Spring to Action

I haven't been able to turn my full attention to the rudder build yet (22" of new snow and Mad River Glen was begging to be skied), but I'm starting to gather momentum.  Another 5" last night did not help with motivation for my more liquid pursuits, but now that it's officially spring I think it's time to put the skis away (well, mostly).

A few nights back I epoxied the 2 halves together.  I mixed up a batch of unthickened epoxy and coated both halves and the channels I cut for the drift bolts.  I let that soak in a bit and then mixed up a set 3/8" PEX tubing (waxed with butchers paste) into the channels on one of the halves.  Then I mixed up a slightly thickened batch (Aerosil) and troweled in on with a 1/8" notched spreader.  Carefully I stuck the 2 halves together and screwed it together with sheet rock screws and fender washers.   I pulled the tubing the next morning and then let the whole thing cure for a few days before pulling the sheet rock screws.

Next I set up the saw horses outside and took the belt sander to the trailing edge to get a bit of a foil shape. I'm really not performance oriented so I didn't go crazy with the shaping.  If I cared about eeking out every bit of speed I could, I would have gone all NACA on the rudder.  Of course, if speed really mattered to me I probably wouldn't be fixing up a beat up old Alberg.  The nice thing about plywood (especially good marine plywood) is that the plys act as a really nice visual fairing guide when trying to shape something.

Yesterday afternoon I had a bit of time so I bolted on the lower part of the shaft to the rudder and my son and I went over to the boat for a partial test fitting.  I say partial because I didn't fit the top half of the shaft but plan on doing that this weekend.  Yesterday was more of a sanity check to make sure I was on the right track. Fortunately, I was and didn't see any major adjustments in shape that will have to be made.  This weekend's full test fit will show me what final adjustments will need to be made before I glass the whole thing up.

Rubstrake-y-ness

I got back to work on the rubstrake and caprail this week.  I started out by turning most of a big, expensive board into sawdust by planing it down from it's initial 1" x 13" into 6 - 1/2"  by 2" strips with the help of my son.  The cats now have some very fancy Sapelle shavings for their cat litter.  I'm sure they appreciate it.

The plan for the rubstrake was to screw each of the 6 pieces into the side of the caprail (see July 25th post) and plane down the top of each so they are flush with the caprail.  First I had to work out the bow section which needed to have an 'end cap' put on so the rubstrake boards could fit into.  I guess I didn't pay attention when I originally cut the caprail boards, but the bow section didn't quite reach the forward most part of the bow.  Because of this, the
'end caps' became more complicated than I would have liked.  To solve this for each side of the bow (separated by the headstay chainplate), I laminated 2 - 1" pieces of Sapelle to form a 2" x 2" square.  When they had cured I shaped them down to account for the short part of the caprail and wrap around the bow so it could be shaped once epoxied and screwed into place.  I also notched each block to accommodate the 1/2" rubstrake coming in on the side (see photos above).   In hindsight, I should have oriented the grain of the blocks to run fore and aft, but now that it's done I'll just have to live with it.

Next, with the exception of the bow and stern pieces (which I left at full length to cut off later once the transom rubstrake was fitted) I cut 45 degree angles longitudinally on each of the 6 rubstrake strips so when they were installed, the strip aft would notch into the forward piece snugly.  I did a rough fit by tapping and countersinking screws 8" on center while I had my kids hold the strip to the curve of the caprail.  At this point the strips were anywhere from 1/8" to 1/4" proud of the caprail depending on where they were mounted (the forward sections along the bow curve inward more than midships), so I took a block plane and cut them down so each strip was roughly flush with the caprail.

 Being just a rough fitting, I still had to pull all the strips off and clean them up by running a roundover bit with the router along the bottom edge and sand them to 150 grit.  As with many things on this job, you get to a point where you build things up and then you have to tear it all down again to prepare for the final installation. The weather has been about perfect the past week or so (mid 70s and dry) so I clamped a big board to the tailgate of my truck and did the routing and sanding outside.

