suggestions wanted for deck paint/canvas color

[greg phillips]

Hi, I am restoring a 1982 Luders 34 (Seasprite) and am having to do it 1800 miles from the boatyard. Its time to choose some colors and I was wondering if I could get some advice. I'm committed to the following: bottom paint green, boot stripe oyster, topsides new Awlgrip "Magestic Blue"(very dark blue). Its time to choose a color for the dodger, maincover and deck. I'm leaning toward Sunbrella's "Toast" or "Wheat" for the canvas but am unsure about a complementary deck color. My plan is to eliminate some of the "patchwork" contrasting between the nonskid and the white gelcoat by painting the horizontal surfaces solid in the deck color. The white gelcoated vetical surfaces I plan to refinish.
Anybody have a suggestion? Thanks

Greg Phillips
SS34 #2 SARAH
Apalachicola, FL
Brooklin, Maine

[Tim]

I really like the Toast sunbrella color with dark blue hulls. We chose toast after a fair bit of consideration, but it looks great and stands up well over time. It is not too dark, but is also not so light that it gets easily dirty. I am a big fan of dark blue, green bottoms, and tan canvas.



Is "wheat" a new Sunbrella color? I happen to have a Sunbrella fabric book here at the moment, but it's older and I couldn't find the wheat. I did find it online for comparison.

Even though I used Awlgrip for the hull and smooth deck surfaces, I chose a one-part polyurethane for the nonskid, figuring that since I was going to mix in flattening agent and nonskid grit it seemed silly to spend so much on Awlgrip. I chose Interlux Bristol Beige, which was the closest color I could find that matched what I had envisioned. I'm happy with the color and the overall process, and the one-part paint and grit holds up well. I repainted a year ago after 3 seasons because I ended up doing several major projects on deck, but the 3 year-old paint was still fine otherwise. Here is how the color looks after application:



I would also recommend you check out Interlux Interdeck in the beige color--it's a slightly warmer beige than the Bristol Beige, and is easy to use and apply, with very good results at the end. I like this product and have had good results with it on other projects.

I agree with you about eliminating the "patchwork" look. I prefer the more seamless appearance myself, and it's easier to paint that way too. Nice channels are a must, of course, but otherwise I think it looks much less busy to have a homogeneous nonskid area with breaks only around hardware and the like.

Good luck with the project! I like those Luders 34s. Any pictures?

[tartan30cirrus]

I would highly suggest the Interlux Interdeck biege having just repainted my non skid. Just saw her in the water with the new deck paint (I polished the no non skid and that looks almost new too plus with the Cetol gloss....anyway) and she is gorgeous. The new biege makes the biege canvas look kind of nasty. May go with a dark green or the like when we order new canvas...can't comment on the colors except to say that the "wheat" looks close to the Interdeck biege.

I eliminated the seam where my chain plates poked through (about midway fore/aft) and have seen a T30 where the owner eliminated even more white no non skid. He non skidded (w/ a biege) under the varnished handrails and elimated the white on the cabin top. That looked too patchless. So it is a happy medium between patchless and patches.

Cheers,
Clint

[greg phillips]

Thanks for the replies...I'm a big fan of the Interlux Interdeck paint but I have not tried the beige. On a CD25 that I've just sold I painted the decks with the cream Interdeck. After the first coat was on it looked too bright of a yellow to me so I added brown pigment made for gelcoat. It toned it down considerably and was a good color with the varnished teak and "Toast" canvas. However the Seasprite has much more deck area and I think the yellow tone might be too much. I'll get a quart of the beige and do some testing. I assume, Tim, that the beige is what you have on the Triton?
As for photos, I'll post some of the Seasprite's recovery off a beach in Florida and a couple in progress. I'm headed to Maine in two weeks to take over the job from the boatyard. I'll be headfirst into it and looking forward to a late June launching and having "Sarah" moored in the Benjamin River. Thanks alot for the responses to my first post on this board....Greg.

Greg Phillips
Apalachicola, FL
Brookilin, ME

[Tim]

Greg,

From the printed color chips, I thought I would like the "cream" color better than the "beige", but I didn't like the cream in person; I bought a can of it for a sample, but never got beyond that stage with it. Like you say, it was too yellow, and not at all what I wanted.

I actually used the Interdeck beige on a completely different boat, but it sold me on the color and the product. I will use it in the future.

Glissando is still painted with the Brightsides Bristol Beige, not Interdeck. Next time she needs a nonskid renewal, I'll go with the Interdeck. The bristol beige and Interdeck beige are quite similar in color, but I think Interdeck is slightly warmer and nicer.

I always enjoy Benjamin River, and we usually stop there when cruising. I'll keep a lookout for your boat this summer!