The time has come to get the spars on the TriPod base painted! As you can see in the video below, the steel looks rusty. This is just surface rust that is totally normal and doesn’t affect the structural integrity of the steel. It is unavoidable in the humid climate we are working in here on the Caribbean coast of Panama.

This floating base will live its entire life in saltwater so we need to protect it from corrosion. We have a three-step process that we use to protect the steel. It starts with sandblasting to remove the rust and give us a clean surface to work with.

Once the surface is sandblasted, we apply an epoxy paint that seals the surface and protects it from the harsh salty environment. This is the main barrier between the metal and the corrosion-encouraging salt water.

While the epoxy paint does a great job of protecting the metal, it doesn’t look the best so the final step is to come back with a white or blue topcoat(depending on the area) to add another layer of protection and make everything look fantastic. This top coat is the paint job we will see, so we wanted to ensure that it matched the Ocean Builders colors.

This paint job will help prevent corrosion alongside the sacrificial anodes that will take the brunt of the corrosion. The TriPod base is getting lots of attention as we make the final push towards the global launch event! It should be fully painted and ready for the next steps very soon!