Australian Amateur Boat Builder — January 2018

T

he RIG (Rebuild the ‘Independence’ Group)

at American River on Kangaroo Island (SA)

already have the first of their four St Ayles Skiffs

painted, ready for turnover. The actual painting time

was about four hours, from wash down to bright, shiny

hard finish.

We had a good start on a clear blue day, the idea

was that since the Bote-Cote mob’s brilliant Aquacote

paint had never been used before on Kangaroo

Island, it might be a good idea to workshop it with

the program’s team leaders, Grant Millard and David

Hinves.

We got off to a good start by agreeing that the hull

was well prepared for painting.

The sanded Bote-Cote is the perfect undercoat for

Aquacote.

It was blowing pretty strongly, and rain was a slight

possibility. There was quite a bit of dust in the air

when the shed doors were open. We shut them only

a bit.

Our equipment was adequate, the same short nap

rollers that are standard for applying Bote-Cote, a

couple of rags, some reasonably clean baked bean

tins, a couple of small tongue depressor stirring

sticks, some good masking tape and some old rags.

We began by washing the hull to clear away any

major dust particles and to ensure that it had no

previously

unnoticed

epoxy runs

or dings or

coarse sander

scratches

anywhere.

OneScHOONER, tHReeSkIFFS and

tWONORwALk ISLANDS SHARPIES

by robert ayliffe

The old thief, time, runs faster when deadlines approach. Like I’m

running now. Fortunately, the speed with which it’s possible to roller

paint even very big boats with Aquacote paint helps!

The RIG Shed at the Wharf in american River. You can see the

skeleton of the community built ‘Independence’ as she grows

in the shed. You can just see the newly painted St ayles Skiff

Penneshaw in the foreground.

The Bote-Bote

sealed hull, sanded

and washed down

ready for aquacote

painting.