As a lifelong sailor and licensed 100-ton captain, I’ve spent years around boats—with plenty of scraping, sanding, and painting under my belt—but it wasn’t until I purchased my own boat, a 30′ sloop, in November 2024, that I have had the opportunity to make all the decisions myself. ADVENTURESS is a 1959 Gulfstream 30 designed by Sparkman & Stephens and built by Norman Hodgdon in East Boothbay, Maine. She is mahogany planked on oak frames and had been in covered storage for almost two decades by the time I found her—or, really, by the time she found me. She was structurally sound but long overdue for attention, and her peeling and blistering bottom paint was a clear sign she was yearning for a clean, fresh bottom-paint system to start her first season back in the water.
Living and having grown up in coastal Maine, I’m fortunate to be surrounded by experienced builders, Maine windjammer captains, and lifelong wooden-boat enthusiasts. Still, when I began asking around about the best way to build up a bottom-paint system from bare wood, I got a wide range of answers—most of them contradictory. No one claimed to be an expert, and everyone assured me someone else would know better. After weeks of research and deliberation, it occurred to me that the true experts might just be the companies that design these coatings in the first place.
That led me to Pettit Paints, and ultimately to their Tie Coat 6627 primer—a chlorinated rubber-based bonding primer designed to serve as the interface between bare wood or previously painted surfaces and antifouling paint and topside enamels. It can be used above or below the waterline and as a metal primer. I was already a fan of Pettit’s products, and 6627’s formulation and physical flexibility seemed to be the right choice for ADVENTURESS.
I wanted to start with a bare hull, so in early March 2025 a group of nine friends generously spent an afternoon with me hand-scraping the bottom. It was cold, messy work, but they showed up for the learning experience—and for the unspoken promise of future sails once the boat is launched. After scraping, I spent about 16 hours sanding the hull with 60-grit paper on a 6″ random-orbit sander connected to a Festool vacuum. The end result was fair, clean, bare mahogany with remarkably tight seams for a boat that had been out of the water for so long.
Jasmine ThomasPettit Tie Coat 6627’s burnt-orange color makes it easy to track progress.
With the surface prepped, it was time to prime. My close friend of 10 years, Jen McNamara, joined me on another chilly afternoon in April to apply the Tie Coat 6627. We started by wiping down the hull with acetone. Following Pettit’s instructions for bare wood, we thinned the primer by about 20 percent with Pettit 97 Epoxy Thinner. The primer rolled and tipped on smoothly, with excellent coverage. We were easily able to coat the bottom in an afternoon. Despite cold, damp conditions in a drafty boatshed, the primer laid down cleanly—no drips, no curtains, and a consistent matte finish. The burnt-orange color made it easy to track our progress, and the thinned formula soaked into the wood as intended, providing a strong foundation without building up a heavy film. I achieved sufficient coverage with just one coat because I had carefully prepped the mahogany bottom to be entirely smooth and knew that I would be using two coats of antifouling paint. Two coats of 6627 might be advisable, especially if the wood is a bit rough.
Once cured, the primer accepted Interlux Underwater Seam Compound without issue—an important detail, because cross-brand compatibility was a key concern of mine. I will complete the system with Pettit Unepoxy, a hard, seasonal antifouling paint that is specifically recommended by Pettit as compatible with the Tie-Coat 6627. Pettit’s Hydrocoat, a popular water-based antifouling paint, is also compatible with 6627.
Jasmine ThomasThe primer rolls and tips smoothly, with excellent coverage.
The wood in planked hulls expands, contracts, and flexes with changes in moisture and temperature—especially after years out of the water. I deliberately avoided epoxy barrier coats, knowing they can be too rigid for wood and prone to cracking. Pettit’s chlorinated rubber formulation offered the right balance: flexible, tenacious, and compatible with a range of topcoats. It feels like a primer designed with wooden boats specifically in mind.
In a community where nearly everyone has a different approach to bottom paint systems, Pettit Tie Coat 6627 offered something refreshingly straightforward. It performed as promised, was easy to apply, and provided a reliable base for both the seam compound and antifouling paint.
Jasmine ThomasThe primer rolls and tips smoothly, with excellent coverage.
Owning ADVENTURESS is not just my own exciting project; it’s created a ripple effect in my friend group, where, at 24, I’m the first of my generation to have my own sailboat. The support I’ve received—friends scraping, sanding, and painting in exchange for time on the water—has been overwhelming in the best way. Once she’s launched, ADVENTURESS will be more than my boat; she’ll be a community project with pieces of the people who’ve helped me along the way. Starting her new life with a strong, reliable bottom paint system sets her off on the right course. 
Pettit Tie Coat 6627 retails for about $68 per quart and $145 per gallon. It is available at most major marine supply stores.
Jasmine Thomas is WoodenBoat’s editorial assistant.