I have had a litre of Interlux Brightside Sea Green paint sitting on the shelf for a couple of weeks now and have resisted the temptation to crack the tin open. Yesterday the wait was over. I had given up on any hope of perfection in the sanding and fairing. The perfect is the enemy of the good and good is the enemy of the good enough! A couple of coats of primer or pre-coat and a final sanding and I was ready. Taping off the gunwales to protect from the guaranteed drips I approached the hull.
What a pleasure it is to get a glimpse of what the boat will finally look like. After mucking about with ratty old brushes which leave bits of foam or stray bristles that have to be picked off the surface (and are not infrequently missed until the next coat is applied) I dusted off my 4 inch roller and laid a thin coat on. Good paint is a pleasure to work with. It goes on smooth, doesn’t run, covers well dries in the time advertised. By this morning the finish, mottled and un-even, was ready for the second coat. A matter of minutes and the true colour emerges. Yes there are imperfections but no-one is going to look as closely as I do. I know where the bodies are buried: the little dimple of the filled stitching hole not quite flush, the little bubble in the epoxy, the stray fibreglass filament which escaped sanding. The second coat will be allowed to dry for two days and then a 220 grit sanding and the final coat of Sea Green. By then I hope that the interior paint (not Interlux) will have finally dried – after a week!
Sailstrait 