First Finish Coat

I rolled the first finish coat today. It takes a long time to clean and prepare the deck, so I wasn't able to get it ready yesterday in time to roll before it got dark -- it takes a couple hours of crawling over the deck to vacuum, wash with a sponge and towel, then wipe down with solvent. I'd hoped to roll 2 coats today, but wasn't able to start mixing until around 1100, and didn't finished rolling until after 1400 -- it takes a long to to roll it too -- and you need to wait around 6 hours before you can re-coat. And now I'm exhausted again. If I catch my second wind, I'll try to clean and re-prime the cockpit this afternoon, but am not sure I'll make it.

The finish coat didn't go on as well as I would have liked, but I have to admit, it's looking better and better as it cures. I guess the stuff continues to settle and even out for a long period of time. Some places look perfect, and others not so good, but even those are looking better and better. When I was crawling on all fours on top of the coachroof and under the cover and the support lines trying to finish the last section without touching anything I'd already painted, I was ready to just take off the whole cover for good and risk it.

It's going to rain tonight and tomorrow, but after that, we should have a few good days. I may just take it off and use the cover as a tarp if it does rain. I can't really do much when it rains anyway, so it really won't make much of a difference. I may keep the superstructure in place over the cockpit area for the time being, but at least I can stand up back there. I just can't keep crawling around -- my knees are shot.

The instructions on the paint say that you should avoid direct sunlight while applying it, but maybe I can figure something out. In any event, the cover's got to go. It's driving me nuts.