Painting the 'nether-regions'

Of all the tough jobs on a boat, painting bilges and the interior of lockers might be the most un-rewarding.  Perhaps this is because nobody but you will ever know how much toil went into this...who looks in your bilge?

Most places in the world, when confronted with this need, you would walk into your local supply house and pick-up a gallon of Interlux Bilgekote or Pettit EZ-Bilge...well not in NZ.  I have asked dozens of people in the industry and they all look at me like I am from Mars ("Canada actually").

My bilge is very clean, but the gray gelcoat on the hull, and the gray enamel on the plywood ribs is worn out and looking old.  The interior of my lockers are all a bit dull, and in need of some attention.

I have therefore been looking for an all-around primer and topcoat that will treat all of these areas, as I do not want to end up with a lot of half-empty paint tins.

I also have the challenge that the inner surface of the bilge/hull is almost impossible to sand, as it is heavy mat, complete with a waffle-like pattern.

I stumbled around for quite a long time until I cam across a company called Zinsser (a division of Rust-Oleum), who produce a product called "Bulls Eye 1-2-3 Water-based Primer"...here is what they claim:

About Bulls Eye 1-2-3® Water-Base Primer

There’s a reason Rust-Oleum Zinsser Bulls Eye 1-2-3® Water-Base Primer is our most popular primer. This premium, whole-house primer-sealer provides outstanding performance indoors and out, with low odor, great flow and leveling and a flexible, acrylic formula.

• Water-base primer-sealer
• Interior and exterior
• Sticks to all surfaces without sanding
• Seals stains, graffiti and tannin bleed
• Mold & mildew resistant film
• Rust inhibitive – great for new metal
• Fast 1 hour dry time

Note the bit about "...sticks to ALL surfaces without sanding...".  You can use it to prime ceramic tiles if you want...should work wonders on the glossy bilge gel-coat.

I am pretty excited that this primer will deal to the variable surfaces I want to treat.  It has a very high solids count, and is even anti-mold and mildew!

In terms of a top-coat, I am going to use a gloss-white marine enamel everywhere, for ease of clean-up and identification of any leaks or problems. 

I'll use this post as the work commences...so watch this space!


UPDATE 25/8/13:

I have decided to buy some white-tinted polyester "flow-coat" to apply to the actual bilge area, from the keel bolts up the the turn in the bilge.  I want to guarantee improved water-resistance in this area, which can be subject to standing water for periods of time.

This is a purpose-built product for this sort of application.  Following the flow-coat application I will prime and paint as described above.  It is essentially a polyester resin that cures hard instead of tacky.  Flow-coat is gel-coat with a wax added.  The wax seals the product at the top of the layer and allows it to harden fully.

Before:

An incredibly-clean bilge

I spent several hours scrubbing the bilge with Simple Green, then a strong solution of sugar soap.

UPDATE 31/8/13 - Painting the Flow-Coat

I gave the entire bilge a final sand a wipe down tonight, then mixed up 100mL of polyester flow-coat and hardener.  I used a disposable brush and applied the flow-coat the the very lowest portion of the bilge (where the keel bolts are), and up the sides 3".

I didn't consider painting the entire bilge with flow-coat because it would have required a lot of material (it goes on very thick, and does not spread very far).  I also decided not to flow-coat everything because it is a horrible product to work with (as are all polyester and epoxy resins), you must work quickly or even 100mL on a chilly night will kick in the cup.

The only place water will ever sit for more than a day is at the very bottom of the bilge, which is where I have applied the added protection of polyester resin ~ Flow-Coat.

Update - 01/09/13

I have sanded boat bottoms to gel coat with a hand sander, I have had a holding tank spill onto my head as I lifted it out of a hull, and I have put a sailmakers needle through the palm of my hand...but I have never done anything so difficult and unpleasant as painting the bilge...it is incredibly exhausting and trying. 

This is the progress so far on the primer coat, removing hoses as I go to avoid a total hack-job. 