Before I could proceed further on the side pieces I had to get the transom piece in place so I could determine where to cut off the aftermost strip on the stern.  I channeled my inner cheapskate and coupled that with a healthy fear of trying to bend a board around my decidedly round transom and decided to laminate a bunch of strips together to form the transom rubstrake.  I just could see wasting a 10" board for this section when I had a lot of narrow pieces that would form a nice curve and would do the job just as well.  So I rummaged around the floor of shed and found the original  transom rubstrake and screwed it onto a flat piece of plywood to use as a form.  From my narrow stock I cut a bunch of 1/2" strips about 65" long and mixed up a batch of unthickened epoxy and laminated them all together and clamped them to the form.  The one mistake I made was using a piece of really thin plastic to put down on the plywood so the laminated piece would stick.  It bunched up like crazy and I subjected my wife and kids to special words normally reserved for conversations on the dock with commercial fisherman.  I should have used a piece of thicker plastic (7 mil shrink wrap has worked well for me in the past), but I eventually flattened it out well enough to get the lamination set.  After it cured I planed it down to 3/8" and brought it over to the boat and got it properly fit and the top planed flush with the caprail.  I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.

For the final installation, I decided that I would run a bead of epoxy along the caprail to glue the rubstrake on (along with the screws) and then run a bigger bead of SikaFlex just below that along the hull-deck joint to prevent water intrusion.  This is where the epoxy cartridges with the static mixers pay for themselves.  They are very neat and allow you to really target specific areas for epoxy and you don't have to worry about batches kicking too early or that the mix you prepared will drip and run over everything.  Your guaranteed of a consistent mayo like consistency that will stay put until your ready.

With that said, once I ran the epoxy and SikaFlex beads, I enlisted my whole family to help because I didn't want any sticky mistakes and having several extra hands always comes in handy.  I stared at the bow with my wife or one of the kids holding the aft end of the strip and  mushed the forward end onto the caprail and got a screw in before seating the rest of the strip.  I slowly worked aft seating and screwing the strip onto the caprail and allowing a generous squeezeout of epoxy on the top to fill and mask any gaps between the strip and caprail.

With all the preparation beforehand (pre-tapping and getting everything properly fitted prior to epoxy), the whole process was uneventful and just took time and care.  We did the starboard side one day and the port the next.  Now I'll let it all cure up and then start cleaning up the glue lines and do the final roundover on the top of the rubstrake.  I was overly curious and decided to do a little shaping on the starboard side bow to see how the blocks I added forward will look.  It's not perfect; there's a bit of a gap where the rubstrake meets the caprail on that section, but I'm pretty pleased given the fact that that area turns hard under to accommodate the sweep of the bow and the initial planing of the caprail was not easy.

Slight Change of Plans

New caprail plan

In the last post I talked about how the caprail and rubstrake would fit together differently than the original design (see here).  I had planned on nesting the rubstrake underneath the caprail and screw it in from the top.  Joel (A35 #52 out in Washington state) had originally turned me on to the idea and I thought it was a better solution than the original layout. Well, as it turns out, I will be installing the caprail using the same design as the original despite my plan.

The problem I ran into was that I just didn't have enough width on the top board to allow for the rubstrake to be nested underneath and screwed from the top.  I cut the top board slightly too narrow and my plan for a 5/8" width rubstrake just wasn't going to work.  I think I may have been able to pull it off, but I only had enough width for a 3/16" rubstrake and that would have been pretty tough to screw into.  I knew that this was a possibility as soon as I cut the top boards for the caprail, but it wasn't until I had everything in place that I was able to come to terms with it.  Oh well, not the best solution, but since the original had lasted 45 years, I can make it work again.

Unfortunately, this change necessitates a lot of planing along the outboard edge of the caprail at a continuously changing angle so it is slow going.  I setup some staging so I could work at eye level and take most of the excess wood off with a power planer and then finish it up with a jack followed by a block plane.  I'm sure OSHA would have a field day with my rickety setup, but I haven't fallen yet.  After about 1.5 hours of work I've finished up about half of the port side and the first 4 feet or so of the starboard bow where the angle is the greatest.  With any luck (and some minor familial neglect), I can have both sides prepped and ready for the rubstrake by weeks end.

Ooooh Pretty!

I haven't had much time this past week, but the temperature is beginning to cooperate a little bit more so I was able to start practicing my very rusty varnishing skills on our sun porch.  I'm using Epifanes Wood Finish Gloss for the first few coats because it allows no sanding between applications.  I'm probably going to do 3 coats before I mount these pieces and then do the rest of the coats in place once I plug the screw/bolt holes.  I was just anxious to see something look nice and varnish-y for a change.  Of course after 1 coat there is virtually no gloss because I thinned to 50% so the wood would get a good soaking prior to beginning to build.  I'll do 25% thinner for the next few coats and see how that works and then I'll play it by ear.  The final 2 coats I'll use Epifanes Clear Varnish (the standard varnish) because I'm told it's a bit harder for protection.


