In a message dated 00-02-20 20:26:12 EST, MTTortuga@iline.com writes:

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But it is true Morley!  I spoke with an old guy who was working on his
pontoon boat yesterday.  I asked him what he had put on the topsides of his
aluminum pontoons.  He said it was a semi-gloss latex exterior housepaint.
He said he hauls the boat every year and does the anti-fouling paint, then
gives the topsides a coat of latex, if they need it, don't you know.  He said
it didn't slough off, or crack, or peel.  He said it would take a reasonable
amount of abuse.  It would scratch like any paint if you ran it against a
barnacle-laden piling or a rough dock, but then it was easy to touch it up.
He's had it on his boat for seven years now.  Sure fooled me.  I thought it
looked pretty good.  I'm sorely tempted to try it.

So come on folks; most of us have heard of stories of commercial fishermen
who swear by exterior latex housepaint.  Let's call it natural elastomer
modified, low organic vapor emitting, one component acrylic.  We'll say it
costs $200 per gallon (with a $180 in-store rebate ;-> ), but it's worth it
for the friendly environmental impact.  We'll hint that a boat can't really
be a proper yacht unless it's got the best topside finish.

Who among us has the guts to admit that he's tried it on his boat?  And how
did it work out?

Paul Browne
Boatless but building in Tampa Bay

About a year or so ago Boat Builder Magazine had an article about using
acrylic latex enamel as boat paint, although on skiffs, etc. The author
of the article recommended it highly.

When I pulled the teak from Sanderling's top deck last spring, and ended
up replacing the wood core, some of the deck beams, and then refastening
the original top layer of fiberglass, I wasn't in any hurry to put teak
down again (until I rework the remaining two decks). So I leveled up the
variations in the top layer of fiberglass with that two-part compound
(don't remember what it is called, but it is like auto body putty) and
then painted it with white acrylic latex house deck enamel. It looks
good and held up through the summer abuse. It held up so well, in fact,
that I'm going to touch up the painted areas where I applied it rather
hastily without adequate coverage.

I want to replace my teak decks eventually (I don't need any
recommendations not to do it, thank you very much :-{) ), and this will
keep Sanderling looking half-way decent until then, covering up the ugly
scars of that major operation.

PBrowne900@aol.com wrote:

--
Bob McLeran                              rmcleran@ix.netcom.com
M/V "Sanderling"                        Docked at Point Patience Marina
Hailing port: Wianno MA                      Solomons, MD
Hampton 35 Trawler

OK, I'll admit it!!!  I have used a latex house deck paint on a boat.  I
repainted a small cruising sailboat's deck and trunk cabin with a 2 part
polyurethane paint.  It didn't look as good as the sample at the boat show,
but it turned out pretty well.  The problem was the molded in sections of
nonskid that became very slippery with the high gloss paint.  Pearson boats
at that time used a light brown non glossy something for the patches of
nonskid on their decks.  The Pearson folks told me that those patches were
molded in when they laid up the deck and no paint was used.  I went out and
bought a Sears or similar latex porch deck paint of the desired color,
masked the nonskid areas and put it on.  This included high use areas on the
seats in the cockpit and on the forepeak around the anchor activity.  It
really looked good, was easy to apply and had good anti-skid properties.  It
was put on directly over the high gloss polyurethane.  In high use areas it
did scratch and the white paint below would show through.  About once a
month I would touch up the scratches.  It was very easy to touch up (rinse
the brush with water - blend in nicely with the older paint - etc.).  I kept
the boat for two years after painting the deck and it still looked good when
I sold it.  I have a similar problem in the cockpit of my trawler, but I
don't have the guts to use the latex porch paint.  I'll probably use
Brightside with a flattener and non-skid material.

Herb Hoffman
My Tyme
Prairie 29
Kent Island, MD

----- Original Message -----
From: PBrowne900@aol.com

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