Newbie does everything wrong with surfski he is repairing... what's the next step?

You could dry sand everything
BUT
Undercured products gum up sandpaper quickly. You might be buying sandpaper by the case.
Scrubpads hold alot more gunk than sandpaper or terrycloth.

Styrene would work faster than Lacquer thinner but is harder to find.

Yes, curing GC and water don't get along.
High humidity will also affect most paints. Mostly delaying drying or causing halos. It can speed urethane drying.

At your skill level, I suggest a single part poly urethane.

 

I think you should stop gelcoating while you're only slightly behind.

Paint it.
Use it, scratch it.
Every few years repaint.

 

Re-gel coating is difficult and expensive.

If someone told you there are problems painting over gel coat, then they're a fool, or they lied.

Sand what you have, buy some Rust-Oleum paint (or similar) and roll it on, check you tube for the correct methods.

Don't put more time and money into it than needed.

 

I love it! Better a bitter and useful truth than a sweet but harmful lie. I think you're right. Keep it simple...

Makes sense to me. I'm a newbie and I just want to get on the water.

This may sound like utter minutia, but: when I used a roller to paint the last coat, I got a lot of texturing from the roller. Is there a particular type of roller that doesn't leave much texture? Would a sponge brush or bristle brush be viable?

 

Watch the you tube videos like I mentioned.

 

Will do, thanks again mate!

 

The roller must be 1/4" or lower nap.

The paint must go on thin(ish).

You will always get a wee bit of roller mark. But good paints flow well.

This hull was rolled with Epifanes Polyurethan me two part. Not really any roller marks, but we had some fisheye issues.

this is a catamaran and the other hull was tipped and I felt the tipping marks were more noticeable than the slight orange peel from the roller

 

That's a beaut! May I ask what type of roller you used and what your sanding progression was? What did you use for sanding, random orbit or...? A finish like that would be a dream for one of these beaters I'm fixing up. I'd like to do the same thing for the decks as well.

 

Finish process.

1. Fill n Fair with longboards or torture boards or a good touch with 1/4 sheet sanders after longboarding. This takes a couple weeks.

2. Paint 3 coats of epoxy primer over a 120 grit surface.

3. Sand the entire thing with 180 grit papers, either longboard or light and even touching with sheet sanders. I have an 8" rotary air, but my air was never dry enough to use it.

4. Primer one or two more coats..depends if there is color bleeding from under.

5. Quarter sheet Sand with 220 grit. The sandpaper cuts about 2 ft square before needs changing.

6. Topcoat 2-3 layers of two part poyurethane, again on if any bleedthru. I had marked with black sharpies and they were showing a bit.

7. Quarter sheet Sand with 320 grit entire hull. Again about 2 feet square per sheet.

8. Final coat.

You can also repeat to 400 or 600 grit if you want.

Not included in the i structuons are the extensive cleaning required to make the environment more dust free. Swamping the floors heavily with water before applying any top coats, etc.

 

The best rollers are 3/16" nap mohair for ultra fine finishes. 4-6" is all you need. We used a 7" roller for this boat cuz it is 34' long

 

For you $60 boat, I’d recommend KISS all the way.
Minimal prep, cheap paint and go paddling!
In fact, I’d paddle the boat before painting, just to be sure that it’s going to be worth the work.

 

That is a beautiful final texture/finish! It's amazing how much time that surface area takes! You have functional work of art there. Do you fabricate professionally or was this just a labor of love?

 

My boat build.

Here is a two coat polyurethane two part after sanding today with 320.

I purposely am showing you some defects. A seat goes on the top, so not too worried, but I forgot to tack it off before I painted! To make it perfect would require either more sanding or more paint or both. But this is a riser stand, gets all kinds of abuse...people walk all over it.

 

Bloody good advice there too! This boat is actually a good paddler, nice and stable. Basic paint and I'm taking her out.

(Another boat) I got the "Deal of a lifetime" on a surfski recently... beautiful boat. Also designed with fixed foot wells/pedals for someone 6" shorter than I am... so my next project is going to be cutting out part of the bucket and making it longer. One example of a time I should've paddled a boat BEFORE I bought it. This one has a great finish, just too small.

 

Takes a close look to see any imperfection there. Looks good! I see your shop door has insulation on it, is it climate controlled?