Exterior Painting

I moved my boat outside planning on spraying the exterior. Before I started I needed to finish up the drain plug hole. I started the hole on the inside. I waited to finish cutting it because I didn't want to damage the exterior fiberglass by pushing the hole saw through it. So I finished cutting the hole and filled the hole with slightly thickened epoxy. I put a block of wood under the hole and jammed a piece of wood up against it to hold it in place. I also put a bowl over the top to keep the top side from getting messed up by the tarp which I threw over it for the night.

I'll be drilling a hole through the epoxy soon to install the plug. The epoxy will keep any water from seeping into the edges of the plywood. 

Because I was going to spray the exterior, I needed to cover the rest of the boat to prevent overspray from getting on anything - in this case rubrail, gunnel and even the inside brightwork. Then I tipped the boat up so that I could paint the keel plank and garboards in a near vertical position.

Unfortunately, I could not get the sprayer going. For one thing, my compressor kept throwing the breaker. After about 3-4 times I gave up. I wound up roll and tipping the exterior. 

I also threw the Kroil to the trailer. I hoping to use most of the fitting for the "refit". First I have to break loose the nuts on all the fittings. I think I have a plan.

Today I painted the cove stripe. Again I had to cover the entire boat to protect from overspray. In the pic everything is covered except the sheer plank. 

Here is the plank painted. I used Krylon Regal Blue. It took four cans and about a dozen light coats. I did not want any runs, drips or errors (so said Johnny Bench). I did have two runs early on but figured out that I needed to turn loose of the trigger when I changed directions. Went fine after that. 

Then end result looks really nice. The surface is still rough from the epoxy coating, but I'll have to live with it. In the long run, I don't think it will matter. I'll still enjoy the boat, and it will still draw the looks.