Tadaa... Finished paint job

Our family took this whole week off after Christmas... well mostly off. Still had some little work things that came up but all in all it was a decent week off. So I managed to get Shan Skailyn's hull, iakos and ama completely painted! The paint job is finally done!!! That was a huge job!
So check it out! Shan Skailyn in all her slightly gaudy, painted glory! Our two older girls and some visiting friends were quite excited to play with 'Rusty' the tree kangaroo in the boat.

Even though I just used exterior acrylic paint, I'm thinking that with the 4 coats of primer and at least 3 top coats (the red needed more to keep the primer from showing through) that the paint job ought to hold up a good long time. I sanded in between all the primer coats (not the top coats) which helped produce a nice smooth finish overall.
One little tip for any other would be boat painters out there. If you're not using masking tape and still wanting some fairly clean lines in your paint job, use a little edge painter like the one I used. I actually had masking tape but on the pieces I tested it on it just was leaving a ton of hard to remove junk and the adhesive was just too strong. I was worried it was going to remove paint. So I first opted to hand paint the lines in using some little artist paint brushes we had on hand. S-L-O-W! Also, the lines were still too ragged for my taste. That's when I rummaged through my supply cabinet and found that I had this little edge painter. It's just a flat pad, with lots of short, soft bristles and a little grip on the backside. It's made for painting right up into corners with no mess and no masking. I decided to try it and was blown away by how smoothly it lays down paint... no bubbles, hardly any streaks... just smooth. It also makes it so much easier to paint a nice clean straight edge. Everything about this little device really made it the perfect applicator for the whole paint job (except for filleted corners). So I used it for everything once I discovered I had it. Can I say again that this thing laid down a super clear coat? Better than any roller or paintbrush I've ever used. I think a sprayer probably would have done better, but for the low budget people, this thing is a treat! Get one for your boat!

Total weight so far

OK, so yesterday afternoon on a whim, I decided I'd weigh everything up that I have done so far... or nearly complete. Right now is probably a great point to weigh a bunch of these things since all the fiberglass is done and the first coats of paint are on and dry already. Very little weight will be added later with the exception of some little bits of hardware here and there. So without further adieu here are the weights of individual parts:
Hull fore section 22 kg
Hull mid section 24 kg
Hull aft section 21 kg
Both crossbeams 15 kg (7.5 kg/ea)
Assembled ama 14 kg
Leeboard 6.5 kg
Rudder assembly 2.5 kg
Roughed out stub mast 7 kg
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TOTAL 112 kg (246.9 lbs)

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Primer all done

Okay, let's try this email thing again. For some reason it seems incapable of delivering an email with its attachments. This is the message that was supposed to go with the last two pix.

Got Shan Skailyn's iakos (crossbeams) and both ama sections (the outrigger float) painted with primer today. Not just one coat, but three... all in one slam bam morning working in the warm sun. The stuff was drying fast enough that once I finished putting a coat on the other pieces, the first piece was ready to sand and coat again. So just busted it all out today. Next step will be to put the top coat on everything.

At little odd times here and there through the week I managed to put the strip of fiberglass over the keel line of the ama as well as the reinforcing wraps around the end of the crossbeams where the ama struts mount and exert lots of forces that threaten splitting the beams.

Really the only thing left to paint will be the motor mounting bracket which I have yet to build. For the motor mount, I'm seriously thinking about deviating a bit from Gary's plans and lashing the thing on the crossbeam, rather than using a bolting assembly. I figure if I modify the design just a touch so that the sides, instead of just resting flat under the crossbeam, are built up a couple inches higher and then given cutouts into which the the crossbeam sits snugly, then some nice tight lashing should hold the thing quite well. Can anyone with experience tell me if this is folly? After assembling Shan Skailyn the other day and seeing just how amazingly strong those lashings are, I figure with the proper modifications the motor mount could be installed the same way (still using Gary's recommending anti-torqueing line of course).

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Seeing it all come together

We have the pleasure of a visit from our helicopter pilot, Mike, and his family this weekend. Coming in with them and with the helicopter today we got our supplies in... including our mail... which also includes the hex nuts that I've been anxiously awaiting for the bolts to connect the hull pieces together. I can finally assemble the hull!
Mike and I spent the afternoon putting all of Shan Skailyn's pieces together to see just how everything is looking so far. Such an awesome feeling to see all that come together!
Everything fit the way it was supposed to. That's a good sign! I was surprised at how strong those lashings actually are, joining the iakos (cross beams) to the hull. One helpful piece of information for anyone ordering parts for a similar project is that each lashing point on the iako to hull connection takes about 9 feet of small diameter rope. In my ignorance, I had only planned and purchased enough for one meter on each lashing point. By the time we had joined everything together, including the ama to iako connections, I had very little left of the mere 65 feet of rope I had purchased. Gonna have to buy more.
There was a lot of interest generated among our kids and the many Mibu kids that were up playing in the area as they saw this oddball project come together in this place with nowhere to sail!
Mike and I also took this chance to talk about how things will have to work out when the helicopter that you see in the background carries all this 12 miles out to the coast sometime next year for its maiden voyage.

Keep on priming

Just another weekend of applying primer coat after primer coat after primer coat. You forget how much work painting is! Painting, anxiously waiting and checking for it to dry, then sanding, and going through the whole process again... and again.
As of now, I've got 4 good coats of primer on the aft section of the hull with only 3 so far on the fore and mid sections. I'm debating whether or not 3 coats of primer is enough. First off, I'm tired of applying the stuff. Second, 3 heavy coats seems like it might just be enough. Especially considering that I've got at least 2 gloss top coat that will be going on later. BUT since this is just lowly acrylic house paint, I do want to make sure I'm applying the necessary amount to hold up a good long time. Is three coats of primer and 2 coats of gloss top coat enough for a boat that will always be out of the water when not in use?