Update 5/9/13 - Almost finished

I have applied a coat of gloss enamel this evening, so all but the last "section" below the companionway is complete.  I will have to come back to this section as otherwise I would have painted myself into a corner (literally).

The end result is as good as I expected, but as mentioned before the effort was perhaps disproportionate with the benefit...not sure.

AFTER  

An incredibly-clean bilge

Final touch ~ bilge pump re-installed.  I bedded it in silicone, no more screws into the f-glass

Check your zinc!

There is a big label on my heat exchanger that says "Check Zinc Monthly".

Monthly...what about bi-monthly?  Or tri-monthly?

Nope...monthly...here's why:

Exchanger zinc after 3 months...it was pitted but intact the last time I looked at it.

At least no damage was done, a bit of a good clean up due.  Chance to change the end-cap gasket as well.

LAZY! LAZY!!!

A clean up due, new gasket and some touch up paint.

Interior Woodwork - Refinish

I am on a quest to bring some life to the interior joinery, which is a bit sad as compared to the recently-refinished sole.

I tested a polyurethane but found it too much...too glossy. 

I have now settled on the following technique:

1.  I clean the wood with mineral spirits and a microfibre cloth. 

2. I apply at least two coats of a hard furniture wax (Briwax).

3. And here's my secret...I buff the wax once dry with 0000 gauge steel wool  ***(Now synthetic 18/7/13) with the grain, not a rag or bonnet. 

The finish is very subtle but very refined and deep. 

Before

Wax

Waxed and dried

Ready to buff  **SEE UPDATE BELOW - STEEL WOOL NOT GOOD FOR BOATS - SEEMS OBVIOUS NOW...

Finished - 2 coats

The alternative is a tremendous amount of varnishing and sanding, and frankly this treatment yields a beautiful result. 

I'll photograph the process as I go, but as all of my work happens in the middle of the night (2.8 young kids and a demanding career), the photos won't be great. 

UPDATE! 18/7/13

The preponderance of evidence would seem to indicate that 'real' steel wool is not a good idea inside a boat, as the tiny shards of wool will eventually rust and could make a mess wherever they end up.  For this reason I am switching my technique to use ultra-fine abrasive pads, which mimic steel wool

Bronze wool is simply not available in New Zealand, all of our sheep are steel.

With the new "fake steel wool" in hand I applied 4 coats of wax to the large bulkhead panel facing aft, and two coats everywhere else from the companionway to the head door along the aft starboard corner. 

The finish is a curious but wonderful blend of satin and deep gloss and the effort is made less with the pads to both apply and buff. 

21/7/13 - UPDATE!!

The waxing continues up the starboard side toward the forward cabin.  The interior surfaces of the head an shower, as well as the woodwork around the galley and tops of all shelves will be done with a satin polyurethane/varnish.

4 coats of hard paste wax

UPDATE 24/7/13

The waxing is complete!  3 coats on most surfaces, with 5 coats on the main panels.  I plan to let them cure for a day or two and then give them a light go with my one of my three power polishers (I'm not sure which yet, I have a HD angle polisher, a random-orbital polisher, and a simple car polisher).

I am really happy with the decision to go with wax, it reminds me of my old baseball glove, well worn, but always treated with a bit of lanolin...that uneven but striking gloss.

Next? ~ On to the comparatively-small amount of satin varnishing required around the galley, and in the head/shower interior.



Update 27/7/13 - Galley area completed

Big stove polish...to pretty to cook on.

UPDATE ~ 1/8/13 - Refinishing the liner battens

I am beginning the final (?) phase of the internal joinery refinishing...the rehabilitation of the horizontal battens/slats that line the hull in 3 places.  The main reason to remove them is due to the severely-corroded bronze screws that have discolored the wood.  

