Painting a boat

[S. Thomas]

I need to get my single painted.

I recently bought a 1988 Pocock single that has had some repair around the
cockpit area. The repaired area was painted but only as a temporary measure
as the color does not match the rest of the boat -- nor is the finish
smooth. The finish is a rough fibrous texture (well, not that rough, but
not gel coat smooth either). Aside from this area, the boat is in terrific
shape.

I also want to get my oars painted to match the boat (Dreher hatchets).

At the club they advise taking it to a car repair shop to have it painted.
The same people tell me it should cost about $300 (Can.).

Before I do this, does anyone have any advice? Things to be aware of?
Cautionary points? Tips? Hints?

I do intend to do some local regattas with this boat so want a decent job
done.
........................
sue thomas
Vancouver Island, BC
suth...@islandnet.com

[Walter Martindale]

Hi Sue,
I've taken part in the repair and refinishing of dozens of singles, pairs,
and fours. MUch of that was in Vancouver - Where on the Island? If this
is a synthetic boat, life is a bit easier. If it's wood, it's a bit more
work.
Advice from an auto painter in the surface prep was "rough it up with some
1000 grit wet paper". If it's a synthetic surface, you may need to let the
auto painter do some "glazing" to get the surface nice and smooth prior to
painting, then I'd recommend a catalyzed paint and a catalyzed clear coat.
These can be very very thin coatings, to the extent that the aforementioned
discussion of surface prep included "oh yes, you can see scratches from
#400 paper, sometimes even from #600 paper" Which implies pretty thin
coatings that won't add much weight to a boat.

The auto painters are the experts, Although being a marine application,
racing shells are only in the water for a couple of hours at a time,
normally, and dry the rest of the time. The painter should know this.
Also - you want to make sure that the paint and the clear coat have UV
protection. Without this you'll have the surface deteriorate (sp?) after
only a year or so.

Good luck - At Saskatoon once, arrangements were made to have a boat
sprayed - it was a Hudson 2- that had extensive hail damage repaired. The
club's staff took the boat around to an auto shop, but it was the wrong
one, and they didn't know anything about it. To make a long story short,
when the club came by to pick up the boat and tell the shop staff that they
were taking it somewhere for a $100.00 job, the painters (at the wrong
shop) said that they'd talked it over and were going to donate the material
and the time to the rowing club.
Nice mistake.

Walter Martindale
Invercargill
New Zealand