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Thursday, September 19, 2013

Upper Coat for 'Minnow'





Today I applied the first upper coat of International Toplac to ‘Minnow’s’ hull, cabin trunk, hatch and rudder stock. I’ll giver them a second upper coat for a better and more lasting finish. The boat will be well and truly sealed against the elements and she’ll be cushioned against accidental abrasion during use.

The upper coat is International’s Atlantic Grey which is lighter than their Pre-Kote undercoat, but this lighter grey will reflect more sunlight, which can only be a good thing for reducing surface temperature when the boat is exposed to the full glare of sunshine. Dark colours will absorb more of the sun’s rays than lighter ones. In this respect, black is the worst for a boat. Initially it looks smart, but it quickly loses its gloss, and seawater coats it with salt stains. It also tends to bleach the paint. If she’s a wooden boat and caulked, the sun will play havoc, because of the differences of heat conduction between the two materials. The surface paint will expand and contract at different rates, causing it to fracture.

The only concern I have regarding grey, is that the boat will to a certain extent camouflage her when at sea. On the other hand, her red sail should make her clearly visible. I am torn between painting the mast and spars with orange or yellow paint to increase the boat’s visibility, and coating them with Deks Olije because it is easy to maintain and it looks attractive – and it is an exceptionally good preservative. I could combine the two, by applying Deks Olije to the most part of the mast and orange or yellow to the top. The boom and yard are already painted, so perhaps a coating of orange or yellow paint on the exposed parts might be in order.

Most of the interior I shall paint with a fairly neutral light colour – cream or off-white is hard to beat. A darker colour is better for the floorboards and the bilges. Epoxy is good, but expensive. International, Danboline is excellent for bilges.

6 comments:

  1. Your boat is starting to look really good Bill. I was fortunate enough last year to spend 2 months on the Gulf coast of Florida near Sarasota. The water in that area is so shallow that I can see the Paradox being really in its element.

    Have you ever had any experience of lifting keel Hunter 701s or bilge keel Jaguars, 22, 24, or 27.

    Kind regards

    Michael

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  2. Looking GREAT! You don't mess around....Minnow is making a remarkable comeback!

    Sean

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  3. Hello again Bill, yet more excellent work. I'm very impressed.
    I'm very interested in your comments about mast finishing, and for what it's worth, I'd plump for Deks Ole for the bulk of the spar with the bright paint at the top. My minds eye tells me that that will be an elegant and practical finish.

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  4. Bright oranges spars could look really good as well as being practical - a high tech look which would suit Minnow

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  5. Hi Bill,

    Minnow is really starting to look the part, I just wish I'd made a fraction of the progress that you have on my Potter but life has got in the way. I have to say though that Minnow looks a little like a WW1 Battleship but none the worse for that. I love the idea of the spars being picked out in a fluorescent colour - very postmodern.

    Happy sailing,

    Ian

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  6. Hello Bill,
    . I'm enjoying reading your account of thee refurbishment of Minnow. I myself am in the process of doing up a boat which I have just bought. Would you mind telling me what you use to remove old silicon prior to undercoating as I will shortly be at that stage?
    Yours sincerely,
    Tony Lawlor.

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