After rather a long absence from ranting we now have some boat related activity that is worth boring you, the reader, with.
Covid, of course put paid to any sailing and the boat is very much in need to tlc. It is this tlc that is occupying us now. We have, at long last started the process of painting the topsides. So far, we have been stripping the old paint off.
There are two main ways of removing paint from a boat. The cheap but time consuming way is to sand it off. The expensive but quick way is to pay someone to use a slurry blaster to get it all off. The first takes days or even weeks depending on the state of the existing paint. The second takes half a day but costs several hundred pounds. Needless to say, we have gone for the former.
As it turns out, the paint was very loose indeed and I was able to get most of it off with a simple scraper. It was amazing really as two pack polyurethane is supposed to be very hard but this just flaked off and in areas exposed to the sun would peel off almost as if it was wallpaper! So, after two days we have got nearly all the old blue paint off and just have to do the rubbing strip and bit above that to the toe rail.
Of course, you have to have some eye and nose protection which makes you look like something from a horror movie!
Next steps are to get the last of the blue paint off, degrease, fill and fair, prime, undercoat and topcoat. This sounds simple and, at heart none of it will be difficult but it will be a time consuming process. The filling and fairing needs considerable care as any imperfections will show very prominently on a shiny new paint job. As with all painting the preparation is everything. At present we are after a ladder or platform to allow us to reach the higher bits that are out of reach at present.
Enjoy (sure you will!) the pictures and watch this space.