Fairing and Priming the Hull of Lou’s V-Bottom Skiff

Louis Sauzedde from Tips from a Shipwright is getting close to finishing up his V-Bottom skiff wooden boat build. In today’s video of the week, Lou gets the hull prepped and primed. He begins by planing the hull first to smooth the high spots that are found near the steeple grain to get the seams even. A little elbow grease and fairing compound have his latest hull ready for paint with little effort on Lou’s part.

Lou mixes together one of his favorite TotalBoat products, TotalFair Fairing Compound and fills all the screw holes and any remaining standing grain on the hull. He chooses TotalFair because it is user-friendly with its blue and yellow 1:1 components, it sets up quickly, and sands easily. Lou comes back the next day to sand it smooth in preparation for the primer coat. He gets started with TotalProtect Epoxy Barrier Coat Primer starting at the transom, and makes his way around the sides of the boat, rolling it on in two-foot sections at a time to get it complete. (Note – we strongly recommend wearing PPE when applying TotalProtect – specifically a respirator for vapors – and changing your roller often. You can see when Lou’s foam roller is beginning to degrade and fall apart. Change your roller before this happens!)

It is great to see the boat coming together with a coat of paint on it! Be sure to give the video a like and follow Tips from a Shipwright on YouTube for an array of tips and tricks for traditional wooden boat building and woodworking! Enjoy! ⛵

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