It's time for Biscuit to move into the paint booth! This is a milestone moment for this Cape Dory Typhoon, and I'm looking forward to seeing the transformation of Biscuit's topsides, deck, coachroof, and cockpit. I arrived at the shop mid-morning and immediately began preparing the boat and truck for the move: removing resetting the trailer's hull pads, removing boat stands, aligning the truck's hitch to the trailer itself, removing temporary warping, and on and on... With the boat finally secure to the truck, I carefully made my way out of the pole barn / shop work area and over to the metal garage for better protection of her surfaces during the priming and top coating phase. Once Biscuit was safely stowed, I set about moving work materials into the space necessary for the work ahead.

Biscuit was now in metal garage and work materials set up, I then returned to the shop to unpack the Alexseal materials - the marine coating I prefer for restorative work. The picture below shows the Alexseal product lineup to be used on Biscuit; if you've ever wondered what $1800-worth of marine coating looks like!

With the finish primer (4420) the finish primer converter (4427) and the epoxy primer reducer (4042) set out in the shop's varnish room, I returned to Biscuit to begin prepping for application of the primer. I first taped a generous water line, meaning that I marked slightly below the factory established water line. I decided to provide some overage margin so that when I strike the final water line I would have plenty of finish paint applied so at no point will there not be epoxy-based primer and topcoat applied. The water line will, in the end, be roughly an inch higher on the topsides.

My next task was to degrease and lightly sand the topsides. I had already thoroughly sanded the topsides, filled and faired old fastener holes and generally prepped the hull for primer. In the bottom job I had done on Biscuit, I left tape near the water line, tape that now left a tacky residue once removed. To remove this contaminate and prep the balance of the surface for primer, I thoroughly solvent-washed her topsides. Satisfied with the prep, I continued on to lightly sand the surface with 150-grit on the Bosch DA, followed by another solvent-wash. Biscuit's topsides were now ready for primer...

In the shop, I mixed the 1:1 primer and converter and parted it out into two plastic containers with lids. The paint, like most marine coatings, requires a 15-minute induction period. So while the paint was doing its thing, I gathered the balance of painting supplies and made general prep for the work to come, I carried the paint and materials over to the Biscuit and started the priming of her topsides. I worked the finish primer in ~12" to 18" sections, working the paint forward into the recently painted areas, blending and smoothing with foam rollers approved for solvent-based paints. With careful and attentive application, laying down Alexseal by foam roller produces as fine a finish as atomizing the paint. I was successful in getting two coats on in my working time and for the amount of finish primer prepared. Sanding and more primer to come!

Total Hrs: 4.5