Rants & Musings, Paint & Brightwork (Varnish)
Index
E-Paint Antifouling (John, 06/2009)
We have been using various formulas of zinc-based antifouling paint (copper is out for Morgan’s Cloud since she is aluminum) from E-Paint for 12 years with varying results. For the last three years we have been using their ablative ZO product with generally good results. (For more on our experiences with E-Paint, see Questions About Aluminum Boats).
However, there are a few things to know:
- E-Paint ZO works well as long as you move the boat at least once a week but it is very poor at warding off slime and grass when the boat is sitting in one place. What happens is that once a layer of slime appears, it seems to encapsulate the active ingredients and prevent them from releasing. The key is not to let this process get going, either by moving the boat once a week, which will slough off the slime easily, or by giving it a light scrub about once a month while diving. Let it go more than that, and you will have a nasty job getting the growth off and will lose a lot of paint in the process. By the way, I think this effect is why paints with biocides don’t do any better than those without in static tests like the ones performed by Practical Sailor magazine.
- The paint has failed at the water line
(see photo) twice in just 9 months resulting in us having to recoat even
though the paint on the rest of the bottom had plenty more life in it.
And this despite having applied five coats to the water line area. We
understand from the manufacturer that this is caused by the combination
of lapping action and sunshine. This time, in an attempt to stop this
happening again, we first applied two coats of ZO-HP,
which is the same formula as ZO but non-ablative, prior to coating with
three coats of ZO. We’ll let you know how it goes.
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True Grit (Phyllis, 05/2007)
I’m going to make a confession here: I think brightwork is beautiful. However, since I’m the one that ends up maintaining it—that’s because John insists I’m so much better at it than he is, which is a rotten trick and one I fall for regularly—I also believe it doesn’t belong on our boat. In fact, I’ve spent hours communing with a maul and slick (big chisel) removing extraneous expanses of it (eyebrows). Those bits that I can’t remove without leaving gaping holes I have covered with white paint that only needs spiffing up every three years instead of every three months. At this point, the only exterior brightwork left on Morgan’s Cloud is a few bits in the cockpit and that’s because John threw himself bodily in front of them when I went for them with the slick. So, until we get an unpainted aluminum boat with no exterior wood anywhere, I guess I’m going to be varnishing and painting.
While spending the last several years at Billings Diesel and Marine in Stonington, Maine (www.billingsmarine.com), where we are refitting Morgan’s Cloud, we’ve garnered a few tips from the professionals; in my reluctant case, from the guys in the Paintshop:
- If the paint or varnish pulls (is hard to drag across the surface), add minute amounts of thinner (i.e. less than a capful at a time) just until the brush runs smoothly.
- Foam brushes are useless—they don’t hold enough paint and varnish and so lay on an uneven and thin coat; which means you’ll have to varnish or paint more often (shudder).
- Drill a hole in the base of the brush handle so that, after use, the brush can hang from a wire through the hole, so that the hairs of the brush don’t touch the bottom of the container of thinner—the brush will keep its shape and suppleness for much longer.
And,
most important of all, the best sandpaper comes in rolls with a sticky
back: Norton A275, 2-3/4” wide by 45 yards long. Though designed to be
stuck on to sanding boards, if you cut off a suitable length of the required
grit and fold it in half so the glued sides stick together, you can make
a piece the size and shape you want that won’t crumple or tear. Since
the quality of the grit is so good, the paper is very thin and therefore
can fit into much smaller spaces than folded sheets or blocks. The bad
part is that once you have the sandpaper all cut and glued you then have
to actually do the sanding—sigh. Download
the catalogue, where you’ll find this great stuff on Page 4.
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