Like most sailboats from the heyday of factory production in the 70s and 80s, our 1978 Islander Bahama came with a textured non-skid gelcoat deck, with a pattern designed to provide traction in all conditions. More expensive boats of the era came with glued-on rubber sheets with a diamond pattern. TreadmasterTM comes to mind. Even more expensive boats had teak decks. Our deck was basic gelcoat, and it was starting to appear somewhat aged. It was time to take action.
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I had a similar experience redoing the nonskid on our Pearson Countess. The new nonskid surface worked well and lasted for years.
This method of application – brush on, roll, repeat (rinse roller when needed) would have been much better than P—- T— C—‘s directions for getting their product applied with an improved outcome. Pearson 35.
Ah, the school of learn by mistakes. It always seems to work best vs a demonstration on a flat panel in a factory setting. Thanks for the comment!
I found that having a 2nd texture roller was really helpful. After 10-15 minutes, the edges of the roller get little nodules and clumps due to drying. When this happended, I would put it in a bucket of water and switch to a new roller. I had a helper and they would wash out the roller in the bucket and pat it dry on a paper towel.