Gotta Do Some Painting?

For a few years now, I've been under the impression that by free-handing my brush, I could more efficiently deal with repainting Betty Jane's window frames.

I mean, who wants to waste a lot of time applying preparatory varnishing tape to the outsides of the frames?

And, perhaps even more significantly, who wants to waste even more time applying even more varnishing tape to the insides of the frames? Why not cut to the chase and merely combine the use of a steady eye and a steady hand to get the job done? And just skip the sticky, blowin'-in-the-wind, pain-in-the-neck tape?

Well, I've just discovered a big reason to go with tape and skip the steady-hand-and-eye baloney! A professional boat maintenance guy explained it to me just the other day. Wanna hear it? Here it goes:

With tape on both the inside and the outside of the frames, you can bear down on the surface of the frame itself with more vengeance than you'd otherwise use while free-handing. After all, free-handing calls for delicacy and a light touch. But with tape protecting surrounding surfaces, you can squish the paint like there's no tomorrow, thus providing a thick finish with better, longer-lasting adherence.

The upshot? Check out this close-up photo of the latest application of Petit's Easypoxy http://www.pettitpaint.com/ to Betty's wood frames. Note the plastic-like thickness of the finish. Previous free-hand applications never looked half as nice as this. And I'm guessing that previous applications haven't lasted nearly as long either.

Oh I know! Maybe you don't have labor-intensive teak window frames on your vessel. Teak window frames are a thing of the past, for the most part. But you probably have a few surfaces onboard your very own, more up-to-date watercraft that need painting or will need painting sometime in the near future. So remember. Whether you're doing the work or you're hiring somebody else to do it:

To really save some time and ensure a finer, longer-lasting paint job, skip the artistic, free-hand approach and go with tape. Lots of it. And thereafter put some muscle into that paint brush. Works like a champ on the ol' Betty Jane.