Pre-Kote

Bright and early this morning, I began the process of painting the exterior hull. There are any number of schemes for painting a small sailing pram; the variety is only limited by the imagination of the builder. However, I opted for a scheme that is best called the "standard" finish. By this, I mean a finish where the exterior bottom of the hull is painted white, leaving the exterior top strake and all of the interior finished "bright", or varnished. This is the scheme used by CLC for their showroom model Passagemakers, and I think it is a simple, elegant decor. But even within this basic finish, there are small variations. Gloss or satin varnish? Where to finish the paint edge on the transoms- leave the strake edge bare, or paint over it? Painted or bright skeg? The minute details can be endless. I chose to adhere to the K.I.S.S. principle, and to keep things as simple as possible.

Accordingly, I masked the top strake and the transom (I like the look of a little plywood edge, so I'll keep the strake ends visible) with 3M blue masking tape, medium adherence. Then I gave the hull a first coat with Interlux Pre-Kote primer. This is a high-build primer, designed to flow well, yet fill small imperfections in the surface. I found that about half of the 1-quart container was enough for one coat on the hull. I am still debating whether to add a second coat. Already, the hull looks nice. The scarfs in the strakes are well hidden, and even the one or two stitch holes I hadn't completely filled are pretty well hidden. The primer went on most of hull with a small foam roller, but I had to resort to a small trim brush to get to some small corners around the skids, and in the skeg handle. Total Hours 86.25.