DECK & True Grit

Sand it, paint it in one hour?

Getting the ALGEMAC II ready again for the Great Loop (attempt No. 5) should require about an hour or so. NOT! Although the weather was superb at 70 degrees with humidity in the thirties (in NC yet) there were a few uncontemplated speed bumps. First was to simply sand off the old textured grey paint. The light grey turned a seventy degree day into a hotfoot deck as if walking on a tar road in mid August.

Second, besides the hotfoot, with massive 36 grit 5" sanding discs, the rubberized deck paint clogged the grit about every four square feet. It took a great deal more time, discs and electricity than planned, being finished in about 4 hours. An additional leveling with a 40 grit flat belt sander ate up another hour.

The reward was a clean base for the Pettit white texture paint, which by the way, goes on easy and sets up a great finish. The deck of 10' X 7' then divided by 2 = 35 SF was easy with a 6" wide short nap roller and a small brush for minor strokes. Green Frog tape was used for clean edges where needed. Dry time is is a few hours and after full cure of about 2 days is rock hard.

A half quart was used.

With a different paint, the roof had also been done a few months ago with a second coat the past weekend. The roof paint is extremely fast drying and can be brushed, rolled or even squeegeed. It is Henry roof paint, rubberized, super tough and requires good cleaning prior to application. The paint is usually poured and spread making sure there is always a nice wet edge to connect the next square of application. It will seal anything and claims except UV resistance.

 A hotfoot of 140 F can be had with the grey gritted modified latex paint previously used and lasted over 4 years. The grey was chosen for anti glare but the heat was not tolerable for bare feet. It also heated the boat interior badly from early spring until late fall..

All sanding was from our solar array utilizing electric tools that required a 110 volt AC modified sine wave inverter rather than a full sine wave inverter of same wattage. The reason was that the full sine was not quick enough to get the sander and grinder up to speed before its over limit sensor switched off the power. The modified sine inverters are a bit more crude and furnished the brute force required for quick starts and long run times. We use the full/pure sine inverters for TV, computers, microwave and induction cook tops. The modified sine inverters are used for work tools, resistance heaters and non computerized devices.  A cell phone charger is a computerized device as is a heat blanket control, therefor used only with full sign wave inverters.  Two modified sine inverters are shown here.

The old aft deck paint is good in the cockpit, also held up well enough to just be recoated. There is enough shade from overhead cover that foot burns are not a problem and bacterial growth is thwarted with the right amount of sunshine.

Pettit deck paint is great but expensive at $58 per quart and a bit less by volume per gallon. It can solidify in a shorter time than most paints once opened, so plan well and keep the can closed at all times unused. 

The new white deck is neat, easy to clean, nicely gritted and and super cool.

Although intended for home, RV and trailer use, the Henry roof paint is great. If a walkable surface is desired, I would recommend a very thin second or third coat with grit (from a boat store) added or sifted onto the application.

Once again we are looking at hauling and launching late May 2022 with a new set of batteries, bottom paint and fresh water. The next blog post will be about the batteries and definitely nothing exotic either. Keeping the faith.