Painting and Deck Fixing

It was necessary to paint as much of the boat as possible before the decks were fitted. As previously stated, many of the areas are difficult to access even before the plywood deck is fitted. I under estimated the cost of the painting materials and the time required to apply it, this proved to be both a costly and time consuming job to achieve the standard that I required.

I have used Hempel paints throughout the whole build. The coating regime for the internal painting began by applying Wood Impreg as a sealant, three coats of Primer Undercoat then three coats of Brilliant Gloss for visually exposed surfaces or three coats of Bilge and Locker paint where appropriate. I rubbed down de-dusted and cleaned between each coat. Sapele trims and other exposed hardwood items were sealed, again using Wood Impreg, before finishing with multiple coats of clear varnish. All the paint and varnish was applied with a range of specialist brush’s and roller, before laying off with a brush to finish.

The plywood deck panels were glued with epoxy and screwed down with countersunk stainless steel screws; any excess epoxy squeezed out below was removed and cleaned down with disposable paper towels. These areas will then only require a light rub down and the paint touching up. The screw heads were filled with epoxy filler. When set, the whole deck was rubbed down by an orbital sander to remove any irregularities whilst paying particular attention at the joints. The overhanging waste was trimmed back flush with the planking then a small pencil round radius was routed onto the corner. The whole deck was then sheathed in 300 gsm woven cloth and lapped over the edge onto the planking by approximately 30 - 40 mm. The small radius cut onto the top edge allowed the cloth to be dressed tightly over without any air pockets forming.

The areas to be glued were masked off before painting the underside of the deck boards.

The wiring has been installed whilst most areas are still relatively reasonably accessible. All cables and fittings are to specialist marine standards. The fixing brackets were fitted to the wiring conduit before the deck boards were fixed down, these will be stuck to the underside of the deck with self-adhesive double sided pads.