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Old 15-06-2022, 01:36   #1
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Painting my topsides - in the water or on the hard?

All,

I’m planning to paint my topsides when the weather gets better in a few months.
The hull etc have been recently painted / antifouled and this is purely a cosmetic upgrade.

I can put her on the hard for a few days or do it in the water.

In the water is cheaper but I’m concerned that I’m creating issues that mean it’s not a great idea.

Any thoughts?
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Old 15-06-2022, 03:25   #2
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Re: Painting my topsides - in the water or on the hard?

My father does his in the water to no ill effect. Some spots are tougher to mask, but it gets done.
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Old 15-06-2022, 05:07   #3
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Re: Painting my topsides - in the water or on the hard?

Can you reach everything, and see it well enough to do the detail work, while moored? Then no reason to pull the boat. Less dust and less climbing ladders, for that matter. Good luck with it.
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Old 15-06-2022, 05:16   #4
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Re: Painting my topsides - in the water or on the hard?

Thanks!
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Old 15-06-2022, 06:27   #5
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Re: Painting my topsides - in the water or on the hard?

Okay, so I have to wonder if you know that the "topsides" on a boat is the area of the hull between the waterline and the deck. It's hard to imagine doing that with the boat in the water.
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Old 15-06-2022, 07:08   #6
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Re: Painting my topsides - in the water or on the hard?

I’ve painted most of mine at the dock now without too much trouble. Fenders and dock lines get in the way a bit but doing a 180° between sides helps.
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Old 15-06-2022, 07:37   #7
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Re: Painting my topsides - in the water or on the hard?

Right you are, siamese, the upper hull certainly is the "top of the sides." But then, ChrisJHC said he had painted the hull, which would include the topsides, so best bet is he meant from the rub rail to the rigging, or the superstructure, mildly misusing the term as most of us do.

Let's see. Foc'sle used to describe boats that don't have fore castles, and transom, fantail, and stern used interchangeably. English is a sloppy language. 99% of correspondents think "data" is singular. "Datum" is singular. And we've been forced to refer to a single person as "them" because we don't have a gender neutral third person singular pronoun.
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Old 15-06-2022, 08:53   #8
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Re: Painting my topsides - in the water or on the hard?

I prepped, primed, and painted the topsides (bootstripe to deck) on my Pearson 35 while in the water. Roll and tipped with 2 finish coats. From my dinghy. Was very impressed with outcome. (I'm not a patient guy.)

I think satisfying environmental issues and the marina, if applicable, is the biggest challenge.
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Old 15-06-2022, 10:35   #9
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Re: Painting my topsides - in the water or on the hard?

We painted our deck and cabin top once with the boat hauled out, and once with the boat on the mooring. On the mooring was nicer, with a more pleasant view and cool breeze.
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Old 15-06-2022, 16:31   #10
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Re: Painting my topsides - in the water or on the hard?

Thanks for the vocabulary lesson!

I’ve been encouraged to paint all the bits I’m planning to paint in the pen.
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Old 15-06-2022, 17:36   #11
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Re: Painting my topsides - in the water or on the hard?

if you can paint anything without drips you're a better man than i am, and i would not go and drip paint into the water

just sayin...

cheers,
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Old 15-06-2022, 18:01   #12
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Re: Painting my topsides - in the water or on the hard?

The answer is It Depends.

What kind of finish do you really want?

Are you looking for a "5 Foot" finish of yacht quality that looks perfect from 5 feet away? That requires a polyurethane paint that needs to be rolled and tipped? You will NOT get that in the water.

If you want a "50 foot" workboat finish that looks perfect from the other side of the bay with enamel? Yeah, go ahead.

Are you fine with putting sanding dust and debris and paint drips and other such leavings in your local waterway? Sure do it in the water. But it I see you doing that, I'll never speak to you again.
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Old 15-06-2022, 18:36   #13
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Re: Painting my topsides - in the water or on the hard?

I painted my steel boat in the water with enamel. It was not work boat finish, but it certainly wasn’t yacht quality mirror finish. Used a palm sander with vacuum attachment also
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Old 16-06-2022, 10:53   #14
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Re: Painting my topsides - in the water or on the hard?

Quote:
Originally Posted by tkeithlu View Post
Right you are, siamese, the upper hull certainly is the "top of the sides." But then, ChrisJHC said he had painted the hull, which would include the topsides, so best bet is he meant from the rub rail to the rigging, or the superstructure, mildly misusing the term as most of us do.

Let's see. Foc'sle used to describe boats that don't have fore castles, and transom, fantail, and stern used interchangeably. English is a sloppy language. 99% of correspondents think "data" is singular. "Datum" is singular. And we've been forced to refer to a single person as "them" because we don't have a gender neutral third person singular pronoun.
Maybe he meant the entire hull, maybe he didn't. Just cluing him in so he can get better responses to his questions.

Some of the responders are clearly confused.
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Old 16-06-2022, 11:27   #15
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Re: Painting my topsides - in the water or on the hard?

I did a very nice deck paint in the water. But for the topsides I did that on the hard…..can’t imagine rolling and tipping parts of the hull from the dock, that was hard enough from a ladder!
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