Finishing Why Knot

Fairing the keel

To fair the keel I used TotalFair fairing compound. I prepped the area by grinding as much of the rust off the keel as possible and sealing the joint with TotalBoat SEAL. Once this was cured, I mixed and applied the fairing compound sanding after with 80 grit paper. 

Barrier coating the keel 

In order to protect the keel from rust I used a two part epoxy paint from TotalBoat called TotalProtect. Prep for this paint is very important. The day of painting I sanded the keel with 80 grit and wiped it down with a rag. I then mixed the paint and rolled it on, allowing it to become thumbprint tacky in-between coats. The final product is a durable shell to the keel that I can paint with bottom paint. 

Bottom painting

I painted the bottom with help from my dad using TotalBoat Spartan antifouling paint. The application was a fairly simply process. We simply rolled two coats of the paint on using a 3/8 nap roller. The boat has been in the water for a month and looks great so far!

Painting the topsides 

After painting the bottom my dad and I painted the topsides with TotalBoat WetEdge topside paint. We rolled and tipped three coats of this paint onto the hull for a glossy finish, sanding with 220 grit in-between coats. This scuffs the surface to give the next coat better adhesion.  The boat is pretty much done at this point. Down to the finishing touches!

Finishing touches

My mom generously made me all new cushions for my boat. She spent a full week working on them and they look absolutely amazing. Here you can see the V-berth, starboard bunk and port booth that also becomes a bunk. The cushions really pulled the boat together. I also had a new tiller built as the old one was snapped and mangled from the mast falling on it. Here you can see the tiller with the first coat of Gleam 2.0 gloss varnish on it. Finally, I varnished and installed the name plate that I built in Bermuda. The boat is complete. Now time to sail!