After the primer had cured overnight, the whole boat was sanded to P120. A few pin holes and low spots were noted. Some epoxy and fairing compound from before was mixed up and sqeegeed on. When these spots had cured the they were sanded to P120. The whole boat was then sanded to P240 as recommended by the paint instructions. All traces of sanding dust or other contaminates were was washed with some thinner on a paper towel.

The paint chosen for the Pearl is a two-component poly-urethane made by Epifanes. Two-component paints are a bit harder to apply but are far more rugged than their single-component siblings (called mono-urethanes). For this brand, the two components were mixed at the following ratio: 2 parts paint to 1 part catalyst. Per the instructions, once mixed the paint is set aside to activate for 30 minutes. It has a potlife of 3-4 hours. Once activated, the paint was thinned 10% with the recommended thinner, remixed and then brushed on with a high-quality badger brush. The brush was cleaned with the same thinner. The paint could have been sprayed but we are not setup to spray the aggressive thinners involved. The two-component systems are pretty mean. We wore latex gloves, long sleeve shirt and an organic respirator for protection.

When cured overnight, the boat was flipped. The deck was painted like the hull. After all the black has been painted, the coaming and the hatch lips will be final sanded and clear coated so the carbon fiber remains visible.

We’ll apply two more coats, sanding between each coat with P400 paper.