I continued work removing the old coatings from the hull, beginning with the port counter–a difficult and uncomfortable area to reach–and then continuing along the hull from where I left off last time, eventually reaching the stem by the end of the day.  In all areas, this required several rounds of sanding to remove the various layers of old paint, finishing off with a round with finer sandpaper.  Later, I’d sand the hull again with different tools and paper to finish off the prep work.

The hull beneath was in generally good condition, though apparently the boat had some sort of run-in with another boat or a dock/piling or some such, causing the generally minor–and previously repaired–cosmetic damage near the port bow.

I also sanded the bottom on the port side, just enough using coarse paper to remove the existing dried marine growth and prepare it for eventual repainting.

First thing, I continued the varnish work on the table top with another coat, the sixth and likely final for now.

Next, I finished covering and masking off the decks to prepare for hull sanding and painting.  I masked over various pieces of hardware on the transom, though this might have been premature, as I might damage the tape during sanding.  But that would be easy enough to repair later.

I documented the hull’s as-arrived condition shortly after the boat arrived at the shop, but took several additional pictures now.  The existing hull had been painted (and clearly professionally) with LPU at some point in the past, but the topcoat was now highly oxidized and, in some areas, crazed and dirty from exposure and wear.  I thought the condition was such that it would be better to remove all the existing coating, rather than attempt to prepare it and use it as a substrate for the new work.

After getting set up, I started work to remove the existing coatings from the hull, starting at the port quarter.  Over the remainder of the day, I worked through two sandpaper grits to remove the white topcoat and two layers of primer from the hull–first an off-white layer, and then a gray layer beneath.

This was an aggressive round of sanding, using 40 grit paper to get through the hard and tough topcoat and primer beneath.  Once I’d exposed the gray primer, I switched to 80 grit paper  and sanded off most of the primer.  But I left the final cleanup and removal for the next sanding stage, which would use gentler tools and less-aggressive paper to avoid undue damage to the gelcoat and ensure that the hull remained fair throughout the process.  This stage of sanding would come later, once I’d stripped the bulk of the paint and primer from the rest of the hull.  For now, I worked off the staging, leaving the counter and portions of the hull at the waterline for later when I’d work off the floor to handle the rest.

The hull beneath the paint was in generally good condition, with several small and minor repairs that had been effected during the preparation for the paintwork I was now removing.  I didn’t anticipate much in the way of additional repair work or fairing once I’d completed the sanding routines over the next week or so.

I made it approximately halfway up the length of the hull forward before the end of the day.

With the project briefly on hold till the owner arrived mid-day to collect his starting battery so he could obtain a replacement (bringing me lunch in the bargain–thanks!), I finished up the masking on the forward half of the boat, taping off the rubrail as needed and masking the bobstay and bobstay fitting.

For reference, since I’d soon be sanding off all the hull paint and trim, I took a couple measurements to help with later relocating the cove stripe, and to register the existing width of the boottop.

I continued with another round of light sanding and another coat of varnish (#5) on the working surface of the cockpit table.

The top side of the pedestal table still required a few more coats of varnish; I’d done both sides at once through three coats, but then I’d worked only on the back side to bring it up to the required six coats.  So now I applied a fourth coat to the top side of the table, and also took the opportunity to apply one freshen-up coat of varnish to the inside faces of the swashboards. just to spruce them up.  I’d not stripped these faces, as they were in good condition, but just a little scratched up from use.

On the boat, I reinstalled various hardware I’d removed for the varnish and deck projects, and reinstalled and secured the lower lifelines.

Now I was ready to shift focus to the hull, and to that end I began to drape plastic sheeting over the decks for protection.  I left the cockpit exposed for the moment, as the owner was coming up the next day to hook up a battery charger, so I’d finish up the sheeting a little later in the week and be ready to get to work on the hull next week.

But getting as far as I did meant that I could dismantle the staging from deck height and reassemble things at a level suitable for hull work, and from which I’d finish the deck masking when the time was right.

Now that the new nonskid paint had cured enough overnight, I finished removing the leftover masking and cleaned up the shop.  The new paint looked good and enhanced the appearance of the decks.

