The paint in the master cabin on Snow Goose, Onne van der Wal’s 1986 Grand Banks 32, was cracking and peeling and needed attention.
To get started, Onne hooked up his Festool orbital sander to the vacuum and gave the walls and bulkheads the 180-grit sandpaper treatment. The vacuum took care of most of the dust, but before painting, he used a small battery-operated vacuum to get the dust out of the corners and TotalBoat’s Dewaxer & Surface Prep Solvent Wash to really get things cleaned up.
Onne did a lot of research to find the right paint for the stateroom. He experimented in his workshop and spoke to the guys at the One Stop Building Supply Center in Newport. “I talk to those old geezers who have been there since 1939,” Onne says fondly about the hardware store and its longtime employees. They turned him onto the Whizz roller system and the premium sponge for ultrasmooth surfaces. “l’ve tried other rollers that would leave fluff in the paint,” Onne says, “and this was the best.”
He painted a couple of test areas inside Snow Goose’s head, including one section without primer, but it didn’t work. Everyone told him to use Zinsser’s B-I-N primer, which he did and says “worked like a charm.”
For the topcoat, Onne used Interlux’s Brightside polyurethane paint. “I used it on Snoek and it’s great,” Onne says about the same paint that he on his 1972 Pearson 36 sailboat. “The finish is superb, and it dries quickly. It’s spot on. I’m so happy with the finish.”
You can watch Onne’s DIY video below.
