By C45Sanctuary on 6/22/2008 8:00 PM

Spraying is a heck of a lot easier, and faster, than rolling and tipping.  The results from spraying are comparable to my best efforts from rolling and tipping.

My sister was put in charge of ensuring one scaffolding platform was relocated while I was using the other scaffolding.  This enabled me to continually move along the length of the hull without needing to pause every few feet and relocate the platforms.  Initially, my spraying technique was ... weak.  Within about ten or fifteen feet, though, I had a pretty good grasp on the technique.  The port side looked decent.  Not awesome, but not bad.  I am attempting to error on the side of "less paint and more layers" instead of trying to make the first layer look like a final coat.  It only took a few hours to paint the entire port side.  Starboard took even less time than the port side (I had learned the rhythm) and it looked even better.

Another task that I assigned to my sister was to "run interference" with the various people who visit me while I'm at my boat.  Every weekend, there is usually at least one or two people who walk by and want to know more about the boat.  I'm always happy to tell them three times more than they probably wanted to know.  The drawback to that, though, is I tend to get almost nothing done when they're around.  So, she did the talking and I did the painting.  It worked out pretty well.

There's one important thing about spraying that needs to be mentioned: Get a compressor that can push more cubic feet per minute than the spray gun can use.  It doesn't matter how much pressure the compressor can attain.  What does matter is how much air it can push.  If a compressor can attain 150 PSI, but can only push 2.8 cubic feet per minute, then you'll only be painting for about ten seconds before you need to wait for a minute or two for the compressor to catch up.  Get a compressor that pushed more cubic feet that the spray gun needs.  (Yeah, I needed to make an emergency trip to Lowes to get a bigger compressor).

By C45Sanctuary on 6/18/2008 8:00 PM

Last week I asked my sister if she wanted to visit the boat.  It wasn't until a few days after she agreed that I realized she might not know it wasn't in the water.  If she is thinking this is going to be a "sailing on the water" kind of weekend she's in for a bit of a surprise.  I wonder just when I'm going to let her know this weekend if going to be focused primarly upon painting.

By C45Sanctuary on 6/9/2008 8:00 PM

I spent all day Saturday morning by sanding the port side.  Again.  Then, in the afternoon, I attempted the "roll and tip" method on the port side.  The results were ... bad.  I think the best effort I made was destroyed by the swarm of bugs.  *$(#)@_!)@(#$*%^ ing bugs.  Most of the gallon of black paint I purchased is now gone.  I obtained a quart of black paint from one of the local marine shops and made yet another attempt at "rolling and tipping".  I'm not sure why, but every time I use this method the results look worse that the previous attempt.

Jack, the guy who is a few boats away, asked why I wasn't spraying.  He is of the opinion that the results achieved by "rolling and tipping" is a myth.  He's been around many yachts that were being painted and they were always sprayed.  I guess he has a point.  I definitely lack the skill required to make this technique work, so maybe spraying is the only option I have.  So, on Sunday afternoon and Monday morning, I sanded the hull.  Again.  I was able to finish sanding all of the starboard side as well as most of the port side before I needed to head home.

The next time I am down here I'll have a fresh gallon of black paint and all of the equipment needed for spraying.

By C45Sanctuary on 5/18/2008 8:00 PM

I spent all day Saturday sanding the less-than-optimal paint job from the port side.  Then, this morning, I began painting the port side.  Again.  This is, like, the third time I've attempted to paint the port side with the "roll and tip" method.

So, I'm cruising along, moving at a pretty decent pace from stern to stem, when a swarm of those "love bugs" drifts along and decides to take a close look at the paint job I'm doing.  A very close look.  Thousands of them are suddenly stuck in the wet paint I've been laborously applying.  Most of them are solidly glued in place, but a few of them are able to slowly drag their way across the paint in some random direction.  The few bugs that could move were really screwing up the paint job.

**#)!(@*#&$^% ! ! !

Well, I guess this weekend's painting effort is finished.  Using the hose, I sprayed water lightly at the side of the boat to attempt to remove the bugs.  The paint job, as well as all of that sanding I did yesterday, is completely ruined.  I guess I'll just have to try again in two weeks.

By C45Sanctuary on 5/4/2008 8:00 PM

This weekend was the first time Jiffener visited the boat.  We didn't spend a lot of time at the boat yard; just long enough to show off what has (and hasn't) been finished.

On the trip down we encountered massive swarms of "love bugs".  They resemble lightning bugs (a.k.a. "fire flies") but they don't have a glowing butt.  Instead, attached to their lower abdomen is another bug.  They clumsily fly around while performing what might be the world's longest sexual coupling.  And there are millions upon millions of them.  The air was so thick with these bugs that I had a heck of a time keeping just a few inches of my windshield clear enough to see through.  The entire front of my truck, which had previously been clean, is now covered with the carcasses of thousands of these little bugs.  I'm just glad I wasn't painting.