I also glued up 2 of the 4 scarfs in the cap rails with a mixture of epoxy and wood dust.  I've been carefully saving all the fine dust from some of my cutting operations so I would have a filler that matched the wood.
At some point this week, I'll get the other 2 glued up and hopefully make some more progress on the cap rail installation this weekend.  I'm still haven't fully decided my approach (see "I Haven't Screwed up the Caprail Yet!" post for more details).

Too Cold for Glue

As much as I want to move forward with the caprail, the weather has not been cooperating and the cold is keeping me from epoxying the scarf joints (12 degrees F is not optimal if you want epoxy to cure). So I'm out of luck until things warm up.  Fortunately, I have plenty of other, smaller things to do so I moved to my basement shop where the weather is much better.

The companionway has been one of the sections I haven't done anything with since I took it apart 3 years ago, so I figured it was time to get crackin.  I started by sanding down the hatch and filled the many gouges and dings with epoxy and set it aside to cure in the shop.  Once I sand and fair the hatch, I'll prime and paint with PrimeKote and Perfection, followed by Kiwigrip for the non-skid.  I'll need to do the same for the 2 lazarette hatches and the icebox lid, but decided to move on to more appealing projects that involve wood (if given a choice, I always choose wood projects over frozen snot).

I decided to get started on the companionway woodwork that is in need of total replacement because the old wood is pretty much a rotten mess.  I saved every piece regardless of its state so I could copy the pieces when the time came; that time is now.  I also took a bunch of photos when dismantling because there are a lot of strangely shaped parts and piecing them back together without a photo guide would prove difficult. I chose to start with the companionway threshold because everything is built off of it.  I epoxied 2 pieces of sapele up to get the required rough dimensions, clamped it and let it cure overnight.

The next day, I took closer measurements and cut the piece to proper size.  There were several odd bevel angles and an inset rabbet cut that I partially completed with a blind cut on the table saw and finished up with a chisel in the corners.  I was pretty happy when I took it over to the boat for a test fit and found that it fit like a glove and looked nice.

There is alot more to do on the companionway, but I'm chipping away.  Most of the other pieces will be reasonably simple and don't have the angles and odd cuts that this piece did.

Cockpit Time

Another busy weekend kept me away from much boat work, but I did manage to get a few things done.  I got another coat of primer on the cabin top and sides and the cockpit one step closer to primer.  I also started building the mast for the dinghy here.

I cleaned up the soft spot I had found on the bridge deck at the end of last week by pulling all the bad core out and sanding down the inner skin.  Next I ground a 2" bevel around the edges to tie the new with the old and epoxied in a new balsa core and the first of 5 layers of biaxial cloth.  The next day I glued in the remaining 4 layers to bring the new surface close to the level of the old.

5 layers is probably overkill, but the deck was thicker here and I decided that it would be easier to add additional cloth to fill the section up to the level of the old deck rather than use a ton of fairing compound to get the same result.  I finished it off by adding a much smaller amount of fairing compound to the section as well as filling all the leftover fastener holes throughout the cockpit.

Cleaned up and ready for new core.  Note the old core on the right hand side.  This was still in good shape so I left it in place rather than trying to rip it up.

5 layers of biaxial in place.  This left very minor low spots for fairing compound.

Fairing compound in place.  I'll probably need another touch up layer once I sand this one down.

That Stripper is Awesome

The paint stripper that is....

It is however really messy and the cleanup takes almost as long as just sanding.  The good thing is that it doesn't score up the surface and gets into corners that I really couldn't have reached easily with a sander.  This stripper (Peel Away) had been sitting in my basement for years (~10) and I wasn't sure if it still worked or not.  It certainly did!

I'm not really up on the latest chemical stripper news but when I first bought this stuff long ago, it was one of the first 'environmentally friendly' strippers out there.  I think it's soy based but I don't know because the label has long since worn off.  In any event, another cool thing that it uses is a paper backing that you adhere to the gel once it is applied (maybe they all do this now).  This serves 2 purposes; the first is that it keeps the stripping gel from drying out so it works longer.  The second is that when you peel it off all the paint is supposed to stick to the paper.  It sort of works, but doesn't get all of the paint off and certainly a lot of the gel is left behind on the surface.  This is where I spent my time.  Most of the paint does indeed loosen up on the surface your stripping, but removing it along with the leftover gel is just a really messy proposition.

