Refinishing the Non-Skid deck - actually doing it.

Actually refinishing the Non-Skid decking

This is a project that I started in 2021 and have allowed life and other more important boat repairs to take precedence. The good news is that the materials that I purchased from Jamestown Distributors has not suffered on the shelves of my garage here in South Florida - ok, one Can did leak a little, probably because the cap was not seals ( shake the can after screwing down the lid ), that was the Awlgrip Awlcat #3 Topcoat Brush Converter ( 1 pint ), so I ordered another pint.

Ok onto the work, it was surprisingly easy!

• Clean the deck ( I'm just doing the Port Side Non-Skid for now )
• Sand the deck using 3M Scotch-Brite Ultra Fine Hand Pad 7448
• Mask off the Non-skid areas using 1" Blue Painters Masking tape
• Mask off the surrounding areas using 2" Blue Painters tape overlapping the 1"
• Clean the deck again using Awlgrip Awl-Prep Surface Cleaner
• Apply Primer with a 4" Roller & 2" Nylon brush
• Mix the Primer as follows:-
• 1 Part Awlgrip 545 Epoxy Primer Base
• 1 Part Awlgrip D3001 545 Epoxy Primer Converter
• 0.2 Parts Awlgrip Topcoat Brushing Reducer ( yep, same reducer as the topcoat )
• Allow 12-14 hours between coats. ( Apply a total of two coats)

This was pretty straight forward except for the 12-14 hours between coats! We keep the boat 35 minutes from our house, in South Florida, it's Rainy season ( isn't it always ? ).  So If I apply the 1st coat at 9am, then the second has to be applied by 9pm, that's not going to happen. So I applied the first coat a 8pm and the 2nd at 7am the next day - yep, a very light breakfast.  I did speak to a rep at Jamestown and they advised that if the first coat had been applied 24 hours then the surface would need to be sanded again. I still kept it to withing 14 hours.

Next, the TopCoat, again easy:-

• Blow the deck clear of the bio dropping from the Palm Trees that overhand the dock, dry off the water from the rain. All of this in socked feet.
• Mix the 1st topcoat as follows:-
• 1 Part Awlgrip Polyester Urethane Topcoat Base Paint
• 1 Part Awlgrip Awlcat #3 Topcoat Brush Converter
• 1 Part Awlgrip Additive Flattening Agent G3013
• 1 Part Awlgrip Topcoat Brushing Reducer ( my understanding from reading the datasheets is that this can be less than 1 part of Reducer, I used 0.5 parts )
• Apply the 1st coat of Topcoat and follow with a 2nd coat at least 16 hours after the first coat is applied. ( This is much easier to achieve, I simply put the 1st coat on a 6pm and the 2nd at 9am the next day. )

Mixing the paint

This was all done when the Humidity was around 74%, definitely not ideal, but as I was applying the paints with a Brush and Roller I figured the humidity was not such a big factor, whereas had I been spraying it, then that would not work out well.

Down the Cabin I had a paint mixing station, several cloths covered the galley countertop.

•  A large snap lock container corralled all of the paint cans.  
• Several 1 liter mixing cups
• Several Wooden stirrers
• Paint can opener
• Pair of Channel Lock pliers ( to open the cans that screwtop lids )
• Blue Masking tape ( to apply to the sides of the mixing cups )
• Red Felt Tip pen ( to mark the cups)

I put the Blue masking tape vertically onto the sides of the mixing cups so that I could mark them with each of the paint component levels. I found that putting the horizontal markings at:

• 120ml ( fill point for the Base Paint )
• 240ml ( fill for the Flattening agent - it's non reactive with the Base so I added this before the reducer.)
• 360ml ( fill for the Activator - start the clock ! )
• 450ml ( fill for the Reducer ) I varied this from 10% to 50% didn't seem to make much difference, they all rolled really well and it did not affect the color.

This way I felt confident that I would get consistent color finishes for each segment of the deck.

