Year of the Boat--Again?

We called last year "The Year of The Boat". We worked our way through changing the engine, rebuilding the head, full-out varnish and paint for the main salon, double galvanizing of chain, a whole raft of dealing with the 3-R's--Repair, Replace, Refurbish. Well, doing a sequel seems to be the "in" thing these days, so it looks as if 2004 is turning out to be Part 2 of "The Year of The Boat". There is a cast of thousands on the "To Do" list! And listen, we thought we had Work Creep last year...?

Work Creep has turned into Paint Creep aboard SUNFLOWER these past few weeks. You know--renewing the varnish here makes the neighboring cabinet look terrible, and the domino effect begins. This time it was the galley and chart table areas that warranted attention. Actually, the nav station had been done less than 3 years ago. The paint we used, although in unopened cans, was past its "Use By" date I guess, and it all turned brownish. If we were to put new paint in the galley now, it would never do to have brown paint next door at the chart table.

Many people admire our varnish and paint work and ask for tips as to how to better their own efforts. Over the 28 years (I can't REALLY believe that SUNFLOWER is that old!) of doing these kinds of jobs we have learned what works for us. Much of it boils down into good old sweat and elbow grease. And patience. And good tools, good products to work with. Then more sweat and elbow grease!

If you are going to have to do varnish and paint in the same area, do the varnish first. That way, when you remove the masking tape from the adjacent painted surface and it pulls off some of the paint, you haven't lost anything. You were ready to repaint that section anyway. Contrary, if you remove the masking tape from new varnish and some varnish pulls away, it is much easier to touch up.

We avoid using plain vanilla masking tape for anything except the most temporary of temporary jobs. That kind of masking tape has an ability to weld itself to surfaces in no time at all. It is a mess to remove, and usually you end up botching what the tape was meant to protect in the first place! We use the blue paper masking tape. (as opposed to blue plastic masking tape which is also available). The blue tape is pretty much weatherproof when you use it outside. Our varnish and paint projects always seem to take several days to complete, but we seldom have trouble removing the blue tape.

Be meticulous with your taping. A fine clean edge after varnishing or painting will show off your work better. One caution: if your layers of varnish or paint have built up a thick "filet" where the tape joins the new work, it is best to cut through to the undersurface with a knife or box cutter before trying to remove the tape.

I hate dust, so we wet sand everything. Yes, you have to mop up the dirty sanding water, but it is mostly in the area where you are working. Somehow that seems easier than trying to corral all the dust permeating the boat before varnishing. Luckily, the varnish in the galley was in good condition, so sanding and 3 coats of varnish would do nicely. We sand with 240 wet/dry for the first layer of varnish. Then follow with 320, and finally a 400 sanding before laying on the final coat.

I like a satin finish varnish for interior woodwork. Over the years I have tried a variety of different brands. It usually comes down to what varnish is available in the place I am. Right now I am using International Satin. It is a polyurethane, one part varnish. But I find it is just a bit too dull, so I mix in 1 part of International Gloss Polyurethane to 3 parts of the Satin. The gloss varnish also has the advantage of having a UV filter additive. In fact, if I am varnishing in an area that I know will get heavy sun, like wood adjacent to a port or hatch, I do 1 or 2 coats of straight gloss before finishing up with several coats of the satin/gloss mixture. I try to have the compatible thinner for the varnish I work with. I always add some thinner and stir it in very thoroughly. You want a stream that has a consistency somewhat like milk when it runs off the paint stirrer.

It's the same with doing my interior paint right now. Semi-gloss white enamel is much too flat; gloss enamel is much too shiny. So I use a 1 to 1 ratio mixture to give me a more livable finish. If you have to change brands you may have to play around a bit with the ratio to get the amount of sheen you like.

Some odd bits of info:

Save cans. I prefer the small tomato sauce size for varnish, regular size cans for paint. Be sure they are well washed and dry before use. It is less messy to dip the paint or varnish out of the big can into the one you will paint out from, rather than pour it out. This helps with the measuring part also, as in 3 scoops satin, 1 scoop gloss. I have a variety of measuring cups, spoons, odd scoops to use, depending on the amount of stuff to be mixed.

Quantity is a guestimate that only comes with experience, I can tell you. Better to have some left in the can than to have to stop and remix in the middle of the project. I keep a jar to pour the leftovers into. Use this for odd jobs and those less visible places. Don't put it back and contaminate the parent can.

