January 8, 2021

Arietta 26

Friday

Now that the hull paint had had sufficient cure time, I could get to work masking off around the boottop so I could spray it and finish the hull painting.

To begin, I masked top and bottom with special vinyl tape that helps prevent the LPU from bleeding and creates a crisp paint line.

While this tape is critical in the process, its smooth surface tends to let the thin paint shed and run, possibly ruining the job, so long ago I learned to cover it nearly completely with normal masking tape, keeping the green tape as close to the edge of the blue fine-line tape as I could without making my eyes cross too much.

With the detail masking complete, I covered the entire hull in masking paper to protect against overspray.

Now it was quick and straightforward to spray apply three coats of Alexseal flag blue to the boottop, waiting about an hour between coats.  This was the final major step in the painting process, and I looked forward to unveiling the whole boat again afterwards.

Total time billed on this job today:  4 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  18°, clear.  Forecast for the day:   Sunny, 33°