I also taped down a plastic sheet on the cockpit storage locker so that I would not worry too much about getting paint onto the white of the cockpit. I also put some dry cloths ontop of that plastic so that I would not step out onto the deck to be painted with damp or dirty socks.

I used a 4" roller on the end of a 6' pole for the major areas of the deck and a 2" nylon brush to get close to the bases of the Stanchions, Deck Fills and the Chain Plates for the shrouds.

Oh! After painfully sanding the deck before getting to the actual painting, I figured out it would be better to wear Knee pads instead of using a Throwable Cushion to protect my knees ( really awkward and it didn't fit where the deck narrows aft of the cabin top.

Of course I wore Nytril Gloves, I'm on my 2nd box already. I applied Baby Powder inside them to make it easier to don the gloves AND I wore long sleeved shirt just to capture the sweat dripping from inside the gloves. I also had a dry rag in each of 4 pockets so that if I needed one to quickly mop up a painting booboo or to dry up the dripping sweat, I didn't have to stop everything and go back to the cockpit.

It took about an hour to clean and dry off the non-skid immediately before applying a coat of paint until I was ready to walk away from the boat. So the actual painting took 4 hours plus the cure times between coats.

Next task is the Stbd side of the non-skid deck, I expect it will be much quicker as I have the mixing down and also feel very practiced at applying the masking tape.  Oh, I did shimmy the Dink that is on the deck in front of the mast, over to the other side of the boat so that it was not in the way of working. It'll probably have to be moved onto the dock before I start to work on the cabin top non-skid decking.

So, progress is good, weather is really wet, I hope I can get the masking tape off easily but am prepared to have to peel it very carefully, perhaps with the aid of a razor knife, we'll see, I should be doing that in the morning.

I broke the deck into manageable areas.

I'll probably do the Port & Stbd Quarters at the same time as the Stbd Side Deck and the Companionway Hatch & Cabin top in one go too.

I had ordered Quart cans of each paint component but only a Pint of the Top Coat Converter, right now I'm confident that is sufficient to complete the project along with the 2nd pint of Top Coat Converter.

It took 450ml for each coat on the Port Side Deck, the Anchor locker lids and the Companionway Hatch Cover, I have about half of the materials left over. Pretty sure I'll get it all done. But .... Jamestown has been really good at shipping orders promptly.

Having completed the Port Side Deck, I'm really pleased with the result. It cleans up easy so the Lizard Poop rinses off really quickly and walking on the deck is at least as grippy as the pre-refinish deck surface.

We had a couple of bad weather spells, so there was a delay in continuing the project but today I finished doing the Stbd Side Deck, now we have to wait 72 hours for it to totally cure and we can walk on it again. Then we'll remove the blue masking tape and reinstall the shroud chain plate covers & bolts, finally re-tension the Rigging.

Here's a review of the progress so far - Blue is done!

Left to do:- 

• Coach Roof Non-skid
• Companionway Hatch Non-skid
• Cockpit Deck - Non-skid
• Port &Stbd Quarters - Non-skid

Next painting project - White Work ;-

• Toe rail 
• Coach Roof 
• Cockpit

Mystery Ding!

We did turn the boat at the dock this week and noticed a small chunk gouged out of the corner of the transom on the Port Side, very odd! It's too low to have occurred out our dock even during the recent King Tides and the last time we went to a foreign dock was several months ago in Fort Lauderdale. We have scrubbed the Transom down several times since then and never noticed it.

We are super careful when turning the boat at the dock and it absolutely did not happen when we turned the boat on Tuesday, could not as the damage is about 18" below dock level at high tide.  It's a mystery.

We'll go back to the boat in the morning, grind the area and apply some resin. Then add it to the list of touch up work we have to do. Our plan is to work on the 'white work' in November. ( Toe Rail, Coach Roof, Cockpit Combings etc. ) 

Meanwhile we're looking forward to taking the boat out next week for at least one overnight.

So, we'll see you on the water!