 

Now that the brightwork had had quite a few days’ cure time, it was safe for me to continue and complete the masking to prepare for nonskid, starting with the cockpit coamings, which I covered completely in masking paper, and then the coachroof, where I fully protected the handrails and other areas with plenty of tape and masking paper to hedge against splatters during the nonskid work.  I followed and was bound by the lines of the existing pattern, cutting rounded corners to match where necessary, and forming sharp corners where the pattern dictated.  Afterwards, I performed the final cleanup of these areas to prepare for paint.

Working from the staging, I masked the sidedecks and foredeck, using paper to protect the cabin trunk and toerails.

I’d worked steadily to finish up the masking, and found there was enough time in the day to actually paint the nonskid, though I’d anticipated doing it on a separate day.  After getting set up for paint, I started in the cockpit and cockpit well, where I painted the sole first.  I was immediately reminded of why I bothered with all the extra masking and protection, as I’d no sooner started then I had the splatter evidence before me, highlighting exactly why it was worthwhile.  Perhaps there really is a way to apply this paint without the splatter, but I have not found it.

I finished painting the cockpit sole, an awkward proposition, and pulled the tape immediately adjacent to the fresh paint, throwing it over the side of the boat to get the messy strips out of the way.  My masking so far had worked pretty well, but as always it was hard to find the tape ends once covered in paint, and removal was a messy and delicate operation, extra-challenging in the depths of the cockpit well.

With hopefully the most difficult part of the job behind me, I continued with the cockpit seats and locker covers, working my way around and pulling the tape from each section once complete, till the whole cockpit was done.  So far, the improvement in appearance was dramatic.

Next, I painted the coachroof, section by section.  Here, I had some challenges with the unmasking despite my best efforts, mainly in locating the ends of the tape to start pulling, but as always I persevered.  When the tape ripped during removal, or left its bottom layer behind, I simply left it, but I got most of the edge tape removed cleanly.  I left hardware fully masked for now, and would deal with its unmasking once the paint was cured.  Even with all the extra masking I’d done, I still had to remain vigilant for stray splatters beyond the confines of the tape and paper, ready to wipe them up with a water-dampened rag (Kiwigrip is water-based).

After a short break, I cleaned up the sidedecks, which I’d had to walk on for the rest, and then started painting again with the foredeck on both sides, before working my way down the starboard side, and then back up the port side to complete the job.  I pulled the strips of tape bordering the nonskid and left the remaining tape and paper in place till the paint had a chance to cure overnight and/or was safe to work on and around.

 

 

The next job on the agenda was to refresh the nonskid.  With the prepwork already complete, and the decks clean from the brightwork refinishing, I moved on to masking off for the nonskid application.  I wanted to give the fresh varnish some additional cure time before I masked it directly, and the weekend would give a couple additional days, so for now I worked only on masking areas where I didn’t have to tape the varnish, starting in the cockpit.

The nonskid would be Kiwigrip, a thick product that requires use of a special roller to obtain the texture.  Over a number of past applications, I’d found this to be a messy process, ripe for collateral damage to adjacent areas, so my practice now was to overprotect the nearby surfaces to prevent the frustration of paint splatters on unwanted areas during application.  Kiwigrip also requires that the masking tape be pulled shortly after application–a process I find onerous–but I’d also learned to make all efforts to provide for the easiest possible unmasking under this duress.  So these factors conspired to some level of overkill, I’m sure, for how I masked for the otherwise straightforward refinishing, but worth it to me for a more successful and easier application when the time came.

In the cockpit, I masked everything except the outboard edges against the freshly-varnished coamings, which I’d come back and cover after the weekend.  In the cockpit well, I added masking paper to protect against splatters on the sides of the well, and additional tape on all the other surfaces, arranging the tape so that the layer closest to the nonskid pattern was on top everywhere for easy pulling with the fresh paint.

The owner requested that I look into rebedding the lens on the midships deck hatch, so before I continued now I removed the hatch so I could work on it down on the bench when time and the spirit moved me.  More on this sub-project later.

Next, I masked where I could on the coachroof, including around the two hatches and anywhere that didn’t require directly masking on the new varnish.  I also masked the center portion of the foredeck, the bow cleats, and the forward end of the coachroof.  The rest would have to wait till the varnish had the benefit of the weekend’s cure time, after which I could finish up the rest of the deck masking as needed.