Oooh, Shiny!

August 23 was the fifth anniversary of my dad's death.  He was an engineer and a materials expert, fascinated by new gadgets and processes.  Somehow it seemed very fitting to me that that day was also the day we got 4 coats of the wonderful copper-epoxy bottom paint we've been so excited to try.  I don't know whether he would have thought the concept of adding copper powder to epoxy to repel barnacles and other marine growth brilliant or wacky, but I'm sure he would have had an opinion!

First they added powdered copper to two-part epoxy and mixed it up, then rolled it onto the hull.

The first coat went on frighteningly thin, but by mid-day, there were 4 coats of paint and we gleamed like a new penny.

Oooh, shiny!

The instructions were emphatic that we had to make sure the paint was DRY for 48 hours, no rain in the forecast.  Thursday and Friday were perfect for this, perfect 82-degree temps and low humidity, just what a summer day should be.  But the forecast for Saturday was uncertain and the forecast for Sunday was downright scary.  The paint crew decided to protect us using shrinkwrap plastic to keep the potential rain off.

Protected - high and dry!

Talk about timing: at 49-1/2 hours after painting was completed, the rain started.  We were mighty glad for that plastic tent protecting us below the waterline!  (Yes, I know, there's a crazy discontinuity there, as the parts of our boat normally above water in the ocean got wet, while the parts normally below water stayed dry.  Whatever.)  By Monday morning, parts of eastern Maryland had gotten more rain than hurricane Isaac had dumped on southern Florida over the same time period!  They still need to move the jackstands and paint the parts of the hull that they couldn't reach with the stands in place.  Then finally, finally, FINALLY, we're back in the water.