DaySailer.org Forum

I need to paint the interior of my DS1. I was planning on using Interlux Briteside with a dulling agent. I was wondering what others have used successfully.

Roger Livingston
DS 6872

When I bought Truelove, she was in need of paint as well. I called West marine and they recommended their interior cabin boat paint. I looked at it online, pulled the MSDS sheet and found it was a good quality exterior latex. Instead of West at $30/qt I went to the local hardware and bought a quart of their exterior latex. I used Kilz as a primer. It has held up very well over the past several seasons

We used garage floor paint form Home Depot. Held up pretty well this season.

I also own a Mariner and painted the interior of the cabin with a good quality latex paint. But the area is enclosed and i did not paint the floor. On the daysailer, the area being painted will get a lot of wear and be somewhat exposed to the elements. Thanks for your input.

Roger Livingston
DS 6872
Mariner 4096

I used PPG Aquapon two part water-based epoxy. It comes in various sheens. It was recommended by the president of Forte Carbon Fiber Products, who is also a partner in Mas Epoxy. He thought it made a particularly good bilge paint because it didn't mind having standing water on it like a top side paint might.

It is a little pricey but you don't need to do a primer. Of course, preparation is key! It has great adhesion and durability. A 1/2 gallon kit was plenty. I applied it with one of those foam trim rollers that you can buy at Home Depot and it came out nice. I got it from George Kirby paint company in New Bedford, they have been in the Marine paint business for generations.

When I first bought my boat, it was pretty rough and in need of paint too. I wasn't sure of what to use so I looked through a lot of old posts on here and read about using regular latex paint - so I went out and bought the best quality exterior grade latex I could find. I meticulously scraped, cleaned and prepped the surfaces, then painted most interior surfaces other than the seats with a foam roller (as I believe KC mentioned). The results looked really good - clean and pretty seamless as if it were gel coat. Over the year and a half since then this is what I have found - The paint holds up well as long as it isn't under water - but anywhere that is under water for a period of time, the paint softens and came off in rubbery sheets. Also, the paint DOES NOT hold up to the abrasion experienced anywhere that floor boards come into contact. In my opinion, if I had to do it over, I would go with something more along the lines of what KC describes. Even though good latex paint is similar to something manufactured for cabin use, the problem a DS1 has is that the cabin is also the bilge. There is always water laying in the bottom - I either ship a little or it's from the rain or from washing (the drain plug is just not in the best place) and so, if you are like me, whatever you use, if you ever have water in the boat for even a day at a time, I'd get something more impervious. I have a lot of bare spots now where the paint has either come up from water immersion or from contact with the floor boards, so now the chore before me is: paint again or remove (somehow) all the old paint and then get something better. Either way, it's a bummer to be doing it again after only 18 months.

My 2 cents.

Yes, it's enough work to prep for painting, and especially if you have to remove paint that I'm willing to spend the extra dollar to get the best product I can get without getting ridiculous.

I'm the proud new owner of a 1967 DS1 (#15303) and I need to find out how to support the vessel while painting the bottom. I don't imagine that just turning it upside down on a coulple of saw horses would give adequate support, so I'm seeking information on the "right" way to do it. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Bill,

those saw horses would not be too far from what you'd need, I think. A DS weighs more than 500lbs so they would have to perhaps be a bit more substantial.

The hull should be strong enough to support itself, after all, you are neither bouncing it around, like on a trailer, nor walking around it it, while you paint the bottom.

I've had my DS on its side (with no special supports other than bits of carpet under the rubrail) but so far I haven't turned her over all the way. I imagine I would use one support just forward of the cuddy an another one across the cockpit.

If you leave the wooden cockpit coamings in place, they would add stiffness, but also present a challenge where to rest the boat. You may have to build up some padding so it's the rubrail and not the coaming that rests on the saw horse.

My next thought would be that standard saw horses would be too tall, especially in the front. You'd want to be able to easily reach the bottom there.

As to how to get your DS turned over, there are a number of other threads that describe that.

Bill,

I found three concrete blocks worked well to support my boat; one at the bow and two at the stern. I have a DS II which has molded fiberglass coamings so I could place the blocks directly under the coaming (using scrap 2 x 6 boards to distribute the load). To turn the boat over, I dry launched her on the grass. I put some scrap carpet where the rail would be when we rolled the boat over. Then me and my two sons lifted one side of the boat until she was on her side. One person balanced the boat on its edge while everyone switched sides and then we gently lowered the boat to the upside down position. I positioned the block at the bow first to remove the load from the cuddy roof, then positioned the blocks at the stern.

to take the boat off the trailer and work on it - you can't beat getting foam blocks from northern tool. go by your local northern tool and ask the manager if you can have the foam blocks they use to ship the flatbed trailers. they stack these trailers and put foam in between them to keep from damaging. then they trash the foam blocks - so get there before they toss them and you're all set. they give them to me locally, no charge. would be worth even a few bucks each should they press it.

dm

Thanks for the suggestions. I knew there was no need to re-invent the wheel!

seandwyer wrote:...so now the chore before me is: paint again or remove (somehow) all the old paint and then get something better. Either way, it's a bummer to be doing it again after only 18 months.

My 2 cents.

http://www.por15.com/POR-STRIP/productinfo/RSG/

My 2 cents, for you!