We had a reader ask a few painting questions and we referred them to a couple of past articles. For others of you preparing to paint, here are three of our past articles on the topic.
For what it's worth, I "painted" the bottom and some trim on my Pygmy Coho kayak (bright finished okoume plywood) with epoxy and graphite. West Systems sells a pint of powdered graphite that will go along ways, though it takes 2 coats to get complete coverage. I'm sure that depends on how much graphite you use. I'm not sure this gives a lot of abrasion resistance, but probably better than just paint. It is easy to touch up when you do get dings in it. Which reminds me, it's probably time for me to be sanding and re coating. I always store kayaks out of the weather and sun, which is especially hard on all finishes (including gel coat).
We are very pleased with the Interlux Interprotect 2000E bottom paint we applied in Spring. We'd sanded down to the gel coat due to a few blisters and some other fun stuff. The 2000E went on well (5 coats) and the coats of antifouling bottom paint went over that easily and it all looks to be holding up well after an active summer. More from me on this product next year!
As we have this discussion, the Whitehall is being strip planked. Once that is completed, Nereid will be fiberglassed inside and out. The exterior will then be varnished with Man o'War [tung oil] varnish. We have not yet discussed the interior paint.
When I finished Jaunty a few years ago, I painted him with 100% acrylic primer and topcoat on the principle that house paints are heavily researched and tested, last for years, are easy to touch up, easy to roll on, which I did. In the years I owned Jaunty all of those things were true. I did not paint the bottom with latex, I used an ablative marine bottom primer and paint to the water line.
I believe I would paint a "yacht" with fancy boat topcoats but for my home built, and well built, ply/epoxy construction boats I would happily do 100% acrylic latex paint rolled on in a heartbeat. Add to that, during my three years of showing at the P.T. boat show I received many unsolicited compliments on the paint job.
Thanks, this is very timely for me. I'm restoring a marine ply boat that is varnished, with condition ranging from completely peeling off in small spots to still a good finish. I am thinking of going with paint instead of varnishing, and looking for resources/opinions on how much I need to take off the varnish and, after that, weather I would need to re-epoxy any bare wood before painting (I think the answer is yes).
For what it's worth, I "painted" the bottom and some trim on my Pygmy Coho kayak (bright finished okoume plywood) with epoxy and graphite. West Systems sells a pint of powdered graphite that will go along ways, though it takes 2 coats to get complete coverage. I'm sure that depends on how much graphite you use. I'm not sure this gives a lot of abrasion resistance, but probably better than just paint. It is easy to touch up when you do get dings in it. Which reminds me, it's probably time for me to be sanding and re coating. I always store kayaks out of the weather and sun, which is especially hard on all finishes (including gel coat).
We are very pleased with the Interlux Interprotect 2000E bottom paint we applied in Spring. We'd sanded down to the gel coat due to a few blisters and some other fun stuff. The 2000E went on well (5 coats) and the coats of antifouling bottom paint went over that easily and it all looks to be holding up well after an active summer. More from me on this product next year!
As we have this discussion, the Whitehall is being strip planked. Once that is completed, Nereid will be fiberglassed inside and out. The exterior will then be varnished with Man o'War [tung oil] varnish. We have not yet discussed the interior paint.
When I finished Jaunty a few years ago, I painted him with 100% acrylic primer and topcoat on the principle that house paints are heavily researched and tested, last for years, are easy to touch up, easy to roll on, which I did. In the years I owned Jaunty all of those things were true. I did not paint the bottom with latex, I used an ablative marine bottom primer and paint to the water line.
I believe I would paint a "yacht" with fancy boat topcoats but for my home built, and well built, ply/epoxy construction boats I would happily do 100% acrylic latex paint rolled on in a heartbeat. Add to that, during my three years of showing at the P.T. boat show I received many unsolicited compliments on the paint job.
Thanks, this is very timely for me. I'm restoring a marine ply boat that is varnished, with condition ranging from completely peeling off in small spots to still a good finish. I am thinking of going with paint instead of varnishing, and looking for resources/opinions on how much I need to take off the varnish and, after that, weather I would need to re-epoxy any bare wood before painting (I think the answer is yes).