Paint recommendations for hard dinghy

[Davidasailor26]

My Dyer Dhow restoration ( Got a new sailing dinghy ) is getting close to the point where I can think about painting the inside of the hull, topsides, and bottom. Wondering what people recommend for these. Some of the considerations I’ve been thinking about are:

- Bottom paint: I can take the boat out of the water often enough that fouling shouldn’t be a big issue. It’ll be immersed long enough that I can’t just use the topside paint, and on the hard long enough that I need something reasonably UV stable. Also want something that doesn’t slough off too much when it’s being handled and can tolerate being put back in the water after being out for a while.

- Inside of the hull: There’s still some well-adhered remnants of whatever paint was used before, and it’s in the weave of the fiberglass hull, so I want something that can be painted over an existing layer of paint.

- Inside and topsides: The boat is very flexible. I’m sure any paint will eventually suffer as a result, but it would be nice to have something that’s not too hard and can accommodate some amount of flex for a while.

Does anyone have any good experience in situations like the above that they can recommend?

 

[njlarry]

Most economical is regular Rustoleum available in small quanities at any hardware store. Easy to apply and durable, it would be a good choice if you like the color choices. They also make specific topside paint which is easier to find online.

 

[capta]

I would use any quality MARINE topside paint on a glass dink. Save a tiny bit of your big boat's bottom paint for the dinghy. I would not recommend you "cheap out' on the job with hardware store paints, as the dink will take even more punishment that the big boat. If you have no floor boards, definitely use nonskid inside where you walk.
The key to the paint sticking and lasting for years is preparation, preparation, preparation. Skip on that step and no paint will stick well or last long.

 

[DianaOfBurlington]

I have an Opti pram as a hard dinghy and I’m mending its damaged spots in gelcoat just for the considerations you mention, David. The boat itself is done in Brightside but as you suspect that won’t do for anything too often immersed like the dinghy. I’ll do the bottom with the same Seahawk Cukote the boat gets (so that it matches ).

 

[Davidasailor26]

Thanks all for the ideas. I’ve looked at Brightside a little and that’s a possibility. Also looking at TotalBoat WetEdge, which advertises some flexibility that Interlux doesn’t mention. Don’t know if that actually means it’s more flexible though or if they just market it that way.

 

[william24424]

I cleaned, sanded, then acetoned for prep. Then applied Rustoleum marine primer followed by Rustoleum topsides marine..and total boat nonskid for nonskid areas...and am pleased with results, Should work well for a dinghy. Good luck.