Bottom paint, bugs swarming boat

[TheMcpeters]

Hi,

We are planning on putting a fresh coat of anti fouling on our new-to-us 1968 Cal 34. After sanding down the bottom we have started to notice small gnats swarming around the hull. Seems to be the worst in the morning but truthfully you can see them all over the hull throughout the day.



The boat is in a steel cradle and we have Interlux BottomKote Fiberglass NT, which has a quick drying time but I am still worried about bugs landing on the paint and ruining the application.

I’m not sure how much I can do at this point besides hope for the best. We don’t really have access to electrical and it’s in a moderately trafficked area (foot traffic).

Any tips would be appreciated. Would feel a lot better if others have successfully applied paint in a similar environment.