For mixing tools I use disposable chopsticks (don't separate them), or tongue depressor sticks and popsicle sticks. No, I don't eat a lot of popsicles! You can get hundreds of them at hobby and craft shops. Good for measuring and mixing 2 part glues and fillers too; using one stick for each part avoids contamination.

Sometimes you will find gluck in the paint or varnish. Gluck? You know--thick bits, particles, or lumps. Strain them out with a piece of nylon stocking placed over the can you pour into. Use a rubber band to hold the stocking in place if necessary.

Use a really good brush. Mine cost at least $15. If you can't get them locally, mail order them. They are worth it. I have badger hair types. Listen. These can't really be badger hairs, can they? I mean, have you ever heard of, or seen, a badger ranch? Where else would they get all those hairs from? Keep the brushes clean and store them wrapped, and they will last for years. Use a small artist's brush along with your regular one. Great for getting into odd corners, along hard to reach places, anywhere that you don't want to stick your good brush. For this reason I use the foam throw-away brushes to varnish the dreaded louver doors; they fit into that awkward space between the louvers. Otherwise, the hairs of your good brush get all splayed out and frazzled.

Sanding becomes a literal pain and you can quickly wear out your fingers and enthusiasm for the job. We have a special tape to wrap our fingers. It is green gauze, about a half inch wide, and only sticks to itself. Works just fine with the wet sanding too. We got it from an industrial supply house, but possibly something similar would be available from hospitals or first aid supplies.

Save jars. You'll see why in a bit.

Brushing technique is something you will just have to learn from practice. Small areas are easy, but I hate doing bulkheads and other big surfaces. It's hard to keep a wet edge and have it all come out OK. Don't try to go back over areas you've done to catch a boo-boo. I work best starting left to right and brushing back into the wet edge from the righthand side. Use enough varnish/paint to cover and flow, but be careful of sags and drips from corners. Vertical brushing tends to avoid runs, but is not always appropriate for the job. Usually, varnish along the grain of the wood, paint along the axis that seems indicated. Approach your work with a thought as to how one surface will lead into the next, and as to what your body position will be while painting to avoid bumping into the fresh work.

Actually, I almost always do the brush work of a paint/varnish job. But I couldn't begin to be as efficient at it without Al helping with the sanding prep and the clean up. He is a MASTER brush cleaner! After an hour or two of work with a brush in my hand, it's really nice to hand it to him, know he will take care of it, and that it will be perfectly ready for the next job.

Al uses lacquer thinner to clean our brushes. By the time we have been painting or varnishing for 3 or 4 days, there is a line up of jars with varying grades of thinner to use. He cascades the use of the thinner from dirtiest to cleanest. He progresses through the series until the brush has been rinsed about 6 or 7 times. He ends up with pure clean thinner, dries the brush with a clean rag, then wraps a piece of foil around the bristles to contain the shape of the brush. Sometimes he leaves the brush in the thinner with a cover of foil over it for a few hours. It is amazing what will precipitate out of a "clean" brush that way!

Repainting the galley and chart table area was pretty much standard work. You could stand, sit, crouch or kneel to do the sanding and painting. We did it in sections so the job wouldn't get so tedious or intimidating to do. Here we did two coats of white undercoat with a sanding in between, followed by two coats of enamel with a sanding in between.

Now came the challenge: painting the ceiling. I know we last painted it in Turkey in 1990 after we installed some new ports. Now it was yellowed and streaked and cracking in a few places. There was no getting around it; we had to paint it. This was a huge area and a murderous task. We sanded until our necks and shoulders and backs gave out. The next day we finished the sanding and I painted it with undercoat. It looked awful! Back to the sanding.

We knew we had to try something different. Al worked with a small roller and I did the hard spots with my brush. It looked a bit stippled, but was a whole lot smoother and was a better surface to sand. The first roller of enamel showed us that we would have to change tactics. We didn't want stippled enamel! So Al rolled a strip and I tipped it out with my brush. Roll and tip, roll and tip. This worked, but looked kinda splotchy.

One more day of sanding. Here we go again with the enamel. This time Al laid it on pretty thick with the roller. He figured it wasn't going to run on the ceiling. Yet again--we could have stalactites! This gave me an easier time with the brush. I wish I could say it looks fabulous, but I can't. My friend Pat says that "perfection is the enemy of the good". It's not perfect, but it is so much better than before, and thank goodness we won't have to do that for another 14 years!