Bristol-Blue Lake Michigan Sailing Adventures

  Kiwi grip is some great stuff.  This is a latex-based paint that is back-rolled with a texturing roller. It is easy to clean up, easy to apply and leaves a great surface for your shoes to grip on. So far I am really happy with it.  The only drawback is bugs seem to like it. I suspect because it is latex paint it has a sweet smell that attracts the insects but I think it will dissipate after some time.  Kiwi grip photos via Tik Tok. 

  Ezpoxy second coat.  For the record I don't recommend Ezpoxy.  It is hard to work with and I'm under-welmed by the results.  Regardless the second coat is on and it looks like it could use a third in some spots.   

Stage one EzPoxy painting completed.  Today I got lucky and the weather cleared up and I got the first coat of paint on the deck and cockpit. Stage one is all the flatwork.  Stage 2 will be the non-skid.   

Started getting ready to paint this weekend and then the sky got dark and it sprinkled on and off the rest of the day.   

  As the sanding wraps up I start to look for a time to paint. It is Spring here in Michigan and it has started to rain. We have had three days of on and off sprinkles. While I know I could go down and sand and fill a few more spots here and there between the raindrops at some point, you have to stop and draw the line. I could go and go to perfection on this 45-year-old boat but why. We intend on sailing it and it will undoubtedly get a nick here, a scratch there, and a little line chafe there. Now we wait for the right weather, not too hot, not too wet, not too cold at night. These outside projects take patients. There are other projects to work on while we wait. Who knows with the prep done or nearly done maybe the boat will be launched before the deck is even finished. 

Video 1:  VC 17 paint mix:   Stir It Up, Baby.   Save those carry-out dinner cartons they are the best paint roller trays.  You can close them so your paint does not evaporate.  Video 2: Legends After trimming in the waterline and keel. It is time to cover some square footage with the roller. Video 3: Time Warp Some different views from around the boat.  Video 4: Moonlighting Finishing up the last section with the roller. Video 5: Almost Time for a Drink One more trim coat around the waterline and she is done. I always do a final trim coat around the waterline with some of the thicker paint from the bottom of a quart.

Over the past few years, I've started to gather quite a collection of cleaning supplies, polishing compounds, and waxes. Having a yellow boat has accelerated this collection. This being the third year with Woodstock I've had the opportunity to try three different polishing compounds head to head.  The first two years I used 3M Heavy oxidation remover followed up with their Finesse Polish. The first year I went over this with the 3M paste wax and the second I used Turtle Wax. I personally feel the Turtle Wax held up better and gave a nicer shine.  This spring I decided to give something else a try and ordered some Total Boat after watching Andy at Boatworks . If you have not seen his youtube channel you should check it out.  This is a two-part product as well Total Buff and Total Shine.  My father also came by this year and he has been using the Mcguires Products on his boats and camper. So we gave them a head-to-head comparison on the yellow hull. While the Mcguires ...