Taking the plunge on refit.

[curifin]

Inside with porcelain white aquapon......



I was skeptical on first coat, it looked like it would not stick, after drying all night in the warming tent



It hardened up and second coat seems to be working well.

[K.C. Walker]

The Aquapon probably has a minimum application temperature, I'm going to guess around 65°-70°. However, as long as you get the water out of it before the temperature gets too low the epoxy will be fine. It basically goes into suspended animation, as far as the chemical reaction goes, until it gets in the 70s. I've been doing some epoxy work with regular marine epoxy this week and it's taking forever to cure in my shop. If I warm up the piece it cures rock hard, even though it really hadn't hardened all that much in 24 hours before that.

It's looking really good!

[curifin]

Okay.... first coat of perfection for the topsides... snow white. Wow.... it stinks bad. Looks pretty good with no tipping just a foam roller. At this point I am just ready to get it done. I am going 1 to 1 with the flattening agent, which really makes the paint go longer. The Aquapon turned out terrific. It is hard as a rock. I dropped a set of pliers on it from about 2 feet... nada... so I got interested and went behind the seat tank and intentionally chipped it with an awl. This stuff is really strong. I like it.

On a separate note... I coated both the centerboard and the rudder with Aquapon - three coats. On a whim (extra pain) I went back over the rudder with PrimeKote.... DON'T do that... had to sand it all off. The Aquapon takes a LONG time to fully cure but when it does it is very very hard. I like it. Sanding the PrimeKote off the Aquapon held up ridiculously well. Recoated with it... final coat after scuffing will be with aquapon.

I am coating the bottom with Interlux Performance Epoxy, so will compare that to the Aquapon.....

[K.C. Walker]

I'm glad that the Aquapon worked out well for you. It seems to be pretty bulletproof on my boat. I'm going to guess that the performance epoxy will smell worse.

There is real danger when it comes to painting. You're almost done and you really just want it to just be over. This is when I start talking to myself about being patient. In reality, it is a small percentage of the time involved. However, it is what you will be looking at and why you went through all the prep to get there.

[curifin]

Finally got the top sides put back together and flipped the boat. Perfection works pretty good but I have little luck with the tipping.

[K.C. Walker]

I have never tried rolling and tipping Perfection. It's amazing what mixed reviews there are on how easy it is to get it to look like "perfection". You do have to consider that boats rarely look as perfect as cars and most people don't expect them to look that good. It's seriously a ton more work to get that kind of result. I think what you'll find is that people will be complementing you on how great your boat looks.

The dark blue looks really good! That's a really hard color to make look perfect. I've done a lot of finishing in my life and have come to the realization that most people don't look at it as closely as I do and therefore don't notice the defects that I readily see. When you have the boat flipped and you're right there at 18 inches from the surface you see everything. When you turn the boat over the top sides are slanted down and they pick up reflections from everything around them, it is really difficult to detect minor flaws. Once the boat is in the water and the reflections from the water sparkle on the boat even fairly significant flaws seem to disappear.

[curifin]

Thanks! I ran out of paint.... but it is slowly coming along. For reference on anyone who may painting a similar way, about 9 oz on first coat, 6 oz on two and three. I started out mixing way too much. Without the wastage 1 two pack would be enough, even with the dark color. I did get better at tipping by the third coat.

[curifin]

Been forever, one new baby, one new boat (Beneteau First 210), but the DS is done. I hate paint but it came out pretty.



It was REALLY pretty until I scraped it up flipping it back over...... Grrrrrrr..... But close enough. The interior is the biggest improvement to me. The white epoxy cleans up easily and is much nicer.



I rechristened the boat Denial..... Which is pretty apt.

I kept essentially the same rigging layout, but moved the battery far forward. I eventually will get an APS, especially having used the APC from Doyle on the Beneteau..... Beaver lake sailing would benefit greatly from a light air sail. I kept center sheeting 4 to 1. I wanted to leave the back deck clear for solar panel. I am hooked on electric. I am going to take this boat down the red river MCAR under electric/hybrid propulsion.

Overall.... Based on my experience with the two part paints.... I don't think I will be painting my new boat. Chalky is just fine......

[K.C. Walker]

The Deniel is looking really good! After you get her out on the water all this refit pain will start to fade.

[curifin]

I got her out a couple of times. Unfortunately my time this summer has been pretty tight. Am looking forward to some cooler weather as well!

[GreenLake]

OK, your boat is upside down and you want to put a stringer underneath (on top of, in current orientation) of your cuddy floor. Having gravity help will really make things simpler.

I would build a hollow or foam filled stringer with a flat base. That way you have plenty of area to glue and even if you miss some, you'll get enough load transfer for your purpose.

If the stringer is 1" wide, the base plate would be 2-3" wide. That's how I picture it, 1-2" wider than the actual stringer (but not wider than you can fit through your access hole) - usually it makes sense to avoid hard lines, but this application is probably rather forgiving (not the same loads that you'd get on hull or deck).

Then, get yourself one of the epoxy in a caulk gun cartridges. Either West 6-10, or SystemThree GelMagic.

You build your stringer with base plate on a sheet of plastic and let it cure to the "green stage". Lift it off the plastic, clean off any amine blush (or use blush-free epoxy). Then reach in with your caulk gun and lay a good pattern of beads down on the cuddy floor where the stringer is supposed to go. Be liberal. The stuff in the cartridges is non-sagging, so it won't go anywhere and requires pressure to spread. (Makes it better at filling gaps, as well).

Position your stringer on top of the epoxy. In the worst case, just slide it over. No sense to try for total neatness. I predict you'll get enough contact to make a reasonable glue joint in any case.

Then use sandbags or wedges or something inflatable to add pressure and improve contact while the epoxy cures.