A long time ago, maybe it was in "Messing About in Boats", Phil Bolger wrote in passing that, just maybe aluminum paint would make a good choice if painting your boat on a budget. As I recall, he cited several other good reasons, with one of them being that it should keep your boat a lot cooler in warm climates...
Fast-forward to a couple of years ago when I noticed someone had just painted an Out Island 41 with aluminum paint and it actually looked pretty cool if you appreciate the look of semi-polished aluminum. Sorta/kinda shiny (as in you might want to use sunglasses when checking it out) is how Id describe it.
My thought process at the time was to wonder if I could find that old Bolger article, what aluminum paint (yeah, the stuff you paint on aluminum siding when you want it to look like aluminum) was going for over at the hardware store, and would or would not the sorta/kinda shiny look hold up or if the paint would oxidize to that blackish/gray patina I associate with unpainted aluminum boats like the Deerfoots.
Since I row past the OI-41 every couple of weeks Ive had ample time to check out how the paint job has held in the tropical sun, near constant salt-laden trade winds and a few storms... Its still sorta/kinda shiny, still looking good and with none of that oxidized look I was worried about. In truth the paint job still looks pretty awesome.
As it happens, about the same time the OI-41 got its aluminum paint job, I painted part of my deck with some high-priced ($48 a frelling quart) single part boat paint and just the other day I was beginning to see some serious wear and tear telling me its time to repaint the deck even in low/no traffic areas.
To test the paint further, I bought a can of the aluminum paint ($8 a quart) and painted the top section of the topsides where the old blue stripe was with one coat to see how it would cover and work. Six months later its adhering finestkind and, while two coats would have been better, one done carefully, pretty much does the job. Which surprised me because this aluminum paint (be warned) is seriously thin (as in HOLY SHIT THIS STUFF IS REALLY THIN!!!) being micro aluminum platelets in an oil/solvent matrix. To best describe the application its a lot like painting your hull with water.
The resulting finish is very hard and very smooth which is exactly what youre looking for in a marine paint. Going on six months later, water still beads up on the finish and thats saying quite a lot. When I get around to painting the entire topsides Ill finish it off with a wax job on top (Ive been waiting for an excuse to try the hydrophobic Eelsnot instead of wax) which should make it even better.
The best part, other than its just a pretty awesome user friendly paint, is that its cheap at $8 dollars a quart/$27 a gallon... I expect that two gallons would more than cover "So It Goes" with two+ coats with a lot left over for dinghies, touch ups, and suchlike. Whats not to love?
The only downside I can see is everyone will think you have an aluminum boat...
Listening to Tim Lee
So it goes...
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