So, armed with a garbage bag, a carbide scraper, and a set of cabinet scrapers I set to work getting it all cleaned up.  At first it didn't seem all that bad, and it was kind of satisfying seeing big sheets of paint come off, but after I'd been on my knees in the cockpit covered in the stuff for an hour it gets old.  Couple that with the boatshed temperature approaching the high 90's it gets old.  Mmmmm, fun.  Anyway, it was a job that I was dreading and it's done now.  I finished up with a bucket of hot water and washed everything down to get the residue off.

As I was finishing up, I stepped on part of the bridge deck that I normally reserve for the shop vac and felt something bad.  Further inspection revealed that a 2 foot section of the port side bridge deck was at the very least delaminated, but I suspected worse (wet core).  I drilled out a few test holes and sure enough, the core was completely soaked in that area (&*#^!@$ CRAP).  I really don't know why it was wet there, because there aren't any through holes other than an icebox access hatch that the previous owner had installed.  The only other spot water could possibly have gotten in was a small spot where the boom crutch has supported the boom for years.  Over time it had worn away the paint and had gotten into the roving (visible).  I didn't think that it had gotten all the way through the skin though.

Finding this was a complete kick in the nuts and I wanted to cry.  I thought I was done with core repairs and actually had hopes of getting the cockpit primed this weekend.  I threw myself a full on pity party and went back to the house for dinner.  I need to apologize to Steph and the kids because she had made a really nice dinner and we ate out on the deck, but I was in a foul mood so I don't think there was much merriment.

During dinner I resigned myself to the fact that there was more core work to do and it wasn't going to get done unless I did it. So after eating, I went back over to the boatshed with the cordless circular saw and my dremel multimax (poor man's Fein) and cut out the offending area.  Today, I'll clean up the bottom skin, grind the bevels, and epoxy in a new core.  With any luck, I'll be able to get 3 new layers of biax on over the weekend.  It's a setback for sure, but in reality it isn't a big deal considering what I've already done to this boat. 

After Burner

This week was just too hot to get much done after coming home from my real job so I wasn't able to complete any single task until today.  Fortunately, it was a bit cooler today and I was able to knock a bunch of things of the list.

I don't know why I didn't do this years ago when I first started (yep, it's been years now), but I finally tackled the removal of the mainsheet traveler.  When I pulled all the hardware off the decks way back in January of some distant past year, I think I assumed that the traveler would be a bear to tackle and just left it because it wasn't really in the way and I didn't plan on doing anything to it.  It became clear the other night as I was beginning to sand around the base that it would have to come off for paint or the job would look sloppy.  So armed with my best contortionist posture and a 10mm socket I hung myself upside down in the rear hatch.  It turned out to be really easy though and I had it off in less than 20 minutes and I didn't loose a single nut to the ever hungry bilge monster.

With that out of the way I was able to finish up sanding around that section and the rest of the bulwark/deck interface as well as the interface around the rear hatch.  There are lots of weird corners and curves that need to be sanded here so it took a fair amount of time.  Then I moved on and hit the top of the bulwark where I had filled all the holes for the old caprail.  I know the picture below looks pretty much the same as the first one, but it is a lot smoother.



By this time is was getting late but I decided to throw down some System Three QuickFair around the edges and a few low spots.  As well as I had sanded the bulwark/deck interface, there was still a little roughness to the touch and I had heard good things about QuickFair.  It's a light 2 part epoxy fairing compound that you mix up on a board (2:1 ratio) and spread it on.  System Three touts that it is sandable in as little as 3 hours so you can get a lot done without the usual multi-day wait time.

Anyway, after wiping the whole aft deck down, I mixed up about a 1/2 cup total on a board and started spreading.  I like it, it is REALLY smooth and spreads very evenly.  I think if I had to do this whole thing over again and I had lots more money (it isn't cheap), I would do more of the fairing with this stuff.  I finished up just as it was getting dark and think I got most of the low spots and ran a full bead around the perimeter at the bulwark/deck interface.  I started out with a spreader cut to the approximate radius of the corner, but ended up using my finger for most of it.  It just seemed to work better that way.  I should have worn gloves, but by the time I was deep into it I didn't want to risk having the stuff kick while I was down below gloving up.  Hopefully it will sand as well as they say it will; I'll be at it tomorrow.

Real Progress

Bulwark primed.