2 interesting facts:

1. The battens are western red cedar...not teak.
2. You can tell a corroded screw is bronze because it goes pink.

Step #1 ~ Removal & cleaning of the liner

Before removal, showing stained timber, rotten bronze screws, and grubby liner behind.

At least 6 screws broke at the head and required drilling out...

Step #2 - Sand the battens down to bare wood

Rough sand

Final sand & clean up the screw holes as best possible, but some of the black stain is deep

UPDATE 10/8/13 ~ Final works on battens

While these battens have yet to be cleaned and varnished, you can see a comparison of the old versus new fasteners

I am using 316 SS screws with cup washers to both bind the cedar better and to hide some of the staining around the screw holes.

Forward berth battens, screws changed but not yet varnished.

...And the final product!

Sanded bare, 2 coats of maple stain/varnish, and 2 coats of satin polyurethane.



Bottom 2 battens not installed (I need to find my stubby square drive screwdriver~too cramped for cordless driver)

UPDATE ~ 14/8/13 ~ Companionway trim & grab rails

The last wee bit of interior joinery refinishing is the trim around the companionway and the two single grab rails.  All of this teak is badly weathered and grubby.

I was really worried about sanding inside the cabin and making an unholy mess, so I bought myself a heat gun and a few scrapers.  This has been an excellent purchase as the work has gone very quickly.  It takes very little time to peel away the varnish (I do think it's marine varnish in this location).

I intend to clean the stipped teak and lighten it with a teak cleaner/brightener kit I purchased, then apply 4-5 coats of marine spar varnish.

Before any work was done

During the stripping process



Post stripping with heat gun

Done 21/8/13

Aside from ongoing additional coats of wax, this concludes the interior joinery 'refresh'.  I can now move on to various other projects.

I may well be re-installing the cabin dining table in days/weeks to come, but I will be painting the bilge first (obviously), and perhaps putting a coat of satin polyurethane on the table while I have it at home.

A Bit of History

Too many technical posts recently, here is a bit of personal history.  My paternal grandfather was a big yachtsman, and I have photos here that show how the Morrisons have been at sea for nearly 70 years!



1944 - On leave from the War  - Grampa Bob is on the far right in the t-shirt - Off the coast of Halifax NS




Serving aboard a Corvette in WWII...now THAT'S a windlass!!

 

HMCS Rosthern (K169)

At the shipyard~ Port Arthur Ontario 1940

1964 - Lake Ontario 6m racing



Ice racing in the winter

My San Juan 24 "Jelly Bean" off Salt Spring Island BC Canada 1997-2004

**See bottom of this post for more on Jelly Bean - over a 3-4 year period I gutted her, compeltely re-built the interior, painted her topsides by hand, built a sewing machine to cope with Dacron and sewed by hand all of the sails you see here.  I wired her from scratch, replaced the mast...etc etc.




My Nonsuch30U#400 2012-Present - New Zealand

"Jelly Bean" ~ a San Juan 24

I bought this boat very cheaply way back in 1997, and over the next few years I rebuilt her from stem to stern.

A much younger me, during her very first haul-out (not my dogs)

Topsides painted with roll-tip method, new mast and rigging, and outboard (for you guys from Canada, this is the Goldstream Marina on Vancouver Island)

Interior completely gutted.

Used the "tick-stick" method to create a structural bulkhead

Complete construction from bare hull, including ribs, floor, lockers etc

Stringers for the battens and insulation added, chainplates all cut from stainless sheet by hand

All cabinetry and joinery done by me, upholestery by my first wife.



I actually learned how to soak rattan overnight and stretch it onto a cabinet door frame. 

Created a panel with 12v DC and 110v AC for tools and charging

I modified an old sewing machine with a reduction gear for sailmaking

...and I sewed all my own sails

Then I built a tender to keep busy in the winter

I would have sold Jelly Bean for a tenth of what I invested in her, and I estimate I put 2000hrs into her.  A labour of love. 

She was featured in the January 2003 issue of Pacific Yachting magazine.