Bottom Paint

Eagle and I hauled and painted Shanti ourselves. We were inspired by my grumpy and hyper-competent gang of east coast one-design friends who apparently haul, paint, de-rig, re-glass, re-deck, and otherwise completely eschew the paid services of the boating labor class. Like once a week, if you believe them.

Fine, but in my opinion, even if I’m as handy as everyone claims I am, this is about the same ROI as changing the oil in your truck: Same money, same quality, twice the time, three times the hassle.

Also, an important take-away: In SF Bay, there’s no need to do boat work anywhere but KKMI. I paid the same for a haul-out and yard space at dodgy San Rafael YH as I would at our “notoriously expensive” yard across the bay, but gave up decent equipment, any semblance of security, handy advice, an inspiring view of AC boats on the hard, and a well-stocked chandlery. In exchange for this non-savings, I got my boat nearly dropped off a rickety dolly, a spreader bent on the crane, and some pretty sketchy characters jumping out of the dumpsters every morning.

Did I mention that I didn’t save any money? Short advice: Pay the $1K flat rate in the spring.

How did we do it?

  1. Longboarded (by hand) down to 100 grit.
  2. Filled and faired most of the chips and dips
  3. 2 coats of black Micron Extra

Eagle did most of the backbreaking work around step #1, which basically buys him out of my share of the Islander, in my opinion.

Eagle and Longboard

Eagle and Longboard

Down to the primer

Down to the primer

Back into the water where it is safe

Back into the water where it is safe

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