Deck and bilges

[Sofus]

Thanks to a previous advice I have now finished laying Coelan on my decks. It turned out to be a hair raising experience as the wind constantly decided to offer autumn leaves as an additional ingredient. However, I have now finished the 6th layer and the final (silk matt) will be put on tomorrow. It looks pretty good. I selected the red primer, and after a lot of sanding and chaulking, it turned out to be a good choise. It remains to be seen how it will behave under the strong French sun next summer but I am quite confident.

My next project will be the bilges and the space below decks. As my boat is a traditional Briton "misanier" it does not have much space below decks. In fact, some areas are inaccessible (unless I remove the engine which I will not at this stage). The "interior" has been treated with a substance based on some kind of oil containing what seems to be tar. I have painted what I can get to with International Yacht primer and Danboline. What shall I use (if anything) in the areas I can hardly reach? It is possible to spray paint (or whatever) in the far away corners/areas, and the Coelan people recommend that the decks should be painted on the underside to prevent vapour/humidity to get out from below. Is this a good idea? Should I spray the below decks space with paint or some kind of oil? What do you old salts recommend?

Regards,

Sofus

 

[roly_voya]

Why use anything? if the boat is sufficently ventilated to keep timbers reasonably dry wood will not rot and all painting will do is keep any wet in. If its we enough to rot no amount of paint will help. Pain on the outside is there to protect from the sun but on the inside is just cosmetic

 

[Mirelle]

Well, I think that Danboline is good stuff. It has the advantage of being quite glossy so it can be kept cleaner than some other bilge paints which dry to a matt finish.

You may find the tar coming through - don't worry about this.

There are always odd corners that cannot be reached - hardly anyone even attempts to paint behind the beam shelf, for instance. Boats never seem to rot under the engine - whether this is because of the preservative qualities of engine oil, or, more probably, because the engine is usually installed adjacent to the lowest part of the bilge. which remains wet with salt water, I don't know.

I think you have done the right thing.