CD26 Deck Non Skid Damage Repair

[dgsail]

My CD was damaged at the dock. The top deck has a section of spider crazing from the impact. The fiberglass can be repaired. My question is what are my options for dealing with the crazing on the non-skid section? I don't want water to get in over time. The yard tells me that it is part of the mold. What does this mean?

[Jim Walsh]

A photo would be very helpful. Many CD's have some spider crazing. The vast majority of which is superficial and does not effect structural integrity. If it is truly the result of an impact then it may very well be a sign of extensive damage and require a pro's assessment.

[Wayne Grenier]

There are several good paints for non skid-Kiwi Grip (from New Zealand-go figure!) is latex and comes in multiple colors-if the deck is damaged and cracked from a collision you may want to consider sanding or grinding down the damage-repairing it with west systems or fiberlgass or marine tex and painting-if its just a small area it should not be very noticeable-as worst you could renew all of your top side non skid-mine came out very well.

[jen1722terry]

Ditto on what Jim and Wayne said.

We refinished our 31's decks in May, mainly because of the extensive crazing in the non-skid.

On the white parts, we repaired the more serious crazing with Marinetex after grinding out the cracks slightly. Looked pretty good but, as it is easier do the entire deck all at once, we opted to refinish all the white with Interlux Perfection. We did the deck with the fittings still on, as most had been recently re-bedded. This decision involved a lot of extra masking and more tedious painting, but came out well. More masking was involved before doing the non-skid with Kiwi-grip.

All in all, it looks pretty good as amateur jobs go. We have a bit of fine touch-up to do in the spring, maybe a half-days worth. The entire job took about 10 workdays spread over nearly a month for two people and most of that time was sanding back the primer and masking. Some days (masking) were long, where the actual painting days were shorter. The pot-life on the Perfection is several hours (thinned) where the Kiwi-grip sets up in 20 minutes or so, so you roll on a section of non-skid, then immediately pull off the masking. Both finishes were walkable in a few days, but took a month of warm sun to fully cure. The Perfection, in particular, is now very tough and even resists anchor chain wear on the foredeck.

We did it ourselves after getting some estimates from other owners: $15-20,000 for the entire deck (all fittings removed and white part sprayed) - more than our budget allowed. As the boat was in Nova Scotia at the time, a land of very wet springs, we did the job under the shrink-wrap, a bit hard on the back and we wore respirators for part of the job, but doable. If we had to do it again, we would have prepped and sanded the boat outside and then had it moved indoors to paint.

One thing we would certainly advise against is using the Interlux Prime Coat. We rolled it on the entire deck, as directed. Even with careful mixing, thinning and ideal weather, it would not flatten completely and it took a lot of time to sand it all flat. I've painted many fiberglass boats with 2-part poly paints without primer and felt suckered that I listened to the Interlux guy at the boat show. Big waste of money and time.

The Kiwi-grip we used on the non-skid rolled on easily, quickly and filled the crazing wonderfully. It was the masking that took so much time for this step, but if you mask well, the finished job will look nearly professional. The stuff has proved pretty rugged after 3 months of full-time living aboard this summer, and the occasional small damaged spots touch up easily.

So weather you decide to spot-repair or do the whole job, you have good DIY options, if you have the time.

Good luck with the repairs, and PM us if you have any questions.

Jenn and Terry