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Windchaser was on the slip for 12 days not counting the morning she went back in. Managed to get some of my to-do list completed.



Sanded and painted the topsides. Old paint coming off.



Took a week to sand as I wanted to remove the remains of the old coat which was falling off. Used 40 grit, 80 grit, 120 grit.



First coat was Shipshape two pack primer undercoat. Sanded with 180 grit wet and dry, used wet by hand. Used three foam rollers as the paint ate them.



Using small foam rollers, applied two coats of Norglass Gloss two pack. Only used one roller per time as paint not as damaging to the foam. However, I did get some bubbles. I will test other sorts of roller with the paint to see how it goes.

Finish was shiny.



Bubbles marred some of the paint work. Hard to see except if the light is directly from the side. I wanted to lightly sand (wet and dry done wet would have been easy and give a good finish) and do a third coat but I had no time.



[next post is the antifoul]

Antifouled. Initial pressure wash was followed by a round with the chisel to remove some barnacles. Only one year since antifouled so should not have been barnacles. However, I spent weeks on anchor down river and had problems with Windchaser sailing on anchor and tangling the anchor rope around the keel. The rope would come up with antifoul on it so I knew it was rubbing off the protection. So, no surprise there were some barnacles.



Did a light sand with wet and dry 80 grit, by hand and with a hose in one hand with slow gentle flow. Since I do this every year, it does not take long to smooth over the hull and clean off any last bits of algae or bumps of old antifoul.



Used International paints Coppercoat which is going off the market. The paint place had one lonely tin sitting there and they offered it to me at less than half price. Used Altec 5 last year and other years used International Awlcraft. Did two coats from the 4 litres. The first coat used a little more than 1/2 the tin so I added a bit of mineral turps (tested first to make sure it would work as a thinner) and it did the second coat no problems. Antifoul companies have their own thinners, however, I have never had any problems using a little mineral turps in previous years with Awlcraft. Any thinners with antifoul should be used very sparingly, not like one chap I know who keeps adding it so the paint is thin and easy to apply. I find a little thinner gives me a more consistent thickness of coverage instead of thick and thin sections which take ages to try and roll to a consistent finish. In this case, the thinner allowed me to do the second coat without excessive rolling.



Overall, the topsides paint job looks fantastic and I know the antifoul will do a good job.



Louis

Well done Louis!!!

I'm sure next year will be very quick compared to this year.

Did you remove the timber toe rail for the painting, or just mask it of Troppo?
cheers

Shaun, I removed the toe rail and repaired it then painted it. Long story, I will put a short version up here soon.

troppo