Sanding & Painting the Topsides (1st Coat of Rochelle Red), and Brightwork

January 14, 2018

With temperatures hovering on the lower end of the paint window, allowing me to put a coat of Interlux Perfection onto Joule's topsides, I debated for a while on whether to proceed or to divert to another aspect of the restoration.  It appeared as though the afternoon would warm sufficiently to allow the first coat of Rochelle Red to go on, and in the end it did in fact. Early in the morning and in chilly temps. - low 40s - I went out to sand the hull to prep for paint.

With 150-grit sheets of paper, I hand-sanded the topsides in roughly an hour's time.

By the time I was finished, the air temperature was beginning to climb and would soon be within the window of opportunity!

Having an appointment near noon, I finished the painting prep by thoroughly wiping the topsides down with a solvent to remove the sanding dust.  I stepped away from Joule for a couple hours for the appointment - all the while the mercury slowly rose.

Getting back from the mid-day appointment, I quickly prepared things to get that first coat on.  I mixed a point of paint -  2:1 ratio, volume thinned by ~10% - and set it aside for a 20-minute induction period.  While the paint was set aside, I finished taping off the stem fitting to protect it from the soon to be applied paint.

I worked my way around Joule from the starboard aft quarter, to the bow, back down to the port aft quarter, and finally the stern.   I applied this first coat with a high-density, solvent resistant foam roller, and achieved satisfactory results.  The lower air temps. did now allow the paint to level out as I thought it might, trapping some air bubbles in a few spots.  I knew I might have some challenges applying this first coat, and sanding was inevitable, but wanted to get the first coat on and get a feel for the Perfection product.

She's coming along nicely, and with warmer temps on the horizon, I'll have good opportunity for some more sanding and the second application.  I finished the afternoon by doing some sanding work on the coaming boards, and installing bungs in the starboard coaming to cover the fasteners securing the coaming return block to the board itself.

Total Time Today: 2.5 hrs