Toxic Bananas
I’ve come to realize I’m a sloppy painter. I’m a bad taper. And I’m Ok with it. My new motto is “Work boat finish, with an ounce of neglect, and a pound of incompetence”… well that’s not actually my new motto, but it sounded wonderfully self defeating and accurate. I’m trying to set myself up for the stunned looks I’m going to get when people see my paint job. The blank stare and silence will tell all. I won’t need to appologize for the runs and sags or the spots on the deck and whale strake. Nor will I have to make excuses for the bleed through where the tape obviously was, or the holidays at the bottoms of the faux frames… I just want to get it all out there now… This is a 15′ paint job.
I will say however that depsite the sweet smell of fresh banana candy that comes from my boat every day this week, there are no treats when it comes to painting the bulwarks. It’s a tiring job, and I only hope that Awlgrip is all it’s cracked up to be, cuz I dont want to have to do this for another 10 years. However, whether I can stand to look at those sags for 10 years is unlikely. I’ve come to the conclusion there is no such thing as the “final coat”. The only final thing about my paint is the flight of the bugs that are drawn by the enticing aroma of Toxic Bananas (aka Awlcat #3).
While I had good intentions to do the two middle strakes of the bulwarks in green to match the whale strake, I realized that in the interest of launching sooner rather than later, I should just go all cream for now. I can always sand back the cream and paint green over it if the mood becomes me.
Bulwarks, whether the construction stage that I am in or the refinishing stage that you are in require rereading Robert Pursig’s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I keep looking for the Zen in bulwarks. Yours look great!
David
Ahoy! BCC Elizabeth is on the hook! Hurrah for Cap’n Ben! Hurrah for BCC Elizabeth!
The voyage of a lifetime begins June ‘09, our brother.
Love,
Darrah and ROsie
Sounds like you launched??? Awesome! Congratulations! Now I cant wait to see the sailing videos.
If it helps at all… a comment on boat work. I think you are being wayyyyyy too hard on yourself. Given the way you describe your efforts; I bet the boat looks terrific. I for one suck at boat work and do most of the jobs to a fraction of perfection… a bunch of items will bug me until the boat is in the water… when i am actually sailing I never even notice those things that I didnt get quite right.
In my mind I remember three things… one - my boat is old and didnt cost me a lot so she will never be perfect (well she could be with unreasonable investments in time and money), Two - my boat although 25 feet in length is actually a 50 footer (meaning she looks great from 50 feet away (also the drink of choice and sunsets help a lot too), Three - she isnt perfect but… she is “perfectly” mine and gets me out there sailing which is something I couldnt do if I waited to afford the perfect boat.
Congrats on getting the boat out for the Summer. I can’t wait to read about your exploits.
Kevin