red paint

[jsnaulty]

The time has come to paint my beauty, "anodyne", a 1983 ericson 35-3. Only she isn't so beautiful right now, with her permanently chalked and dinged topsides from spending 25 unwaxed seasons in the chesapeake sun (not with me, the P.O.s). Every time I see a picture of "cordelia" my heart goes pitty-pat. I would like to copy her paint scheme, but my first boat, a tanzer 22 many years ago, was red and turned pink in about 4 seasons. I would like some opinions from those who have used modern red polyurethane paints(I think I'm going the professional route) about red's color fastness nowadays. Or any other painting advice you choose to share. (don't bother trying to tell me to do it myself, I have two knee replacements and I'm not going to spend a lot of time on ladders!). Thanks in advance

steve naulty
1983 E35-3 "Anodyne"
Galesville MD

 

[treilley]

Steve, Cordelia's paint was Dupont Imron. She was already painted when I bought her in 2006. She had been painted in 1997. Modern paints do not generally have the same problems with fading that gelcoat does. And red gelcoat was the worst as it always turned a chalky pink. Cordelia had been built as a custom red Ericson from the factory. I know of no other Ericson that was not the standard light gray. The attached photos are from 2008 after we did a complete detailing:

Imron is, in my opinion, a much better finish than Awlgrip. Awlgrip has a proprietary formula that enables a clear coat to float to the top layer. This clear coat is a protective layer that cannot be buffed. If you buff through this you will damage the underlying paint.

Imron, on the other hand, gets applied as a base coat/clear coat in separate stages which can be buffed and polished.

Folks will argue that Awlgrip is great as long as you keep up with the proprietary maintenance products only available from Awlgrip. But if you happen to scratch it you have no way to repair unless you hire a pro to repaint.

The above photo is the result of many hours of buffing out scratches from the previous owner. Unfortunately some were gouges and we eventually did reapaint the entire boat in 2009. We sold the boat shortly thereafter.

Another thing to note is that Imron is extremely durable. It took 3M Super Duty buffing compound to even begin to bite into the paint.

Cordelia is now in Annapolis so you may see her in the bay. It would be great to have 2 red 35-3s though.

Another thing to consider is having your boat professionally buffed and polished. If you were local I could show you some amazing things that can be done with today's modern buffing compounds. See the attached thread for some great photos:


http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoexchange/showthread.php?t=7567&highlight=helping

 

[Emerald]

I have Awlgrip on Emerald and must agree with Tim. It looks great as long as you use their products and don't scratch it, like we always make perfect docking maneuvers in the wind/tide/wakes etc. If I didn't have automotive painting experience, I'd be hosed on touch up, and then you need a professional connection to buy the product for you. She came with Awlgrip on her, but I'd probably switch to Imron if I was doing her again myself.

 

[jsnaulty]

tim-
I already did the "professional" buff and wax thing- it probably wasn't really professional (since nothing that yard did was) but I couldn't see any difference. Thanks for the advice about paint - I'll have to find someone here that does use that paint, since awlgrip seems to be the drug of choice around the chesapeake. anyone know of a good paint shop in the middle chesapeake?

 

[Emerald]

I think it's kinda wet to do painting in the middle of the Chesapeake, but you might try Generations 3 over in Cambridge

Can't speak to their price compared to competitors, but I can tell you the prep work and outcome on Emerald (done for prior owner) has held up well about 7 years later, even if it is Awlgrip

 

[stm]

Steve, I currently own Cordilla and can tell you that I have had plenty of folks sail up to me in the bay and comment on her beauty. I was also drawn to Tim's hard work restoring her. I spent alot of time this summer keeping the same level of care, and even trying to improve areas.

Having said how beautiful the red hull is, If I had a choice and was going to paint the hull professionally, I would choose to switch to a lighter color, and probably white. I can tell you that to keep the red hull looking good, I was washing off the salt water after every sail. You will see every blemish and water mark. After my first year owning her, I think I would trade the time cleaning the hull with more sailing time. Perhaps I am more anal about it than most, but I just couldn't leave the boat without getting all the saltwater marks off. Just my thoughts. By the way, my last 2 boats had white hulls, and I kept them both up to the level of Cordilla. The dark hulls are considerably more work, although beautiful.

Scott Millington
Cordilla E35-3