Prepping & Painting the Bottom

After several days & nights sanding, I finally came to the conclusion that it was time to put a coat of primer on the bottom.  I think anyone will tell you, that eventually you just have to come to the point where you've sanded enough! I finally reached that point after a approximately 20 hours---some by hand and some by using a orbital sander.

On Saturday, 3-27-2010, I applied the first coat of primer.  The brand I used is Interlux Pre-kote (gray).  The I sanded the entire exterior surface by hand with 220 grit paper.  The paint I chose to cover it was Interlux Brightside.  Although I have heard that this particular paint was not recommended for the bottom, I have had success with it in the past when I painted a 16 footer.  This boat will not stay in the water for any real length of time so I'm hoping for the same level of success as before.

The first photos depict the boat with one coat of the gray primer and the subsequent photos depict the boat after the first coat of "brightside".  So far I am very pleased with the results, especially the coverage of the green. My next step will be to sand with 320 grit paper. Then I will apply the second coat of green.