Ooooh, painting with neurotoxins...

Mack went out of town for a couple of weeks for a big vacation with his friend and left me at home alone. While the Captain's away, the first mate will paint. I didn't want to start a painting project if the boat was going to be in commission because I decided to use an epoxy-based paint, the loved/hated Bilgekote, that takes a couple of weeks to fully cure. And is stinky and toxic and probably about to be banned by the EPA.

Our cabinets were in pretty terrible shape when we got Kenutu. The paint was coming off in huge flecks, leaving exposed fiberglass in big patches and seasoning our dishes with paint dust. Also, the paint that was initially used was a brown color that made it impossible for this blind lady to see inside them to find anything. 

I did a little research about the prep, which involved scraping, sanding with 80 and then 220, vacuuming, and wiping down with acetone. Then I talked myself into the joys of respiratory issues and got to work. 

The cabinets were small and cramped, and some had tubes and wires running through them which made professional grade sanding and scraping impossible. Also, I'm not a professional. I managed to get the salon and galley cabinets and the anchor locker prepped before asking myself why I was doing this. At one point, I was laying across the countertop and the sink to scrape the inside of the galley cabinet with my left hand, which may as well be a stump it's so weak. 

Once the prep was done, I popped open a quart of Bilgekote, opened every window and porthole on the boat, threw on some gloves and a mask, and told myself to be careful because this paint is serious. I laid down one coat, gave it a day to dry (with a humidifier running overnight, which I think helped a ton), then went back for seconds.

​I love Bilgekote, even if it did start to give me neurological problems while I was painting inside the anchor locker. It covered beautifully and made the cabinets so bright inside. Hopefully my prep was good enough that it won't start flaking off anytime soon because I never want to do this again. Ever.

I still need to do the storage area behind the dinette and the cabinet in the Pullman berth and in the head, and someday, I'd like to paint the inside of the cockpit lazarettes, but for now, we're just going to enjoy these and let my lungs and brain recover.