The Paint on the Caledonia Yawl HOWDY

[Steve Stone]

When painting HOWDY, Off Center Harbor’s Caledonia Yawl, it was much of the same as Doug describes in his note.  We used a wide variety of paints as a test, including a moderately high quality exterior house paint, and with the exception of the need for a good anti-fouling bottom paint (since we leave our boats in the water all season) and the need for a good marine paint for the topsides just above the waterline where growth can collect and conditions can torture exposed wood, we didn’t find a huge difference between all the paints in their ability to protect the wood (the purpose of paint).

The one big difference was how long the paint would last before needing to put a couple more coats on.

Our favorite on HOWDY over the years has been Interlux Brightside and we typically use Interlux 220 Semi Gloss white with varying amounts of Interlux Brightside Grand Banks Beige to give it a warm off white tint.  We use the Grand Banks Beige straight out of the can on the seats, rails, spars and stems. We use a high quality exterior housepaint for the sheer strake since the surface is vertical and doesn’t get a lot of wear, weather, or standing water.  The Interlux Brightside solution for topsides, with the semi-gloss white as the base, is a bit too shiny for my taste the first season but tends to lose a bit of the luster during the second season which I like.

I have no science to rely on, but I believe the semi-gloss is easier to clean and lasts longer between paints than the flat, but this year I bought a gallon can of the 242 Flat White to try with the same mixture to see how the flat does for initial shiny-ness vs. wear and cleaning over a few seasons.  Continued…

[Steve Stone]

. . . Note in Geoff Kerr’s excellent video on his epoxy/primer/paint progression process, he says that his original Interlux Brightside paint job lasted 17 years on NED LUDD with odd touch-ups to cover bare spots from wear.

Painting a Wooden Boat: Simple Techniques for a Professional Finish

As for the amount of GBB to mix with the white, it’s to taste by trial and error and it gets pretty unscientific as the tide is coming back in and I have to get paint on quickly.  It’s a good system to me because someone could take whatever shade they like from Interlux Brightside and put a bit of that in some white and off you go til you find the mix that’s just right.  On the interior it’s very important to knock down any whites so the bright sun isn’t reflecting bright white into you eyes all day.

While the new-tech poly-eurothane paints like Brightside will keep their luster longer than the others like Kirby, we actually like the look of flatter paint, not glossy, and Kirby has amazing colors and can match any color you want so they make the color thing easy, so we highly recommend Kirby Paints.  That’s what Maynard has used mostly on his boats over the years.  It’s worth noting that Maynard loves to paint his boats and he’s retired, so a coat of paint’s longevity is less important to him than color.

If the boat will be trailered and kept indoors in the off season, I might bypass all the science and chemistry and call up Kirby for the colors you want.  If the boat is going to be outside all season, and treated roughly, then a new tech paint might stand up to those conditions better over the long haul.

[Charles Rees]

Oliver …. good morning.  For the novice boat painter…….. the business of selecting a ‘suitable’ paint and choosing a colour can be a bit of a tortuous affair.  One is buffeted by professional advice, best practice, all of which is sensible, and freely given.

However the two aspects that i struggle with is:  sheen, and underwater/ above water.  In short,  Gloss provides  durability, matt finish (barely available), less so.  Use above waterline paints  below the waterline, and the paint will dissolve into chalk.

Of course, i suppose it comes down – as with most things in life to experience.  Balancing best advice with informed personal preferences, which only come with experience;  yours or others.  The novice in the absence of experience, can be hampered by taking things too literally; probably a good thing !

My preference is for low sheen or matt finish, and the freedom to use ‘top coats’  above and below the waterline; where realistic; as some others do.   So, I wonder whether the topic is worth a little more illuminating discussion ?

The context applies to  trailer sailing, the boat generally kept under cover, on land when not in use.

One last (not entirely unrelated) thing concerning the necessary  vicissitudes of the novice; if i may.  Like many others,  I have benefited, and very gratefully, from the excellent Caledonia Yawl construction series of lessons from Geoff Ker,  that Off Centre Harbour produced.  Geoff is an excellent tutor, not judgemental, or prescriptive, always encouraging and positive.  So, would Geoff and you consider another video guide on actually sailing the Caledonia yawl, in particular.  Although not of course, the only sailing authority, however Geoff could approach and deliver the subject in an entertainingly informative manner.  He mentions he enjoys ‘close quarter’ sailing  (i took note of the inclusion of the water pistol in his ditty bag),  being able to reverse, turn on a sixpence, manoeuvre, manage adverse tides, weather, comfortably heave to, choosing where and not to beach, approach a quay/jetty, rowing,  his approach to passage planning, navigating, camping on board, etcetc……………..it would be a really useful reference for the novice;  or at least this one.

Regards, Charles Rees.

 

 

 

 

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