Phil Speight': "How to paint your boat"

Thursday, 02 February 2012 09:00

Of course, Stephen, Richard, Doug and Roger were right: I was on ... No, I was thoroughly enjoying ..day one of a two day course by Phil Speight, entitled "How to paint your boat" at the Ellesmere Port National Boat Museum.

Starting with bare metal

Phil took us (that's 12 enthusiastic would-be boat painters) through every step of how to paint a boat, from how to deal with mill scale on bare metal (or not) to a completed sign-written panel.

Primer ... undercoat (no, not the t-shirt)

Sorry if I am going to disappoint you, but I'm not going to post all the pictures I took at each stage. I have uploaded just a few to our Gallery as a taster, but if you want to know how to do it, you'll have to do the course yourself. I don't think you would regret it.

I have painted and repainted the below-gunnel sides of our boat several times - they do take the knocks in locks etc. and touching up and repainting is one way of looking after our investment. I have also touched up the coachwork as necessary e.g. after the vandals' damage at Barnby Dun and doing the handrails at the end of the Whitchurch Arm. But, perfectionist that I am, I have never been satisfied with my efforts. Hence the course.

Phil took several pieces of sheet steel and almost in Blue Peter style (but much more professionally) painted primer, undercoat and green gloss to produce his imaginary stern part-panel. Then he added a second shade of green as a border  and added a coach-line. I was interested to see the type of masking tape he used and when he peeled it off.

Removing coach-line masking tape

Throughout the two 6-hour days, Phil not only informed us, but entertained and educated us with his Yorkshire banter. His many years of experience and verging-on-fanatical interest in the history of boat and boat-ware painting are enthusiastically shared with whoever cares to act as aural blotting paper. As a break from sitting as a theatre audience, we were taken to see practical examples of both at the Museum, where Phil has worked in the past.

Pointing out the freehand edges on Gifford

Pans and cans etc.

Then, once one layer of paint had dried sufficiently, the Master Coach-Painter demonstrated how to sign-write a narrowboat panel. What skill; what generosity of (white-) spirit to share his knowledge and experience with others!

Here's the finished article:

For A.P.Smith, Coal Merchant, Liverpool

And now I know just how it's done, will I paint our boat? Not from bare metal, I don't think. But hopefully I will be able to keep things up to scratch and without scratches ... when we get some warmer weather: not too hot, not too cold. Phil has preached the message that it is easy: "You can do it!". I'll let you know: watch this space.

I'd love to try my hand at sign-writing, or roses and castles, too - but at the moment I just don't have the time. One day maybe. Was it value for money? No doubt about it. And as far as I know, only one person fell asleep, but unusually for an Anglican, I was in the front row, so I can't be sure...