Not that I wasn't making progress before, but now it feels like I'm really rolling. I was finally able to lay down the first coat of Primekote epoxy primer on the decks forward of the cockpit this weekend.  I'd been putting it off for a few weeks now because I always managed to find another area to sand, but I finally said enough and went to it.

The temps this week have been nasty for New Hampshire; mid 90's and humid so I decided to do the job as early as possible so I could get out of the boatshed before it turned into a furnace.  Even if I could take the ridiculous temperatures in the shed anytime after 10 am, the sweat that literally pours off me would certainly ruin any finish so I started at 5 am, just after sunrise.

I did it in 2 parts, the first morning I painted the bulkwark sides and top (under where the caprail will go).  I used a 2" high density foam roller that was a perfect fit for the job.  First I wiped down the entire bulwark forward of the cockpit with 2333N brushing thinner and then mixed up 10oz total of the Primekote.  Then I rolled and tipped it off starting at the bow and then working back on each rail.  All told (with the 20 minute induction time) it took about 2 hours.  Everything went according to plan and I didn't sit in any paint or dump the bucket in my lap (this has happened to me before).  I left for the day and let it bake.

Looks good to me.

At 5 am this morning I set out to tackle the fore deck and side decks forward of the cockpit.  Same procedure as the day before but a bigger area and more paint (25oz total including 20% 2333N brushing thinner).  Everything went well with job as well, but I needed to change out the roller half way through because it was showing signs of coming apart.  This time I used a 7" high density roller though.  The only other glitch was that toward the end I was running very low on paint and had to stretch the last few feet (I worked from the starboard aft side forward, onto the fore deck, and then down the port side working aft).

I'm really happy with the results. There were no surprises as far as unexpected 'un-fair' areas.  There are a few areas that still need a bit of additional fairing, but I knew that going into priming.  I wanted to get a more uniform color on the decks so I could better see some of the areas that were still a bit lumpy.  I ordered a 1.5 quart kit of System Three Quickfair for this purpose.  It should be here sometime midweek.  Once that arrives I'll be able to do a final spot treatment for any undesirable areas left on the fore and side decks.

In the meantime I get to get started on the cockpit area aft.  Lots to do in the cockpit and a bit more fairing on the aft deck and areas adjacent to the cockpit.  I have no shortage of work ahead of me, but this was a big milestone.

Very shiny and still wet.  I had to jump off the back of the boat to exit.

In the lower right side of the photo, you can see an area that will need some additional fairing.

Not a great shot, but it all looks pretty clean at least. 

Houston We Have A Problem

Not too bad but yet another thing that has to get put on the list of 'to-dos'.  After getting the first primer coat on the cabintop I moved onto getting the decks ready for primer.  I sanded the side decks back to the cockpit and then decided that it was time to remove the port caprail.  I had been putting it off because until now it wasn't in the way, but I'm actually getting close to painting this beast so I got to it.

Like the starboard side, I had to use a hacksaw to cut the 5 inch bolts holding on the genoa track.  Time consuming and mind numbing, but not difficult.  After that I needed to do the same to the for and aft chocks; again, not hard, just tedious.  Finally I moved onto the 50 or so screws holding the caprail onto the bulwark. For some reason, I actually enjoyed this task.  I have to use a chisel to split the wood bung covering the screw, and then use my big screwdriver to back it out.  Not one gave me a problem and even though it took over an hour, I felt like progress is progress.  Every screw I remove is one less I'll need to do later.

Finally it came time to get the caprail off.  Using my japenese pull saw, I cut it into 3 sections and started to pry it up.  On the starboard side, it took a little bit of force to loosen it up, but once it broke free it was a breeze.  Unfortunately, the forward 10 feet wouldn't budge on the port side.  I tried chisels, screwdrivers, hammers, etc... but the only thing I succeeded in doing was actually pulling the gelcoat off the bulwark where it did finally give way.

Upon closer inspection from the outboard side, I could see some mahogany colored 5200 (or something of that ilk) under the rail and extending down over the hull-deck joint.  Not good.  It looked as if there was some previous damage done to the boat that necessitated a goopy patch over the hull-deck joint and under the caprail.

I couldn't tell the extent of damage until I got the caprail off but I couldn't get it off... what to do?  I finally resorted to using my power planer and decided to just turn the whole section into wood chips.   It only took about 10 minutes to buzz the whole section off and I made the whole boat shed smell like fresh cut wood. Mmmmm!

Messy, Messy!

