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We're starting work on Pyxis in prepartion of a late March launch. Renewing the non-skid falls in my realm and I have a few questions.
The nonskid is a random material in the gelcoat. It is still very good and I really do not want to sand it all down and use Interdeck or the like. I was very happy with Interdeck on the Typhoon, but I prefer the texture of the 25D as-is.
As is very common on Cape Dorys, the non-skid is very crazed. It is strictly cosmetic. Interlux recommends PrimeKote for filling crazing while priming. The plan would be to rough up with Scotchbrites, roll on Primekote (1 or 2 coats) and then a top coat of Interlux Perfection (the Primekote seems to need a 2 part paint on top).
In spite of how the picture appears, the tan non-skid is the original gelcoat - complete with bizarre brush strokes. The decks have never been painted and the white non-skid areas on the cabin top are in great shape. Any tan non-skid shows the same crazing.
Primekote is an epoxy-based high-build primer. High-build primers have some success in covering crazing, at least temporarily, and certainly will do a better job than a thinner primer. Don't expect long-term miracles, though, as crazing has a way of inexorably reappearing. But you will certainly improve upon the situation with a high-build primer.
Being a heavier material, though, an epoxy primer will tend to "fill" existing nonskid substantially more than a thin, normal primer or paint would. As I have said before, I believe in removing factory nonskid when it comes time to paint. I think it makes for a better and more effective end result.
I don't see any reason why you can't overcoat Primekote with the paint of your choice. It may be the recommended base coat for Perfection, but that doesn't eliminate the possibility of using it beneath any other paint.
If you do use Perfection for your nonskid topcoat, be sure to add a flattening agent. You don't want anything remotely shiny on nonskid. I think that your deck may end up too slippery, but I am not exactly sure what your current nonskid is like. Normally, painting over any existing nonskid pattern softens and rounds the pattern and makes it substantially less effective--or not effective at all.
Those white "brush marks" are actually areas of the underlying white gelcoat beginning to show through as the top layer of tan gelcoat gets worn away with time, sun, and repeated scrubbings. They look like brush marks because of the uneven and random way that the top layer begins to erode.
If your tan nonskid gelcoat from the factory was applied in a female mold (as with many factory patterns), the color would be sprayed on first with the other areas of the mold masked off. Then, with the colored areas applied, the factory would then have sprayed the white gelcoat on the remaining areas of the mold, typically covering all areas, including the back of the nonskid.
Or if that gelcoat nonskid surface is applied on top of the deck after being removed from the mold (which it might be in this case), of course the white would be covering the entire deck before it's application. In any event, gelcoat wears away over time, particularly if it is frequently scrubbed or heavily used.
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I have the same problem with the gel coat on my Renegade. As properly stripping the deck of of boat is a long process (as we are all watching Tim perform this task on Kaholee) many of us do not have the time and facilities to do this.
I felt my decks needed a quick fix for the time being. The crazing certainly worries me as water has the ability to find its way everywhere including through fibergass and gelcoats. So I started painting my decks with Pre-coat and Brightsides last summer. Pre Coat is a tenacious primer that seems to bond to everything. It went on great, appeared to have covered the crazing fairly well and the Brightsides went on smooth.
Well I checked my boat last weekend and found MOST OF the crazing had made its way through my paint job.
Don't let this discourage you, but roughing up your gelcoat may not be enough to open the crazing to let the primer work its way in.
And as Tim so eloquently stated:
Don't expect long-term miracles, though, as crazing has a way of inexorably reappearing.
Hopefully you have better luck with the Epoxy Primecoat. Remember surface preparation is most of the battle.
Knock on wood, but so far my deck job is holding up well in terms of crazing. I've got no print through of crazing at all.
Of course, I've got some print through of the weave of the glass, but that is much much much less noticeable than the crazing.
What I did doesn't even begin to be what one might call a quick fix, however. I would recommend the technique for dealing with severe crazing, but only if you are willing to dive into an all-out project.
On Pyxis, the problem is definately cosmetic -- confirmed with moisture meter, plastic mallets and the many, many other CDs that have this same problem. My Typhoon's decks were definately NOT cosmetic!
The decks are in relatively good shape and not ready for a full paint job for a few more years (she's a young '85). If it wasn't for the white showing through in many places (all in the cockpit), I wouldn't bother at all. It just looks ugly. My husband is far more worried about it than I. He got spoiled sailing a pristine Ty. Our Sea Sprite 23 looks shabby by comparison, but after a few good sails you don't even think about it!
After spending all last winter restoring Miranda, I'm ready to paint the bottom, service the head and sail! We will haul her home next winter for more work, but for now we don't know what needs to be changed or relocated. A good season of sailing will answer lots of questions. After that, she'll probably stay in the water for a few years. Today, in fact, would have been a great day for a winter sail -- 55 degrees, nice breeze and not a cloud in the sky.
I'm going to start with the cockpit and see how it goes with the PrimeKote.
I had some crazing on my decks (not as bad as yours). I filled the worst of it in, and used Prime-Kote with Brightside/Interdeck on top. I had a molded in random stipple pattern. I didn't sand it off. I primed and Interdecked on top of the pattern. I think it looks good, and has way better traction that it used to. Here is a linkhttp://triton381.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1887 to my writeup.
I don't know if this will work for you, as my crazing wasn't as bad as yours.
Windrose was badly crazed, I used 5 coats of the high build primer and it covered great for the first few years but now the crazing is showing thru again, not nearly as bad but noticeable. If I were going to do it over, I would have actually thinned some epoxy and coated the decks with that first ..... as Tim's suggest it is a temporary fix.
Send me an email address and I send you some photos so you can see before, immediately after and 2 years later.
Ang
s/v Wind-rose
Pearson Triton #215
West River, Chesapeake Bay
It is strictly cosmetic-- for the most part. The gelcoat is too thick and when it expands and contracts with each freeze/thaw, or when the FG twists and bends (even 3/4" FG will do this to some degree), the gelcoat will exhibit this crazing.
When I repainted my Renegade, we sprayed on 3 coats of Awlgrip Hi-Build primer to NO EFFECT. The crazing is deep. What I ended up using was 3M Spot Putty. It goes on smooth and dries fast and is easy to sand. Pushed it in to the crazing as best I could, sanded and repeated two more times. After 7 years, some of the crazing is back, but it is nowhere near what it was before.
It is a fact of life on these boats and I think the only way to truely get rid of it is to strip the gelcoat and re-apply. I found the spot putty to be a little more cost-effective.
I continue to suffer over Pyxis' bottom, but the non-skid treatment went better than I had hoped. I know it won't last, but she'll look good whenever she's launched!
The Primekote was very easy to work with (it helps that it was going on non-skid so tipping wasn't an issue). Two coats of Primekote and two coats of Interdeck.
I used fineline tape that was left down for all four coats and 7 (gulp) days. Tape came up easily with very clean lines. The one area I used blue tape is a gummy mess. Blue tape bad.
