thickened epoxy (406 and 407), and tabbed two pieces of 6oz cloth - one overlapping the other by an inch on the top and bottom. Sunday, October 9th, I water-washed the amine blush and sanded the surface to prepare for primer.