I Sea Green

Yes, I've been seeing sea green on my C-Kayak.

First coat - Primer still showing

Gosh, this has been an unexpectedly strange week in a green sort of way.

The name of the color I had picked for the bottom paint is Sea Green. It is a fairly dark and pretty color which to my eyes nicely complements the okoume of the hybrid hull.

My last paint job was on the Passagemaker Dinghy. I used Hatteras (off-)white which rolled onto the strakes like milk and honey.

By the third coat it looked totally velvety-shiny and immaculate. Not so my experience this time... let's call it INexperience.

Second coat

After the initial coat of primer I did not expect the first coat of green to look like much. However, I was a bit concerned because the paint just did not roll well. By the second coat my concern increased and after the third coat, a call to Dr Joey at CLC was in order. The paint simply did not behave the way it is supposed to - no bubbles to tip and strangely streaky. Joey suggested thinning the paint with Penetrol and  Mineral Spirits.

Fourth coat - not too bad at a distance...

Well, that trick certainly improved matters greatly. Even so, I was still quite dissatisfied with subsequent coats. I tried to put on the perfect final coat three times and each time little specks emerged seconds after everything had looked perfect. What was going on?

Another call to CLC! Dr. Joey diagnosed the problem... (the solution: wet-sand with 400 grid between each coat and no wiping down with denatured alcohol!) except now I had run out of green paint.

I'll have to order another can. I am putting on hold any considerations for fancy designs until I have learned to work with dark paints and feel reasonably confident that I am able to control the outcome.

In the meantime, the sea-green does indeed look quite fetching next to the okoume.

I may use some tape to do a mock up of my design idea and then decide whether I want to pursue it. Happily, I like the paint lay-out as is, so I won't do anything else unless the boat-building spirits compelled me. It was a relief to finally see the deck after a week of "seaing" green... enough to get you a bit bent out of shape.

Coming up, I will work on the varnish job and later roll on a final coat of green - assuming I'll finally get it right.