Got the first coat of bedliner material on the front deck.

First task was to pump the water out of the bilge (rained last night), then vacuum and clean the front deck area well. A wipe down with Xylene (per manufacturer's instructions) and tape off the edges where I didn't want it.

Then I had to get the can open. I had purchased a gallon, which was shipped in 4 quart cans, short and squatty cans... never seen that size, but worked nicely. Anyway, for shipping there were these little metal clips to hold the lids on. I hadn't encountered them before, but they sure work. Took some dedicated prying and a pair of pliers to get them off, then open the can like a normal paint can.

Stir well (they recommend a power stir attachment with a drill, but I didn't find one that would fit in that shallow can very well, so I used a stir stick). Then started laying it on with a chip brush. Roller is an option, but I decided to try the brush given the odd angles and areas I needed to get into. You just "lay it on" instead of really brushing it out.

One quart let me cover the front deck hatch with the required two coats, and the rest of the deck area with a single coat. I'll come back to it and apply the next coat in the next few days.

Front Hatch Cover

The temperature was ok when I did this, but wound up dropping off rapidly tonight. When Dane and I checked on things this evening, its still slightly tacky, but seems like its doing ok. The instructions say that extremes of temperature will delay drying, but it shouldn't cause a problem. Hopefully they are right.

I'm looking forward to having a tough, waterproof layer on here.

 First coat on the deck