Wooden Boat People

By McKenzieDriftBoat.com

Decked Dory Question Painting interior of hatches

Hello- I've been working on restoring a fully-decked Mackenzie (Don Hill Highside?)

After 2 days contorting myself into pretzel-shaped poses in order to scrape old paint and prep the interior surfaces inside the compartments of my dory, I decided to use Gripper Grey primer to cover the inside surfaces (the interior was previously painted but in BAD shape). It looks good, and went on thick but I was wondering what any of the other decked, dory folks use to paint the inside of their boats if at all. I had thought to just stay with the Gripper primer without a topcoat but then a buddy said that I needed to cover the primer with a topcoat paint. Not a bad idea but it is REALLY hard to get access to some of those compartments so unless I hear otherwise, I would be inclined to leave it. As it is only underneath the decks it would not get any UV damage but, of course, will inevitably see some water in those compartments.

So, basically two questions: 1) anyone else use Glidden Gripper primer and should it be given a topcoat for interior of hatches and 2) what kind of paint/coating have people used with success for this particular application (interior of fully decked dory) I assume any exterior paint would be fine but just looking for other thoughts/comments on products.

Thanks All-

Mike

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Kelly Neu on June 28, 2011 at 7:55am

Hi Mike,

When I painted my hatches I was looking to do one main thing; protect the epoxy/fiberglass from abrasion. I used a polyurethane with added hardener. I did two coats on the bottom of the hatch. Its held up well for one season of commercial use so far. It will probably need to be touched up after this season. I went with a medium grey to hide the dirt. Its been a good color so far.

Have fun painting. It must feel great to be at the finishing stage! Enjoy.

-Kelly

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Permalink Reply by Randy Dersham on June 28, 2011 at 10:19am

I agree with Kelly. I happen to like Bilgekote by Interlux. It is very slick and easy to clean. It's made for the inside of cabinets and has a mildew inhibitor. Here's what Interlux says about it.

"Bilgekote protects bilges, lockers and bulkheads against moisture penetration and wear and tear. Bilgekote will resist oil and fuel spillage and cleans easily."

http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/product.do?part=252...

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Permalink Reply by Mike Crouch on June 28, 2011 at 1:12pm

Thanks folks-

Will be doing some fairing later today and hope to painting the hull after a vacation for the 4th!