Recall the mantra of our previous paint piece: 90 percent of a good paint job is good preparation. In this follow-up installment, we’ll look at specific skills and techniques for painting skillfully.
Marine paint is expensive! It’s blended to resist a wretchedly hostile outdoor water environment. Make the most of it; lay on multiple thin coats to protect your vessel, but preserve what’s left in the can. Managing your pricey paint and keeping the bulk of it in good condition is critical.
We trust you to choose your paint type, brand, and color wisely, using one of several excellent decision-tree apps online to match paint with your boat’s construction, location, and use, and your budget. Your small boat probably doesn’t need the apex, high-dollar, paint-of-all-paints—you’ll be periodically pulling the boat out of the water, after all. You want a sensibly excellent product without gold edges.
Before you walk out of a marine-supply store, have the cans shaken thoroughly. If the paint must sit for a time, cajole a local paint store to shake it again.