Sometimes things just don’t turn out the way you planned.
This weekend was one of those things. We didn’t even make it to Akupara, somehow other things got in the way. That being said, we did manage to get 3 coats of paint on the back side of all of the panels from the interior. Why paint the backside you ask? Well, because they had never been painted and to be blunt, they were pretty gross. Our basement is getting smaller and smaller everytime we turn around. Behind all of the panels in the picture is some of our scuba gear, where in hell we are going to put all of this stuff on Akupara I have no idea. I think we need a bigger boat 😉
Two boats ago we had an Alberg 30, and for those of you who do not know, the Alberg 30 and the Whitby 42 were made at the same place, Whitby Boat Works. Having previously owned the Alberg 30, I am intimately familiar with the way these boats are assembled, and both are done the exact same way. All of the panels are screwed in and none of them are painted on the backside. Personally I like the fact that when we re-assemble Akupara, we will know beyond a shadow of a doubt that every square inch of surface area that we can not see, is clean, painted, and is somewhat protected from mould and mildew.
The paint I chose to cover the backs of the panels is a standard exterior mildew resistant paint. OMG you say, why are you not using Marine paint? Well, to be honest, considering we just used over half a gallon simply to paint the backs of the panels, we could eventually go bankrupt buying paint alone. When it comes time to paint the interior of the hull, we will spring for a higher quality paint, however nobody will ever see the areas that we painted with the cheap stuff, unless they start removing panels any way, and some paint is better than no paint! 😉