Painting your boat...

[David]

Tim,

I am curious of your opinion as to the paint given to Glissando after several seasons of use. I know you went with Awlgrip for the tipsides and all areas that are not non-skidded on the deck. Is the Awlgrip holding up the way you expected? Has the Brightsides faired as well as you had hoped? If you were to do it all again--repainting everything--would you go the same route?

Thanks,

David

[Tim]

I will never use any product other than Awlgrip to paint any boat, ever (unless a truly better and improved product comes to market). I love it. Meticulous preparation and application are a must, but the results are well worth it. I have zero complaints with the way the paint itself has held up.

The Brightsides nonskid worked quite well, and as you probably saw I recently repainted the nonskid using the same product. I can't justify the cost for Awlgrip on nonskid areas where it will be flattened and filled with grit. Perhaps Awlgrip would resist dirt a bit more--the nonskid is a bit resistant to perfect cleaning--but perhaps not, also. I might consider trying Interthane Plus on a nonskid area, since its cost is much lower than Awlgrip. But I'm not even sure it's worth it. Maybe I'll try on the Daysailor.

The short answer is: yes, I would do it all over again, unchanged (except for the Awlgrip primer--use 545, not Awl-Quik).

I may dabble in spraying Awlgrip this coming spring, if the friend who's promised to buy me spray equipment so I can "help" him spray his boat comes through with it all. I now have supplied air respiration in the shop. Not being one to turn down free equipment, I will happily try spraying. But I remain a firm advocate for the roll and tip technique, as I have found it to be excellent.

[David]

Which Awlgrip product system do you use? Have you experimented with Awlgrip, versus Awlgrip 2 versus Awlgrip 2000? Honestly I don't know the dif myself. My boat is painted with good ole Awlgrip, sprayed professionally and I am not satisfied with the longevity of the results--probably poor application and/or prep rather than the paint sytsem.

David

[Tim]

How long has it been, and what sort of problems are you experiencing?

[David]

She was painted in early 96, decks, nonskid and topsides. Sprayed by the yard she was hauled at. The problems involve chalking of the deck paint, and fading and mostly loss of gloss in the flag blue topsides. I know the yard used the required primer, but I don't know the reason for the poor performance of the topcoats.

David

[JetStream]

One option that I will probably use for future painting, is to use spray equipment to apply 545 Awlgrip primer (and other surfacing materials), but then apply the topcoat by roll and tip. The Awlgrip topcoat seems to be quite difficult to spray.

[Figment]

Anyone else read the Practical Sailor writeup on topsides paint?

I thought the test was a bit flawed, as they executed it as a single-coat test even with products that are intended to be applied as a multi-coat system.

[Tim]

A bit flawed? Methinks you're being charitable!

[Tim]

Which Awlgrip product system do you use? Have you experimented with Awlgrip, versus Awlgrip 2 versus Awlgrip 2000?

All I have ever used is regular Awlgrip. Awlgrip 2 is a high-solids version of Awlgrip, and, according to the Awlgrip website, is supposed to offer better gloss retention than "conventional topcoats", though what this means is unclear to me. Are they saying that original Awlgrip is a conventional topcoat, or do they mean competitors' products? Why continue to market original Awlgrip if Awlgrip 2 is an true improvement? There must be pros and cons to both products.

Lacking any true advantage, without caveat, of Awlgrip 2, I'd be inclined to stick with regular Awlgrip.

Awlgrip 2000 is an acrylic product and sounds of little interest to me.

Here is a basic comparison page from the Awlgrip website.

Awlgrip Topcoats