For the first time since February 2009, last night I packed away (hopefully forever ;-)) the leftover cabosil and 3M microballoons we used to make fairing compound, the Awlgrip High Build and Awlquik primers, all grits of longboard sandpaper and everything else having to do with fairing. We’re done with it. All that’s left to do on this paint job is cover the boat and spray the hull with Awlgrip 545 primer, then sand, cover the boat again and spray “the shiny” Awlcraft 2000 Matterhorn White. What follows are the steps between my installment of final longboarding the fairing compound on the hull and now.
Taped up the backside of the engine room vents
Plastic and tape stick very well to fresh primer
With the aft stateroom windows all freshly painted, it was much easier taping off the windows in preparation for spot priming with awlquik sprayable fairing compound.
Et voila! Awlquik sprayed!
The white areas are the Awlgrip 545 we put on the hull back in 2009. The yellow is the new Awlquik for areas that were still a bit too wavy.
Out came the longboards one last time
We used 220 grit Mirka sandpaper on 36″ boards to do the final fairing sanding. At this point, with a couple of patches to the Sharkskin plastic covering the parts of the boat that are already painted–the cabin top, aft enclosure, and non-skid on the decks–the hull is fair and ready for Awlgrip 545 final primer.
Et voila! Final primed in 545!
She looks very good sprayed all white again.
This weekend, if all goes as planned, we’ll sand the 545 with Mirka Abranet 320 grit, then blow off the dust, pull the dusty old plastic, wash the boat and tent, then cover everything again and spray “the shiny,” as the Chief Boatamalan* painter calls it. I’m off to the boatyard!
Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Final Sanding on the Hull
*Boatamalan: portmanteau indicating highly skilled boat workers of Central American origin. 
1969chriscraftroamer46 