Awl-Grip or Interlux Sailboat Paint

Since deciding to haul-out our sailboat and repaint the bottom and the hull, we have been planning on purchasing Awl-Grip paint for the sailboat hull.  Awl-Grip is a fantastic product that looks great and is very durable.  We've never doubted its quality.  However, our liveaboard friend has been working on repainting a client's boat with Awl-Grip with the roll and tip application.  He's sprayed Awl-Grip on several boats in the past, and they all came out great.  This was his first experience with rolling and tipping Awl-Grip, and he's been having some problems with the Awl-Grip.  He's been painting thin layers of the Awl-Grip on the boat and it's looked great for a couple of hours, but then all of sudden it would start sagging.  Awl-Grip does not "touch up" well after several hours, so he's had to totally redo the area.  This has happened several times and he has become frustrated,

Also, while at the boatyard several people have recommended Interlux Perfection paint.  It's supposed to look great and be very durable as well.  And, Interlux Perfection is not as expensive as Awl-Grip paint.  So, Ken decided to give Interlux a call and ask a few questions about the application and the product.  It was interesting to learn that Awl-Grip and Interlux are both subsidiaries of the same company, International Paint Company.  Ken was told that Awl-Grip and Interlux are very similar. There are only two main differences between them, which is that Awl-Grip has a little more gloss and that each paint is formulated for a different application.  Awl-Grip is formulated to be sprayed, and Interlux is formulated for rolling and tipping.  The guy from Interlux told Ken that although Awl-Grip sells products to use for rolling and tipping, it's not formulated for that and therefore does not work as well with rolling and tipping as it does with spraying.  This made since to us, especially after our friend's great experience spraying Awl-Grip and poor experience rolling and tipping Awl-Grip.  Since Interlux Perfection seems to be the best choice for rolling and tipping and it's less expensive, we decided to purchase Interlux Perfection for painting our sailboat.  We'd like to spray our sailboat, but being in a boatyard with other boats around does not make that option possible.

Ken ordered the Interlux Perfection paint from our local Ace Hardware, and we should have it by today or tomorrow.  The Awl-Grip was going to cost around $760, and the Interlux Perfection totalled around $370.  This savings is a huge help to us, since our haul-out budget was not enough to cover the unexpected blister repairs, depth and speed transducer replacements, and the extra time at the boatyard. 

I do have to say that Ken had also called Awl-Grip a few times during the past month, and BOTH Awl-Grip and Interlux were extremely helpful and kind.  We were really impressed with the support that both companies provided.  Again, I do not want to say that we do not trust Awl-Grip's quality but that Interlux Perfection just seems to be the better choice for our type of application and budget.

We're excited about painting our sailboat soon, and we'll let you know our experience with Interlux Perfection.    *Read about our thoughts and see the results here.

Hasta luego ... until then.  Mid-Life Cruising!!