Annapolis Wherry Amine Blush Washed and Hull Prime-Coated

The long finishing process has begun on the CLC Annapolis Wherry.

First, let's talk about amine blush. The MAS epoxy that ships with the kit claims to be blush-free. It may in fact be much lower blushing than other epoxies like WEST System, but all epoxies blush.

Do this if you don't believe me. After your final epoxy coating of the bottom, but BEFORE you sand it, take a bowl of water and a clean sponge and wipe down the hull. When you are done, you will clearly smell the amine blush in the water and you will see that the water has turned a slight color.

Amine blush is water soluble. Wiping the hull down with soap and water removes the bulk of it. I wiped mine hull down twice and could still slightly smell the blush in the water bowl. After a third time it seemed to be gone.

Why does this matter? Most primers and paints will not stick to, or cure on, amine blush. Think of amine blush as you would a coat of wax. You wouldn't consider painting over a coat of wax knowing that it would just slough off.

Interlux Pre-Kote Plus primer is what CLC suggests using. I called CLC and they reaffirmed on the phone that they haven't had any issues with Pre-Kote Plus not sticking or curing over MAS epoxy. Yet Interlux themselves says not to use it over clear epoxy coatings due to amine blush, and they recommend using a 2-part primer instead. They suggest using Interlux Epoxy Primekote.

Finishing:

Since building my last boat, an Expedition Wherry, Interlux has stopped producing both their Perfection paint and Brightsides paint. But they've reformulated their Pre-Kote primer and their line of Toplac paints. Both now end with a "Plus".

Interlux Pre-Kote Plus primer is not supposed to go over clear epoxy though! Ugh... But luckily I had 1/2 a quart kit of older "Epoxy Primekote" and used that for a first layer of primer. It stinks to high heaven but does a pretty nice job filling low spots. It sands easily too... just wear a mask!

Next I rolled on a coat of Pre-Kote Plus. It went on easily enough and doesn't smell as bad, although you do still need to wear a mask both while rolling it on and sanding it off.

After two primer coats and two sanding jobs, I think it's now ready for paint.

Stay tuned!

Comments

The Rogue Manual

I've posted about this earlier, but thought it might be good to post it again for anyone who may be interested. I've started to write a manual of tips and tricks for Pygmy solo kayak builders. It covers the taping method, so that your boat doesn't have hundreds of holes all over it. I'm on version 2 now. Version 2 covers several other tips and tricks from myself and from others as collected over time. ATTENTION : Use the manual at your own risk! The only person responsible for any mistakes or problems with the building of your boat is you. Always use the official Pygmy manual that came with your kit. Only do those tips and tricks that make sense to you. If something in the manual doesn't sound right to you, then don't do it! Neither I, nor Pygmy Boats, nor anyone else except YOU is responsible for the safety of your boat and the quality of your build. It's in very rough draft form right now, but if you'd like to read it, please send a $10 donat...

Annapolis Wherry Spacered Inwales Installed

For the past week (yes, WEEK!) I have been working on the outwales and spacered inwales. The inwales and outwales are such an obvious part of the boat that you really want them to look as good as you can possibly make them. And doing that takes a lot of time and patience. The spacered inwale kit is an addition to the basic wherry kit. The kit includes the OUTwales, but does not come with INwales. We like the look of the spacered inwales and find that they have some function too for securing things to the hull. They look nautical. The spacered inwale kit comes with inwale rails, sticks you cut to make the spacers, a replacement breasthook for the bow, and replacement quarter knees for the transom. They leave it up to you for how long to cut the spacers and how far apart to space them. The manual that comes with the kit is extensive. I like the look of rounded spaces. No, it's not the normal look of spacers which are supposed to simulate the ribs on a wooden...

Pinguino Keel Fiberglassed

Here is another step that I do out-of-order from the official Pygmy manual. I lay the heavy fiberglass tape on the keel now, before I fiberglass the entire hull. The manual says to do it afterwards. However it looks much cleaner if you do it beforehand. Structurally there shouldn't be too much difference either way. In the future, if the keel ever needs to be re-taped, you just do what you would do otherwise... sand it a bit to rough it up and then lay down some more tape. No big deal. On the ends you will have better luck if you cut a few tucks in the edges of the tape. See below. Try to make the tape as straight as you can. By putting it underneath the main fiberglassing it will be much less noticeable, but you'll still probably see it. The excess was simply squeegeed onto the bare wood which is fine and pre-saturates those areas. There is a huge debate on whether you should pre-saturate the panels or if you should just wet out the fiberglass cloth and hav...

Wacko Ways to Build a Boat

Search This Blog