Spot Fairing & Priming the Decks

October 17, 2019

I wouldn't have a lot of time today, so I got to work earlier than usual, and happily took advantage of some cooler weather settling into the Jacksonville area.  I checked on the lazarette and forward hatches, having varnished them yesterday, and they were curing nicely.  Yesterday's coat would be the first of 5 or 6 coats.  I set them aside in the shop so as to not accidentally knock them over, or otherwise disturb their aesthetic. 

I decided to move forward with getting a coat of finish primer on the decks, but first needed to apply some fairing compound to the starboard molded coaming board within the cockpit.  Since I had this fairing to do yet, I decided to avoid priming the cockpit.  I mixed up a small amount of the two-part TotalFair and applied it to the base of the fiberglass molded coaming within the cockpit.

Because the topcoat paint scheme for the decks and cockpit will be Alexseal's Oyster White, I did not want to use the Alexseal primer, which was in gray.  I would reserve the gray primer for the darker topsides color - Flag Blue.  I broke out the Interlux Primekote from my personal supply cabinet to achieve what I needed to this morning.  The two-part epoxy-based primer is an excellent product, and has produced outstanding results for me on a few projects.  

I mixed a total of 16 ounces of material, combining the two parts, and then thinned that 16 ounces by 25%, which resulted in a total of 20 ounces to apply to the decks.  Prior to thinning the product with Interlux 2333N, I waited the 20-minute induction time, allowing the two parts to catalyze.

Application was with a foam roller, and coverage was good.  This primer is a bit thick in application, but the solvent-resistant foam roller was able to work the material out in an even coat.

I began on the port side of the coachroof, and worked down the cabin sides to the deck and then forward.  I turned at the bow and worked my way aft on the starboard side of the boat.

I rounded the starboard aft quarter and completed the poop deck before rounding the port aft quarter.  I finished up at the port aft cabin bulkhead, and painted out the starboard and port aft cabin bulkhead with the remaining paint.  This would likely be 1 of 2 coats of primer for the decks.  

Total Time Today: 3 hrs