110 Cookson Lane | Whitefield, ME 04353 | 207-232-7600 | tim@lackeysailing.com
I continued work on the bottom. The remaining areas went quickly, and by lunchtime the job was done, including moving the stands and stripping the paint beneath them. As before, I used a scraper to remove most of the paint, then sanded all areas with 40 and 80 grit paper to complete the removal and prepare the surface for the steps ahead.
Next, I turned to the topsides as I continued to work my way upwards from the floor. My immediate task was to remove the hull paint as far up as I could reach before getting to a point where I'd need staging (which I needed to build from scratch, as I'd retired--finally--my venerable staging after the last project).
Starting with the most difficult part, I got to work under the counter. The work was very slow going, as there were a number of layers of paint and primer to get through before I reached the original gelcoat. In addition to a couple coats of cheap home center latex paint on the surface (I'd found the can inside the boat earlier), the boat also featured at least a couple different applications of extremely hard, durable paint, probably an Awlgrip system, including finish and high-build primers.
These layers were slow and difficult to remove; I'd hoped to complete both sides of the counter equally, but couldn't finish the work to starboard before I had to knock off.
These photos show the various paint layers. What's not seen well in these photos is a final white high-build primer layer beneath the gray primer. Stripping away the paint revealed several areas where small cracks in the gelcoat had been reamed out and filled, and I looked forward to the grand unveiling of the boat's remaining secrets as the process continued.
Total Time on This Job Today: 6 hours
