During the last few days we have been busy in getting everything ready for the launch, which is taking place on Thursday. The underwater hull is now coated with five layers of Teknos Inerta 5 epoxy primer and two layers of Hempel Hard Racing (black) antifouling. Also the antifouling waterline was rised about two centimeters as the white stripe near the waterline was coated with white Hard Racing.
The topsides were treated already in the autumn with Farecla’s rubbing compound and Autoglym’s Super Resin Polish (red etiquette). Now in the spring, only a quick treatment with Autoglym’s Extra Gloss Protection (gold etiquette) was needed. This hard wax should give a durable protection against dirt.
According to the current plan, DD is launched tomorrow and the mast is stepped on Friday. On Saturday we are going to put on the sails and continue cleaning and loading the boat. If we are quick, we might have a chance to go sailing already on Saturday. Otherwise, the start of the season is on Sunday, when DD is sailed to her new home port.
/Antti
Looking very good! I must remember to come back here for hints in the autumn when we start working on the bottom of our boat.
Nice… Maybe we'll see you on weekend. We are planning to go for this seasons first sail with the "familyboat" somewhere in Airisto on Saturday.
Hi! That's possible! We will be somewhere there tomorrow, when we have cleaned up the boat and got everything in place for this season 🙂
Thanks for the comment. We are pleased with the outcome, but of course one sees after the season, how well the new bottom paint has worked..
Hello Antti and Minna,
Been reading eagerly your description about the hull repair project. I'm renovating an old IF-boat which also has en encapsulated keel.
My question however concerns your choise of epoxy primer and antifouling, and I would like to hear your experience over the last three seasons, how well has the hempel hard racing extra held its place on the inerta 5 primer? In my experience the most difficult part of the epoxy systems is the connection between the primer and the antifouling: how to get the antifouling firmly connected on the primer. And if you can tell how quickly since the last primer layer did you overpaint the antifouling? Thanks for your possible answers.