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Wooden Boat Building and Restoration

I remember my boat school instructor explaining to us students that it takes just as long to apply finish (paint & varnish) to a boat as it does to build one. Walter J. Simmons verifies this in his book titled "Finishing". And so it goes with the CC Dory project. While the actual job of applying paint takes little time... it is the prep work that is quite time consuming.

I was meticulous in sanding and fairing the outside in preparation, leveling the primer, applying the top coat, and meticulous sanding between coats. We choose a semi-gloss white paint (Interlux Brightside) which will show defective prep work quite clearly. I primed with Interlux Pre-Kote. I used a "roll and tip" method of applying paint to the outside. I had good success using a 1/8" foam roller and tipping with a good quality brush. For the boot stripe I used Interlux Boottop Striping Enamel in "Flag Blue" which I brushed on.

After I completed the outside of the hull, the owner and I talked over the finish. We weighed the merits of applying a "yacht finish" on a boat designed to be a "work boat", and agreed not to get carried away with a perfect finish. While I wanted the finish to reflect my best work, it was becoming too time consuming. The owner said he wanted to use the boat without being overly concerned with scratching the finish up. I agreed that it made sense to lower my expectations for this project... with that I made quick work of the inside.

The inside was also primed with Interlux Pre-Kote and finished with Interlux Bilgekote Grey paint applied to the bottom, and Interlux Brightside Interlux Brightside Seattle Grey applied to the sides. The inside I applied paint completely with just a brush. It was quite a task painting the inside as there were many surfaces and to complicate it many uncomfortable body positions were necessary to apply the paint.


Outside Primed:


Outside Painted:

             


Inside Prepped and Primed (view thru exhaust port):

             


Inside Painted: