I actually finished this project. Between early cold last November, graduation this Spring, and vacation in early Summer, I got this section (and hopefully the ONLY section) of core repair finished over multiple weeks this Summer. Products used: TotalBoat Wet Edge - Off White, SoftSand Rubber- white, medium grit.
After going back and forth on whether I wanted to use gelcoat or paint, I decided on paint hoping it would be less finicky. Trying to match the old color would be nearly impossible, so I decided I'd go with a new color and eventually paint all the non-skid the same. Not being fond of grays or beiges, the admiral picked off-white as the color to use from the TotalBoat pallete.
After masking the edges and a scrub and wipe-down with thinner, I put down the first coat of paint along with a heavy dusting of SoftSand. I used a foam "hot dog" roller I procured from the marine painting section of my local Home Depot.
I decided uniformity would be ideal for this section of cabin-top. Another boatowner in our club who used Wet Edge consulted with TotalBoat and was advised that on intact gelcoat, a good power wash was sufficient for paint adhesion (i.e., no primer required). I took the power washer to the other side and painted it on the same day as I put a second coat on the starboard side.
The next weekend, I followed-up with another coat that finished the starboard side leaving one coat for the port side. I had 90-100 degree days during the week that had the paint curing quite well.
My final coat was put on a week later and I pulled all the tape off to let it fully cure. I did some cleanup around the edges and got the deck hardware re-mounted and the grab rails refinished and remounted. After some time curing through weather over the last month or so, here's how it looks.
Time for the critique of my work. Overall, I'm going to call this a functional job and not a "pretty" job. Along with being able to confidently stand there, I'm pleased with how grippy it is. I didn't have the luxury of choosing the perfect day, weather-wise, to paint. The weather is somewhat inconsistent and the weekends are really the only times I have to work on it. So, I had to paint a small section, sprinkle, then do another section because the paint would catalyze quickly and the sand wouldn't stick. Ideally, you're keeping a wet edge as you paint and I'm not sure I did well on this. If I had to do it all over again, I would enlist the aid of a helper to go behind and sprinkle the sand on (and sprinkle it a bit more heavily than I did) so I didn't have some of the clumpy areas I ended up with. I would also consider a two-part poly so I could control the conditions a bit better (some SoftSand reviews I read after I was done said that a two-part poly was more ideal).
I think it will pass the admiral's test for uniformity and along with the power-wash of the entire topsides, the boat is looking better than ever.
After going back and forth on whether I wanted to use gelcoat or paint, I decided on paint hoping it would be less finicky. Trying to match the old color would be nearly impossible, so I decided I'd go with a new color and eventually paint all the non-skid the same. Not being fond of grays or beiges, the admiral picked off-white as the color to use from the TotalBoat pallete.
After masking the edges and a scrub and wipe-down with thinner, I put down the first coat of paint along with a heavy dusting of SoftSand. I used a foam "hot dog" roller I procured from the marine painting section of my local Home Depot.
I decided uniformity would be ideal for this section of cabin-top. Another boatowner in our club who used Wet Edge consulted with TotalBoat and was advised that on intact gelcoat, a good power wash was sufficient for paint adhesion (i.e., no primer required). I took the power washer to the other side and painted it on the same day as I put a second coat on the starboard side.
The next weekend, I followed-up with another coat that finished the starboard side leaving one coat for the port side. I had 90-100 degree days during the week that had the paint curing quite well.
My final coat was put on a week later and I pulled all the tape off to let it fully cure. I did some cleanup around the edges and got the deck hardware re-mounted and the grab rails refinished and remounted. After some time curing through weather over the last month or so, here's how it looks.
Time for the critique of my work. Overall, I'm going to call this a functional job and not a "pretty" job. Along with being able to confidently stand there, I'm pleased with how grippy it is. I didn't have the luxury of choosing the perfect day, weather-wise, to paint. The weather is somewhat inconsistent and the weekends are really the only times I have to work on it. So, I had to paint a small section, sprinkle, then do another section because the paint would catalyze quickly and the sand wouldn't stick. Ideally, you're keeping a wet edge as you paint and I'm not sure I did well on this. If I had to do it all over again, I would enlist the aid of a helper to go behind and sprinkle the sand on (and sprinkle it a bit more heavily than I did) so I didn't have some of the clumpy areas I ended up with. I would also consider a two-part poly so I could control the conditions a bit better (some SoftSand reviews I read after I was done said that a two-part poly was more ideal).
I think it will pass the admiral's test for uniformity and along with the power-wash of the entire topsides, the boat is looking better than ever.
