First coat of primer

Yesterday I got the first coat of epoxy primer laid down inside the cockpit.  I’ve never worked with this kind of “paint” before, but once everything was wiped down & cleaned it went pretty smoothly (no pun intended).

First thing in the morning I started the prep process by vacuuming the hell out of everything.  Cobwebs, sanding dust, cat hair, dead bugs from the night before.  It’s amazing how quickly boats get dirty down here in the Delta.  We’d just hosed her down on Sunday.  The wind was forecasted to be 5-7 knots so that means 10-12 or better, and I didn’t need a bunch of crap landing in my fresh paint.  Once that was done, every surface, including the dorade boxes and locker lids received a thorough wipe down with Interlux 202 Fiberglass Solvent Wash using the 2-rag method.  Wipe on with one, wipe off with the other.  Like Daniel San in the Karate Kid.  Wax uh-on uh-right, wax uh-off uh-left.  The 202 is some seriously nasty solvent, and even wearing an organic respirator I could still smell it.  I’ll probably shave my beard for a better mask fit on the next coat.  I also learned a neat trick from someone else’s boat blog.  They wore socks the entire time they were wiping and painting in order to keep everything clean.  It was a bit odd for me since I haven’t worn socks in at least three months.

After a short drying period I masked off all the teak and began mixing up  the 2 part Epoxy Primekote 404/414 at the prescribed 3:1 ratio doing 12oz. base to 4oz. cure.  After mixing, it had to sit for 20 minutes induction time, then I added the 2333N Brushing Reducer at a rate of 25% by volume and mixed some more.  That stuff is also pretty hard on the brain cells and I could smell it through the respirator.  I rolled it on with a foam roller and touched up the corners with a foam brush.  Actually, two foam rollers and several foam brushes.     I ended up using the full quart kit in order to cover the entire cockpit and four dorade boxes, but only one side each of the locker lids.  Not quite the amount of coverage I was hoping for, but I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it went down and how quickly it dried.  Almost a bit too quick.  It hit a high of 89 degrees yesterday, and within an hour  it was still a little soft, but pretty much dry to touch.  On the next coat I’ll probably thin to something like 30-35% by volume and see if I can stretch the coverage and get it to flow better off the roller.

Today everything gets sanded with 220 grit, vacuumed clean, wiped down with a different solvent, and then just a little more fairing compound in any of the low spots.  Stay tuned…