Paint Prep, Round 1

November 22, 2014

With a need to get things wrapped up by mid-December, and to take advantage of the seasonal low-humidity for painting, I resumed work on the sailing dinghy.  Today's focus shifted from the now completed brightwork, to the topsides.  The owner requested not only for new brightwork to be fabricated, but also for the topsides to be repainted.  My first order of business was to flip the boat to provide good access to the topsides and bottom.  I slid the boat off of its cradle, rearranged the horses, and cobbled the boat back into its temporary resting place.

Its was important to raise the boat's sheer line above the workhorse so as to not damage it.  This was accomplished by running two beams from one workhorse to the other, building up blocks on top of the beams and for the boat's seating to rest upon.  Sheer line preserved.

Another photo (below) showing the aft of the sheer, and just a bit of the blocking beneath the boat.

With the dinghy now in position to work on the painting prep, I gave some brief attention to the centerboard before getting starting with the topsides sanding.  The centerboard had been "locked" into position since taking on the project, and to date I've had no chance or interest to investigate its health.  As it turned out, the centerboard was simply stuck in position as a result of leaf decay...and possibly a few acorns.  Nature has a way of asserting herself.

Satisfied that the centerboard was going to pull through and make it, I got to the sanding work.  With my 5" random orbital finish sander and 80 grit pads I made quick work of the small topsides area, working from bow to stern on both port and starboard sides and then finishing on the transom.  I worked a majority of the surfaces with machine and turned to hand sanding on the tight spaces - along the bottom paint line.

As I had done with the 80 grit pads, I now performed the same work with 120 grit pads on the random orbital sander.  The photo below shows the dinghy after both the 80 grit and 120 grit sanding passes.

A shot of her transom.

After sanding, I brushed off as much of the sanding dust as possible and then wiped all surfaces with solvent in order to capture any remaining residues - which there was aplenty.

With all topside surfaces clean (port, starboard, and transom), I used a light to show any small gouges that primer would not fill and cover.  These small gouges would be filled with epoxy thickened with micro-balloons and then sanded fair.

Methodically working my way around the dinghy, I outlined all areas that would need attention. 

I returned to the shop and mixed up a small batch of thickened epoxy, returned to the boat and began to apply to the problem areas with a small spreader tool.

For now, the work had drawn to a close.  Tomorrow I will water wash the amine blush from the surface of the cured epoxy, and sand fair.

Total Time: 2.25 Hours