Nirvana's New Non-Skid

As Ken and I pulled the green tape off of Nirvana's deck, we felt like we were pulling off a layer of stress.  We're finally done painting!  Isn't she pretty?!

When we finished spraying the white glossy paint (Interlux Perfection - Oyster White) this past Winter, we weren't left with that great feeling of accomplishment that we'd hoped for.  The paint seemed a bit inconsistent in a couple of areas, and it wasn't as glossy as we'd hoped.  But, now that we've finished the non-skid (Interlux Perfection - Cream) ... all that stress has washed away and we think Nirvana is looking pretty darn good.  We're digging the look of the deck, and the slight sheen of the white and the cream provides a soft, satin finish.  We figure that a shiny white paint may not be so great anyway when we're living on the water.

So how did we apply the non-skid?  This time around we decided to roll on the paint instead of spraying like we did the hull and the deck.  We figured it would be easier to just tape the areas and roll on the non-skid in sections.  This worked great for us, and was much easier than spraying.

We broke up Nirvana's deck into three sections ... the top/companionway hatch area & cockpit floor, the cockpit sitting are, and the outer sides of the deck and bow ... in that order.  Rolling the paint in these sections and in this order made it easier to get around the boat without stepping on fresh paint, as well as finish each section early in the day ... giving the paint time to set.

Since our Catalina already had a non-skid pattern molded into the deck, we lightly scuffed the non-skid areas with a red Scotch-Brite pad after washing. We then gave the area a quick wipe down & taped it before painting. (We'd already sprayed the primer on the deck last Winter when we sprayed the deck). Ken brushed the paint on the edges near the tape, then rolled the entire area.  As Ken rolled on the non-skid, the glare made it hard to see if the non-skid was going on consistently.  As I held the paint, I also watched for areas that were missed or seemed inconsistent.  Ken was able to smooth out the areas pretty well with the roller.

After rolling on the non-skid on a Friday, we let it set overnight.  When we arrived the next day, the non-skid appeared to be a bit thicker in some areas.  We rolled on a second coat of Interlux Perfection without the Intergrip added (was already in our plans), and hoped this would help.  On Sunday morning we were happy to see that the second coat did indeed make the non-skid appear much more consistent.  We pulled the tape off before the sun baked it onto the deck, and admired our work.  We couldn't wait to finish the other sections!

As I mentioned, we used Interlux Perfection on the entire deck.  When painting the non-skid, we simply mixed Interlux Intergrip into the paint.  We had originally planned on rolling the Perfection and then broadcast the Intergrip with our hands or a sifter, but after we opened the can and saw how fine it was ... we decided to mix it into the paint.  The Intergrip is like powder!  After mixing it into the paint, it plumps up a bit.  We couldn't really see this happening, but that's what the can said.

I'll also mention that Ken added Interlux Reducer to the paint, which made it thinner.  Ken was initially worried that he made it too thin, but it ended up just right.  He also added a bit of Flattening Agent to the paint, which made the paint less glossy.  We didn't want shiny non-skid, but we also didn't want it totally dull and flat so we didn't put the maximum amount.  When the sun hits the non-skid, it has a nice sheen to it.

We painted the cockpit floor in Cream, and the seats and topsides in Oyster White ...

Nirvana is looking clean and is now ready for her hardware!  Winches, a traveler, blocks, stanchions ... all sorts of stuff needs to be put back on.  We also need to do a little work on our companionway sliding hatches (we call it a turtle).  If you notice the sides of the hatches in the upper pictures, you'll see where trim needs to be attached.  We previously had teak, but it rotted and needs to be replaced.  We decided to go with Epay wood this time around, and a friend is making the trim pieces for us.  We should get them today!  We also need to make the hatches easier to slide, so we'll raise the hatches just slightly with some aluminum pieces and add some UHMW Slick Tape.  We hope it helps ... look for a future post about what we did and the results!

Hasta luego ... until then.  Mid-Life Cruising!