Priming the Port Hull

Due to the limited space I have in my driveway, I'm painting one hull at a time.  To prime the surface, I have Interlux Pre-Kote, 333 brushing liquid, a foam roller, and a bunch of foam brushes.

I spent some time yesterday putting the first coat of primer on.  I rubbed down the whole hull with a cloth and some brushing liquid.  This pulled off all the remaining oxidation dust that seemed to cling to hull no matter what I threw at it.  For the first coat, I didn't thin the primer, which in retrospect might have been a good idea.  I used the roller to get all the wide spaces, and the foam brush to get the hard to reach places, such as under the lip of the deck.

After the first coat, the blue color of the hull was still visible under the primer, and it had a distinct uneven cloudy appearance.

This morning, 24 hours after the first application, I sanded down the primer with the orbital sander and 220 grit paper.  One thing I learned quickly is, I should have the sander firmly on the hull before I turn on the power.  If I try and put the spinning sander onto the hull, it tends to rip right through the primer where it first contacts.

Sanding smoothed out all the bumps really well, but also exposed much more of the blue hull underneath.  I wiped down the boat once again with the brushing liquid.

For the second coat of primer, I thinned with about 10% brushing liquid.  What a difference this made.  The primer went on really smooth.  I used the "roll and tip" method of painting.  What this means is that I had the roller in one hand, and a wide foam brush in the other.  I rolled on primer going in various directions.  I then followed by lightly brushing down the primer in a single direction.  (On the sides, this meant from the lip to the bottom.  On the deck, it was from the most recently laid down primer towards the part I'd already done.)  After brushing, it looks like it has a bunch of lines, but it self-levels really well with that brushing liquid in it.  The result was a much more smooth and uniform look.

The only trouble I see is that on the sides, the tops tended to drip a bit long after I'd past, making it a little too firm to knock down a level.  I'll still need to go back and sand the hull of course, and I hope this doesn't present a problem.

I'm actually more worried about preventing this when I paint, but I'll pay close attention as I go.  Here are today's results.  It looks really good, and I haven't even painted it yet.  Sure beats the look of the old hull.