Sailboat Deck Paint

[npaulay]

Hello - I'm looking for some words of wisdom when it comes to repainting the deck of my 27' sailboat. Its in really poor shape so I'm working on removing deck hardware, winches, railings right now to prep for sanding. It used to have an Interlux Brightside paint that was called Holiday Green - mix of light blue and light green and white (see photo). I've been looking at the Interlux color charts and I feel like it would look neat with Ocean Blue w/nonslip mixed in and regular white on the deck. Body is white. I'm not sure if going with a dark color would be good though - I live in PNW so its not particularly hot but I've rarely seen examples of people painting their deck a dark color, typically its white or light colors. Would it look weird or something? Any reasons for other than temp?

I'll be refinishing all the teak wood, faded windows and hatch plexiglass too. Thanks for any suggestions!

 

[31seahorse]

Hello npaulay,

We have been happy with using Interlux Brightside Polyurethane on several boats over the years. We have often mixed in the nonskid microbubbles that go into the paint, are left to soak for 15 to 20 minutes (check directions to verify the time), and then roll the paint on with a spongy roller. Use a small roller and handle for intricate places and perhaps switch to a wider roller for large deck areas. The amount of the nonskid material used is a personal choice. It dulls the paint shine, but does provide traction on deck. A sponge can also be used to modify the surface if you needed to do some fiberglass repair on the deck prior to painting. We have been most happy with Grand Banks Beige or a light blue, I think called Sky Blue.

Clean and prepare the deck as directed. Carefully tape off anything you do not want painted. Don't trust your steady hand with the lines between paint and plain fiberglass!

 

[kbgunn]

I've had good results using the TotalBoat Wet-edge topsides paint and the TotalTread Non-skid deck paint. Both are 1-part polyurethane. Tough and durable after curing. Paint prep is 90% of this job. Sanding, dewaxing, taping. Dewaxer and surface prep solvent works great. Special brushing thinner helps the paint flow and self-level. The painting part goes quick. I had molded waffle pattern in the gelcoat for non-skid. Most will tell you to grind it off. I just laid the non-skid paint down over the texture areas. I also painted outside and uncovered because this was DIY and I don't have a shed. There is an occasional bug that gets in the paint. But I can live with the result. Before and after pictures below. 1986 Catalina 30

 

[shank]

Looks great. Nice work.

I want to paint the deck on my Catalina 27 as well with Totalboat TotalTread and prep with their dewaxer product. The existing deck paint is actually in really good condition. I just don't like the color. Do I still need to do any sanding to roughen up the surface?

 

[kbgunn]

Looks great. Nice work.

I want to paint the deck on my Catalina 27 as well with Totalboat TotalTread and prep with their dewaxer product. The existing deck paint is actually in really good condition. I just don't like the color. Do I still need to do any sanding to roughen up the surface?

The short answer is yes. The details are a little more involved. TotalTread is polyurethane. Do you know the existing paint chemistry? Dissimilar paints may not adhere to each other. If the existing paint is polyurethane, the prep work would be to clean, dewax/degrease and lightly sand to 'key' the surface which gives the paint some surface area to stick to. I used an aggressive scotchbrite pad instead of sandpaper on the non-skid. It was easier to ensure good contact with the pad than with sand paper.

The tech support team at TotalBoat is fantastic. Call them to discuss your project before you order anything. The will tell you exactly what you need plus how to prep and apply the paint.

 

[Barnacle Bill]

If you use a polyurethane gloss paint with grit in it (however you choose to apply it), I still recommend that you use a flattening agent to get rid of the gloss because gloss - even with grit - can be slippery when wet. There are a number of nonskid paints on the marine market that work well. Interlux Interdeck. Kiwi Grip. Soft sand grit that can be used with paint makes an awesome nonskid surface too.

 

[Project_Mayhem]

My last boat had the interlux brightside and non skid. I doubt the PO did proper prep. It was pealing off of the cabin sole. We had to wash the boat more often than those with just gelcoat. The interlux non skid was on the rougher side but we rarely got skin scrapes nor did it hurt our feet

 

[PaulK]

We tried Brightsides on a section of our deck. It lasted about a week. It does not seem to be tough enough to stand up to the wear and tear that decks go through. Some people find it holds up OK on their topsides. We also tried Interdeck. It looks OK for a season, but then starts to wear out too. Since the prep for single and two-part polyurethanes is essentially the same, it makes more sense to go with the two-part paint, which will last MUCH longer. We used Interlux the first time - about 16 years ago - and switched to Awlgrip to re-do it last year, when it started to look shabby simply from getting chafed off by scrubbing and sheets dragging across it in different places. We figure the new paint will last at least 15 years.

 

[Project_Mayhem]

The TotalBoat equivalent isn't the most durable either. It stays on the soft side for quite a while after it dries. I would try two part as @PaulK suggested