Hello brains trust,

On my new-to-me 42 y.o. Northshore 38, I have paint on the factory molded anti skid that looks like poor mans camo.

I was initially going to use Kiwi Grip but I don't think it's necessary as the original molded grip is fine. I don't need to create deck grip from a smooth surface where Kiwi Grip would be great.

I am looking at International Interdeck. Does anyone have any experience with this product? I'd also be interested in alternatives along the same line as the InterDeck.

Much appreciate any advice.

Ramona said..
Ten minutes of hard scrubbing with a stiff nylon brush with a product like "Metal Gleam" will have that looking like new.

No; unfortunately on Northshore 38s the black is the fiberglass underneath when the gel coat wears off.

julesmoto said..

Ramona said..
Ten minutes of hard scrubbing with a stiff nylon brush with a product like "Metal Gleam" will have that looking like new.

No; unfortunately on Northshore 38s the black is the fiberglass underneath when the gel coat wears off.

I tend to agree with Ramona on this one. Give the metal gleam a try. Looks like dirt and grime in the low spots of the non skid pattern.

Thanks for the replies peeps.

I did check the deck and i'm pretty sure it is a previous paint colour, not dirt (although I haven't put the water pressure washer on it as yet). On other areas you can see the paint where it wasn't masked well. See the pics below, I'm not sure what to make of it.

I'm still looking for peoples feedback with Interdeck paint? Anyone ... ?

I may just have to pony up and give it a go.

Ambler said..
I have used paving paint on a previous boat, it gave a great result. Paving paint is designed to be grippy though you might want to add some fine volcanic grit depending on the condition of the moulded deck tread. A good water blast will be enough to prep before painting.
Here is a colour tip don't paint it grey

I have always been a fan of White Knight paving paint, oil based. I used it on my fishing vessel for more than twenty years. On my SS34 I have it on the cabin top and deck that's not covered by KIWI Grip. The Kiwi Grip looks like it will last another 50 years! The paving paint is flaking a bit after three years. It never flaked on my fishing boat and just needed a recoat after 10 years or so. It's now owned by Dulux and is twice the price and it's not the same paint!

Turns out after discussions with the OP that the deck has likely been painted twice before. Initially the original tan gel coat was painted with a grey colour and then subsequently again with a tan product more in keeping with the boats original gel coat on non-slip areas.
These pictures therefore show the first (but not original gel coat) grey overpaint poking through the subsequent tan paint which has worn off. These over paintings of original gel coat are generally evident when you look at the corners of the non skid patches where they meet the smooth white gel coat as of course masking tape generally doesn't execute tight curves properly.

If it was the original tan gel coat having worn through in places as it has on my foredeck (probably decades of racing spinnaker and headsail peel action by heavy crew) it exposes the underlying fiberglass layer which seems to be black (presumably as black resin was used).

Anyway I guess now the question becomes how well is a subsequent deck paint going to stick to whatever the other two coats of deck paint are. I would always go with a two-pack paint such as Awlgrip rather than a single pack product such as Interdeck/Kiwigrip in the absence of compelling proof to the contrary. This of course gets back to the OPs original question.

Without removing some of the original two coats I might also be a little worried about the new paint filling in the troughs in the previous two paint jobs thereby resulting in a pattern nothing like the original. The close-up of where the grey is showing through seems to already highlight a little bit of this problem.

Ramona seems to have had very good results with single part Kiwi grip. Perhaps one also needs to ask how long you're going to keep the boat and how much heavy traffic it is going to see. In the OPs case it is a fair bit of single handing which isn't likely to give rise to much wear.

In my particular instance if I ever do attack my non-slip I will be going for a very good colour match so I only have to do the foredeck and I will be going for a two-part product like awlgrip. I don't have to worry about it bonding to a previous paint job or how well the previous paint job/s are bonded to the deck/eachother or will Bond to the new finish. I'm not doing the whole boat so cost won't be a consideration either.

All of which sadly doesn't answer the Interdeck question.