Options on non skid

[Jim Jones]

Once my deck is painted I need to do the non skid patterns and then put on the non skid.

I know of the usual candidates for this but wondering if I can use any polyurethane for this process?

Reasons? I have an ALU boat in the tropics (actually worse then that, I will be operating in the rift valley and its intensely hot there) so heat transfer from the deck through to the interior has to be considered (even though the interior will be heavily insulated). The more I can do to restrict heat transfer through the deck plates to the interior the better (and more comfortable inside as a result).

I have come across a Polyurethane paint that has aerogel particles in it. Aerogel is currently the best man made insulator known - albeit expensive as hell. However the repaint of the boat is a one time deal - I wont be doing it again so I have one shot at maximizing insulation on the boat. Expense be dammed - the chore of stripping the deck down, sand blasting then painting is something I never want to do again, so if I need to spend some cash on better paints then so be it. So while the aerogel is expensive its the best available insulation technology available at this point in time.

I will be painting the deck with a Jotun paint set (primer then polyurethane on top). I then neeed to do the non skid pattern on top of that.

I am considering using the aerogel Polyurethane for the non skid pattern to help reduce heat transfer. Although its not covering the full deck there is a fair amount of non skid pattern over the deck, so think the aerogel polyurethane in those non skid pattern areas will help to some degree.

What I am not sure about is if I have to use the usual candidates for non skid or can I use a non marine polyurethane and add the stuff that is used for getting grip in the paint?

Of course I would get the data sheet on this paint and submit to Jotun to make sure there is no adverse reaction to the aerogel Polyurethane.

What are the pitfalls of a non marine Polyurethane - if any? The Aerogel ppl say thier paint is very tough and cant be easily removed so sounds like it might be suitable.

I have learnt not to ask advice at the sailing club where I am doing the refit, so thought the yoties here might have some knowledge on the question I am asking.

Thoughts ?

[coopec43]

I just did a google and apparently a lot of people are asking the same question.


One link in particular you might find relevant:

https://www.mountainbuzz.com/threads...ethane.102865/

Other links:

https://www.google.com.au/search?q=M...client=gws-wiz

[Jim Jones]

Thanks to coopec43 for the heads up.

The deck is sandblasted back to raw ALU. I am going to do another "sweep blast" to freshen it up because its been 8 months since the first blast.

I have removed the mast and all deck fittings so we can sand blast ALL of the old white polyurethane off. It took 2 days and 1 ton of garnet reused 5 times to get it all off ! IE, so it was like using 4 tons of garnet - by time we got to the 5th time through trying to get the old poly off the garnet was "blunt" and turning to powder. We got most of the old poly off but the mast and rigging was still attached the first time (learning fast how to do things right and not follow advice from ppl at the sailing club where I am) so there were small areas we could not get too. Not good enough for me. So i have left it till now to do it again properly - mast is now down and EVERYTHING removed from the deck - you would be surprised how long that takes!! So now because of the time from the first blast till now we need to do a "sweep blast" to freshen the ALU up in order to receive her paints.

I will be using Jotun paints for the deck. A primer "Jota mastic 90" then "Hard Top AX" Polyurethane.

The Jota mastic 90 is tintable - so will tint that to the colour I am going to use for the top coat so that if the top coat gets scratched the primer under it is the same colour so that the scratch is not as noticeable.

So thats all pretty straightforward.

However as stated I want to try to block heat coming through to the saloon and berth areas as much as possible. So interested in paint technology that helps to block heat transfer. I will be doing the deck overall with the mastic and the hard top but then i need to do the anti slip patterns on top of the Jotun hardtop.

Jotun does have this product - "Jotatherm 550" which i think does what I want - but just cant get the info I need from the local Jotun office

https://www.jotun.com/ww-en/industri...otatherm-tb550

I would prefer to stick to all Jotun paints as a full system but as stated Jotun are just not that great here at the local office I have to work with.

So continued searching and found this Polyurethane with areogel particles in it.

My issue is , will the aerogel polyurethane used for the anti slip patterns be OK ? worried about durability. "I think" that once the Jotun Hardtop AX is cured that another poly on top will not harm the poly underneath it - but not 100% sure and since Jotun local office is not that great I am left trying to figure out what will and will not work.

I think the aerogel is the way to go for insulation in paint tech but not willing to risk my paint job on the deck till I can figure this out.

[coopec43]

Well color too is important to keep the yacht interior cool. What color do you plan?

I looked around the marina the other day and realised that my yacht's deck is the only non-white deck in the marina!

Maybe you should mount a a whole lot of solar panels on the deck to keep the interior cool

[MicHughV]

Have you considered the use of " decktread".

I had a steel boat and covered the decks with this material.

It is about 1/8" thick made out of some kind of rubber/cork mixture with a "tread" cut into it.
It comes in a variety of colors.
The material comes in mats, more or less 3'x4'. which you cut to fit the shape of the deck, which are glue to the deck.

Besides providing phenomenal non-slip it also provides a layer of insulation. It is especially good when wet, you won't slip.

The stuff lasts forever.

[Jim Jones]

White is the best colour for heat reduction. Its about 10% cooler then any other colour.

The deck was originally white and I can tell from the various coats of paint that have been put on it over time that it left the factory as white.