What I found underneath was a bit perplexing.  It's hard to tell if there was previous damage to the area.  The top of the bulwark is a bit banged up but that could have been caused by me trying to pull the caprail off  and the tenacity of the 5200 pulled up the glass in that area.  However, the laminate thickness of the bulwark in that section is really thin (~3/16" instead of 1/2" on rest of bulwark).  It may be that the original layup was not good in that section and the builders 'fixed' it by putting a few stainless sheet metal screws into the bulwark and injecting a crap load of 5200 into the area to keep the joint intact.  Or maybe it's a combination of the 2; the thinner laminate was weaker and if the boat was in some sort of collision it popped the hull-deck joint and somebody repaired it.

In any event, it's not anything I can't fix, but it will take time.  My plan is to clean up the joint as well as I can and inject epoxy into the bulwark void to tie the joint together.  Another thing to do; Oh well.

Once I got past that let down, I sanded the top of the entire bulwark around the boat and filled all the screw holes with thickened epoxy. Once it cures, I'll sand it down and it should be ready for a coat of primer (after I do the epoxy injection of course).

Bulwark sanded and holes filled

Just about ready for primer

When You Give a Pig a Pancake ...

Getting to the actual task of painting (or priming in my case) seems like I am firmly part of the children's book by Laura Numeroff.  I start on one small task and it leads to another, and another, and another, until I am so far away from the original task that it makes my head spin.  So when I walked over to the boatshed this morning thinking I'd have the cabintop primed by 9:00 I should have known better.

When I started, I was going to mix up the paint right away and use the 20 minute induction time to wipe down the cabintop.  Instead, I decided that I'd give a quick once over with the 100 grit to make sure everything was perfect. Well, that led to me finding some silicon that was still on the window frames so I had to dig out a razor to cut it off and then sand that down.  Then I decided that I would re-sand the area where the deck meets the cabintop to make sure that was smooth.   In the end I spent 2.5 hours doing prep work that I thought was already done.  Oh well.

When it came time to mix up the Primekote things up it went pretty smoothly though.  I had practiced on the dinghy the day before to get a feel for how this stuff behaves.  I decided to use the same amount I used on the dinghy to make things easy.  I had a fair amount left over when I finished the dinghy and I thought it would be about the right amount for the cabintop.  

Measuring this stuff by volume is a bit dicey since the paint part is like putty, so I poured 5 oz of catalyst (liquid) into a quart container and then glopped (technical term) in the paint part until the total volume was at 20 oz (3:1 ratio).  Then I mixed it up and let it stew for 20 minutes (induction time) while I wiped the top down with 2333N.  I should note that Interlux recommends using Solvent Wash 202 for the wipe down, but I didn't have any and based on many other's accounts, I went with the 2333N.  It has many of the same ingredients according to the MSDS sheet and its only purpose is to get any remaining dust/debris/wax off the area to be painted.

After the 20 minute induction period was up and I had wiped everything down, I added 5 oz of 2333N Brushing Thinner, mixed it to an even consistency. I started on the top aft section of the cabintop and worked my way aft on top.  I'd pour a bit out and then roller it in all directions spreading it evenly in roughly a 2x2 foot area.  Once satisfied that it was uniform, I tipped it out with a brush to knock down any bubbles that may have formed while rolling it out.  One thing I forgot to do before starting was to tape off the mahogany trim on the hatch opening.  I ended up getting a bunch of paint on it and will need to sand it all off and re-varnish (eventually).  

Crappy Roller

Once I finished up with the top sections I poured the remaining paint into a roller tray and loaded the roller in the tray to do the side sections.  I used a 7" high density foam roller from Lowes for all the work today.  One thing I learned yesterday from the dinghy project is that not all marine grade rollers work very well.  The one I had for the dinghy (Seachoice High Density) fell apart long before I was finished and I had to do the last sections with a brush only.  The cheapo's from Lowes worked well and never left any chunks of debris in the paint as I rolled.  One thing that is a must is to use a full face respirator with organic vapor cartridges.  At one point while painting I pulled off the mask to scratch my nose and I couldn't believe how bad this stuff smells.  There is no question that exposure to this stuff is really bad.

All in all I'm pretty happy with the first pass.  It's not perfect by any means but it's a start and I think I'll be able to refine my technique as I go along.  Also, now that the cabintop is fairly uniform in color, I can really see any high and low spots from my work so I'll be able to do a surface fairing after I sand the primer.  Then I'll get at least one more coat of primer before real paint, but that's a long way off.

Just the cabintop is primed, decks await.