We're painting!!

After spending the winter (read rainy season) completing the interior, the weather finally allowed us to get started on the exterior. Last summer I had spent weeks grinding down the deck, now we could start putting on some paint. At first you would think, how difficult can it be to paint a boat? Well it depends, aluminum is a fantastic building material for boats, strong, lightweight, and the marine version (AS TM T-5086) is very corrosion resistant to salt water.

However it does not like to have paint stuck to it.

One has to be very careful to adhere to specific steps, otherwise it will just peel off.

Just in case you ever want to do it (not likely) here it is in 12 easy steps:

Just like another 12 step program, results vary.

1. Surface prep, in this case it was grinding with 36 grit wheel.

2. Acid wash surface with mild muriatic acid solution

3. Let dry

4. Apply surface converter solution ( Alodine 1208) looks like iodine, let it react for 3-4 minutes then rinse off.

5. Let dry, proceed to next step asap, surface of aluminum is like in a way like skin, if you scratch it, it will immediately start to form a protective oxide layer.

6. Apply acid etching primer, a khaki green stinky stuff, you now have 24 hrs to cover this primer coat, otherwise next coat won't stick.

7. Apply intermediate binding coat, orange even stinkier stuff, again you now have 24 hrs to cover or next coat won't stick.

8. Apply top coat, (linear polyureathane) as many as required to get a 10 mil thickness, in this case 3 coats, again a 24hr re-coat window.

Non-skid areas on decks needed more attention:

9. Apply thick coat of final color

10. Sprinkle 36 grit coarse ground walnut shells to cover non skid areas

11. Let dry 24 hrs and vacuum off loose material

12. Apply 2 more coats of final color

Started out with a cheap Chinese grinder, lasted about 10hrs till smoke started pouring out of it. Finally picked up an industrial Dewalt unit, we got to know each other intimately. Highly recommend.

Doesn't look that big, but it's inches at a time, one day's grinding seen here.

Had to wear sunglasses, the surface was got so bright.

Timing is everything, since we're doing this outside, weather is an issue, we have to proceed in manageable sections.

I was kinda getting used to the orange/red color.

Process of putting down non-skid surface, wallnut shell coat

A little message to my crew.

It was harder than I expected to get even coverage, I used a peanut butter jar with holes poked in the lid. Varying success but uneveness is not as apparent when top coats are applied.

The result is a very aggressive traction surface. No slipping on this deck, you would also not want to spend much time with your bare skin against it since it has the consistency of asphalt singles.

Next --- it's time to start on the hull.