I want to change the colour to RAL 7003 - Moss Grey.

Why the colour change? The area I will be operating in has bandits and its not IF they try to board one night, it is when they try to board.

I want a colour that does not shine so much but keeps temps down. Therefore a light grey seems about right - then I saw a boat in the moss grey and it looked nice to my eyes.

However I am not fixed on this yet. Heat is my enemy during the day and the bandits are my enemy at night. (reminds me of the old saying- the US army owns the day and charlie owns the night)

My thinking is that on a moonlit night the white deck colour just lights up and screams out "here I am, come get me". A grey will dull the moonlight down a bit. Since I am so stripped down and doing a 100% paint job (unlike previous attempts on this boat) if I want a colour change now is the time.

But like you, most boats I see around me are white - but then I have special circumstances that most boats dont have to deal with.

[Jim Jones]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

Have you considered the use of " decktread".

I had a steel boat and covered the decks with this material.

It is about 1/8" thick made out of some kind of rubber/cork mixture with a "tread" cut into it.
It comes in a variety of colors.
The material comes in mats, more or less 3'x4'. which you cut to fit the shape of the deck, which are glue to the deck.

Besides providing phenomenal non-slip it also provides a layer of insulation. It is especially good when wet, you won't slip.

The stuff lasts forever.

Very interesting. I was looking at spray cork but cant find it in this country. I have found a good spray cork in France (and it seems fitting given its a French made boat) but the cost for shipping makes it a non starter.

I will look up the stuff you mention and see if its available locally. If it is then I will take a closer look, thanks for the heads up.

[pcmm]

Have you considered KiwiGrip? awesome stuff, goes on with a yogurt like consistency and comes with a roller to make the texture with. you can make it as aggressive or mild as you want.

[Jim Jones]

Originally Posted by pcmm

Have you considered KiwiGrip? awesome stuff, goes on with a yogurt like consistency and comes with a roller to make the texture with. you can make it as aggressive or mild as you want.

Yes I have and that is my goto if I cant figure oout anything else.

However I am interested in heat reduction technology paint as 1st prize.

[MicHughV]

I used the " grey" deck tread on my boat, as white was not available at that time.

It gets got in the sun and until your feet get used to the temperature, you'll find you need to wear footwear of some kind, but thereafter can go barefeet.

It does still provide " insulation". My boat was very cool on the inside.

I especially liked it because if I dropped something on deck, it would protect the paint surface underneath, and being a steel boat, would start to rust.

If you zoom in the attached photo, you can see the deck tread layout.

I tried various paint "grit" additives, but found it didn't work very well, especially when wet.

[smj]

We bought a catamaran with light grey decks and it was hot under foot. We KiwiGripped the deck white but didn’t have time to paint the cockpit floor at the time. Huge difference in the white to light grey, HUGE! Also a big fan of KiwiGrip.

[Jim Jones]

Originally Posted by smj

We bought a catamaran with light grey decks and it was hot under foot. We KiwiGripped the deck white but didn’t have time to paint the cockpit floor at the time. Huge difference in the white to light grey, HUGE! Also a big fan of KiwiGrip.

Yep this is my fear - i **KNOW** white is the best colour to use but would really like to change the colour given how far down we have stripped her down.

However the mission comes first, pleasing looks are secondary.

The thing that got me to all this in the first place is being out on the lake at night and sticking out like a sore thumb in the moonlight and its very real where I am - they have AK47's and I only have a .45 revolver and even then I cant take my side arm across the borders as I go up the Lake. So being able to blend into the background as much as possible is something to think about. But the heat during the day is also very real.

The head says go white, the heart says go moss grey. Day time temps dictate white, night time bandits make me want to blend in as much as possible and stay with a subdued darker colour.

[Jim Jones]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

I used the " grey" deck tread on my boat, as white was not available at that time.

It gets got in the sun and until your feet get used to the temperature, you'll find you need to wear footwear of some kind, but thereafter can go barefeet.

It does still provide " insulation". My boat was very cool on the inside.

I especially liked it because if I dropped something on deck, it would protect the paint surface underneath, and being a steel boat, would start to rust.

If you zoom in the attached photo, you can see the deck tread layout.

I tried various paint "grit" additives, but found it didn't work very well, especially when wet.

What was the total deck treatment ? I am guessing the usual primer but what then? Deck tread straight onto the primer or did you put down a Polyurethane then deck tread over that?

Approx what is the cost of deck tread ?

[MicHughV]

Going cruising with a side arm strapped to your side seems to defeat the purpose of cruising ???

[rslifkin]

Originally Posted by coopec43

Well color too is important to keep the yacht interior cool. What color do you plan?

I looked around the marina the other day and realised that my yacht's deck is the only non-white deck in the marina!

Maybe you should mount a a whole lot of solar panels on the deck to keep the interior cool

White or close to it is common. On production boats where they're gelcoating in a mold, they typically just make the whole boat the same color, deck included. Or if the hull is a different color, the deck gets the "standard" color for the boat model, which is typically some variant of white.

In my mind, a light grey, off-white (like a light cream color) or something works fine, as does white. The goal is to get a light enough color that it doesn't get too hot, but a pure white deck can be awfully bright to look at in full sun and is also hard to keep from looking dirty.