Slippery cockpit floors and easy non skid surface

[CCBB]

Michael, the inside of the Goat looks very slippery!!!

Clint

[Boatmik]

Howdy,

Nice way to deal with it is the same way we did the PDRacers. I couldnt find he pics on the building thread.

You varnish the cockpit floor normally.

Then mask off the area you want to be non skid. Measure and plan it carefully so it looks nice. Doing the whole bottom looks terrible. A glossy margin around the edges and up the middle of the non skid area looks best

Better to have a 50mm margin round the front and edges and keep it about a foot clear at the back. Also leave a 70mm wide area up the middle.

Probably need two small patches either side of the centrecase.

Mask off. Corners need to be rounded off - so put some tape across the corners, use a tin and a stanley knife (carpet knife) to cut the internal corners round.

Sand ready to varnish ... pay attention close to the tape as it is easy to leave shiny spots by accident. Clean up dust.

Put a normal thick coat of varnish down on the areas (if you have a lot to do you may need to do an area at a time. Then .. the magic.

Sprinkle some coarse grain sugar or salt or epsom salts over the wet varnish. Using a sifter gives an even distribution. Just so there is an even distribution of grains. Just so it starts looking like the grade of nonskid that you would like.

Don't push them into the varnish manually, just let them sit. When done remove the masking tape carefully.

Next day put the boat on its side and rinse away the grains. Clear non-skid.



(I didn't do a good job of rinsing with the first boat I did this to many years ago ... and ended up with an ant invasion .. so be warned!)



MIK

[arbordg]

Michael, the inside of the Goat looks very slippery!!!

Clint

Clint,

It could be -- if it were strictly varnish. Instead, it's likely sugared varnish. Just sift some sugar into the final coat of varnish & when it dries... rinse out the sugar, leaving a nice non-slip surface. I used the same technique on the PDR I just built. Works just fine... a sweet solution..... I imagine you could achieve the same results with salt.

OOPS, I see Mik beat me to it.


"Don't be sweet. lest you be eaten up; don't be bitter, lest you be spewed out" -- Jewish Proverb

[Boatmik]

Haha David! I beat you by a few seconds!!!

MIK

[arbordg]

Haha David! I beat you by a few seconds!!!

MIK

Less than impressive performance, I'd say, for someone who's almost a full calendar day ahead I have to admit, though, that you gave a far more comprehensive account of the process.

[Boatmik]

I was looking for a pic ... but if you want to be really cool you can not only do the non skid in areas with rounded corners ...

YOU CAN ALSO USE STENCILS TO WRITE STUFF IN NONSKID!!!



Just behind the centrecase you can see part of the hull number written in nonskid.

The Sugar method is brilliant ... it gives enough bite without tearing up feet knees or wetsuits ... it is cheaper than tape.

And you can feel excessively smart when people ask what you put in the paint and you tell them ... "it is not what I put in .. it is what I removed"

More info about stencils and boat names or nonskid or sail numbers on the PDRacer.info site

If you need a harder finish, use a harder paint or varnish like on of the two pots (only over the top of other two-pot please!)

Best wishes
Michael

Link to boat rigging to keep flickr happy

[David L]

That is a very cleaver solution MIk with a fantastic result thanks for sharing.

[Boatmik]

Like I always say .... all my best solutions are stolen!

I am just good at collecting them and discarding the cr@p ones!

MIK