dink paint

[rickinnj]

All,

Just got a free 8' fibreglass dink. What should I use for paint? I have a little over a quart of snow white Interlux Perfection left over from a previous project. I'm assuming that this will disintegrate below the waterline. If not, then the little boat will remain free!

Thanx in advance,

Rick
s/v Anchovy, 1971, C&C 30-1
Worton Creek, MD

[Quetzalsailor]

About 12 years ago, I painted our little itty-bitty fiberglass dink with Brightside Polyurethane white, knowing that it would never be in the water for more than 10 days at a time. It was fine. It's been sun-baking for at least the last 5 years w/o being in the water and looks just a little bedraggled.

[Rachel]

Hi and welcome :)

Two-part LPU, such as Perfection, will fail if it spends much time below the waterline. That said, maybe your dinghy will not be spending that much time in the water (?).

Just out of curiosity: is the gelcoat unsalvageable? My first thought on a free/low-energy boat would be to buff/sand/compound the gelcoat if it had any life left in it.

But then, I have a hard time doing a "quickie" paint job, so for me those turn into "projects" ;)

What type of dinghy is it? We love to hear about boat details.

[Hulukupu]

If you don't want your "free" dink to become red ink, I'd go with Quetzalsailor's suggestion for a boat that's not in the water a lot. Rust-Oleum Marine Topside Paint is about $15/qt, but you'll want to use their primer, so allow for that. If the dinghy is going to be in the water a lot, consider some leftover bottom paint below the waterline.

[rickinnj]

Thanx for the replies!

The gel coat is indeed shot. And there are a few spots where the gel is scraped down to the polyester below. I need to lay one patch on the side where it was almost holed at one point.

I plan to tow the dinghy on short cruises but there is room to stow her on the forecastle for longer stints or in bad weather.

I figured I'd need to use some Interprotect or something similar if I didn't want to have to redo it every coupla years.

I'll snap a pic this afternoon and post. I'm not a slap a coat o paint kinda guy...gonna hafta at least try to make her presentable!

Thanx

[Rachel]

The gel coat is indeed shot. And there are a few spots where the gel is scraped down to the polyester below. I need to lay one patch on the side where it was almost holed at one point.

Okay, well that pretty well rules out an afternoon's compounding being the ticket, doesn't it.

I figured I'd need to use some Interprotect or something similar if I didn't want to have to redo it every coupla years.

I'm not sure I understand what you mean by this, but I may just be missing a piece. My thought process is running along the lines of: Interprotect is usually used either as a barrier coat - which I can't imagine you needing at all; or in a thinner layer as a good primer. Not that there's anything wrong with it as a primer, but I can't think how you would absolutely need this specific primer to avoid re-painting a dinghy every two years, so I'm wondering if there is some sort of misunderstanding on my part and I'm curious what you have in mind.

Looking forward to the photos!

Rachel

[rickinnj]

Sorry Rachel,

I meant something like a VC-17 or VC Offshore smooth bottom paint.

[Hirilondë]

My dinghy is Alwgrip over the entire hull, then Vivid on the bottom (over the Awlgrip). It spent an entire season, almost 6 months in the water. Some of that time it sat low due to rain water. It still looks great on the outside. The interior is EasyPoxy and has faded, but other wise in good shape. The entire boat is okoume plywood, 3 coats of neat epoxy, 4 coats of Alwgrip 545 primer, then the paints mentioned above.

I don't know how perfection compares to Awlgrip, but it seems that LPUs in general stand up well unless submerged for a very long time. How long that is I can not say. It also seems that if sanded and over coated with a bottom paint it stands up for ages. Anyway, take my 1 boat data for what you will.

[Rachel]

My dinghy is Alwgrip over the entire hull, then Vivid on the bottom (over the Awlgrip). It spent an entire season, almost 6 months in the water.... It still looks great on the outside.

Well I may be mistaken then. I was basing my thoughts on how many Awlgrip (two-part LPU) boot stripes I had seen bubble and fail, presumably because they are wetted fairly often. But there may be something else to it.

[Hirilondë]

I have seen that as well Rachel. Not sure what the cause was, or why my dinghy is holding up so well.

[rickinnj]

Like I said originally, I have a little under a half gallon of white perfection and about the same amount of two pot primer left over from last year. I think I'll just try that and see how it holds up. Can't hurt. I also have some sandstone perfection that I'll use on the inside.

To expand the thread a little, she has gunnel guards on her that are surprisingly intact. They are the foam type with a cover of almost firehose consistency. I plan on removing them and trying to clean off the grunge and mildew accumulated over a coupla years of being on the marina backlot in the woods. I figure I'll start with some bleach and twenty mule team in a trash can and get more agressive from there.

Finally, the top of the transom and the motor mount board are painted wood and are both curling. Hope to replace these with some red oak I have, coated with epoxy and varnished over...every boat deserves a little brightwork. Don't ya think?

[Rachel]

I think Gunwale Guard is nice stuff. Also worth resurrecting as it's something like $7 per foot to buy new.

[Hirilondë]

I think Gunwale Guard is nice stuff. Also worth resurrecting as it's something like $7 per foot to buy new.

I built a return detail to wrap the Gunwale Guard around onto the transom so that no matter how I bang into Hirilondë there is protection. Great stuff. I would have liked the look of bright varnished gunwales, but I like the look of no scratches or gouges in my topsides even better. This is a perfect example of the saying:

"There is beauty in function".

[rickinnj]

Just a follow-up with the pics I promised... Sorry for the delay

[Quetzalsailor]

That dink looks very like one I was given by a fellow who sailed out of Worton Creek. I transported it to Rock Hall and after I determined that I did not need it I gave it away to a fellow Swan Creeker and told him I never wanted it to bite me back. That dink was very soft and I judged would only be suitable for loads lighter than me (I weigh 280 and my wife weighs something, too) and only with an added lamina of glass. It was very soft and sun damaged. You should be confident that that dink will meet your needs before putting effort into it.

[Hulukupu]

As far as your original question, from the pics your dink's hull looks pretty good. Just clean up the stern seat, paint it with whatever and call it quits. It certainly won't look ugly where I tie up my dinghy.

[bhartley]

Based on your picture and my experience, I would highly recommend against removing the Gunwale Guard. Clean it in situ. My "economical" dinghy looks much like yours except I took my Gunwale Guard off to clean/fix it. It is in the trash. The holes did not stand up to scrubbing and strong cleaners cause the fabric to separate from the foam plus lots of other unpleasantness that ended up with it going in the trash. It would have held up just fine if I had left it alone and put larger washers on the transom where, like yours, it had pulled loose.

The dinghy cost $75. New Gunwale Guard isn't an option for a beach dink but it makes me nuts every time I have to go up alongside my boat! She gets run to the stern cleat just as quickly as possible. If you're desperate to have it look white, just use Sneaker Polish. It is remarkably durable and water proof.

Bly

[Zach]

If she were mine, spray down the inside and outside of the hull with a product called On and Off, which is a diluted muriatic acid solution. Hit it with a plastic scrubber brush, and hose it out. Two or three times of spraying and letting it sit for 5 minutes and it will remove any of the rust stains and tanin stains from age, dirt and leaf material from the existing gelcoat.

That gel coat looks like with some Finesseit 2 and a buffer it would come back to life. I would at least try wet sanding with 800 grit to see if the color changes from chalk to something else... and buff it. Collinites insulator wax on the topsides would keep it looking good for a season.