Painting the Hull

Looks like it's been about 15 months since my last post, so you could say it's past time to update!

I want to make sure I carry this blog through to the end (if there really ever is one on a project like this). We've probably all seen blogs and forum entries where people are all excited about their projects and post progress then...nothing. Did they lose interest in the project, or their audience, or circumstances changed, or die? I don't want to be that guy.

Here's what I've been up to with the boat since June 2018.

• Took her out 5 times in 2018: twice on fresh water and three times in the Salish Sea, and had a blast. During the last trip, in October 2018, I launched at Anacortes and the motor pooped out about half a mile from the dock; I was able to nurse it back to shore after multiple stops and starts.
• Spent some of the winter troubleshooting the motor and replacing pretty much all of the ignition parts.
• Tested the boat on Lake Stevens three time in late spring with Bruce B., and it did well on the last jaunt.
• I think it was a combination of ignition, bad gas mix, and defective thermostat.

I had planned to begin prepping the hull for paint in March or April, but tank tests at that time found the motor cutting out at different stages of warm-up. My thinking was that if I can't count on the motor being reliable I might just cut my losses and pass the boat on. Spending $8K on a new motor seemed foolish to me. 

With a renewed confidence in the motor I began working on the hull in early June of this year. Removed all the paint, including two coats of bottom paint, and did a lot of damage repair and fairing. I'll spare you the stories about using thickend epoxy to repair huge gouges in the keel and bottom, the hours of sanding and re-fairing, and laying under the boat while removing bottom paint (copper in the eyes really stings!).

I sprayed the hull with Interlux Brightside, thinned 10% with xylene. This paint is not recommended below the waterline, but I don't plan to have the boat in the water more than a couple days at a time, so it should be fine. Some folks spray gelcoat or 2-part epoxy paints, which are undoubtedly elite finishes, but I've used this 1-part polyurethane before and found it to be easy to apply and very tough. I will likely sand and spray the topsides in the future, since there are some unsightly brushstrokes up there.

Used Bright Red for the trim and Hatteras Off White for the rest. I think the latter is is a little more "off" than the original gel coat, but I like it because it mutes the red and makes a more pleasing contrast.

Here are some pictures of the hull prep and paint job. I also got ahold of an original windshield frame which is currently being fitted with plexiglass windows. I'll post a picture of that when I get it.

Some huge "wows" in the upper hull. This one was ~3/8" deep. 

Removed the aluminum trim from the hull and patched the holes; the original was too damaged to restore. Had to cut/grind the screw heads from the inside. I'll be installing new trim this winter, assuming I can figure out how to shape it.

Elected to paint the hull trim separately so I could get a nice original line, in case I can't get the aluminum trim to fit. 

Finished trim.

Finished exterior, pending installation of factory windshield. Also hope to get the "Skagit" emblems located and installed one day.

Moored at the Lopez Islander Resort, after the run from Anacortes on 9/21/2019. Amazing how many people in this area know what a Skagit is. Lots of thumbs up, horn toots on the water, and folks going out of their way to look and chat about the boat. 

I'll be tackling phase four of this project (after transom, topsides, and hull), the interior, this fall through spring. That will involve lots of sanding with pounds of dust produced, as well as rebuilding the cabinets, repairing some rot in the cabin, and fiberglassing the cockpit floor. All this will be sprayed with a couple coats of Hatteras Off White followed by the speckled red and charcoal finish to reproduce the factory finish.