J/30 Class Association Forums J/30 Forum The Boat, Sails and Equipment Deck paint matching the gray somewhat

So OK ... I have spent the last few years trying to figure out what to do with the slip deck on a 25 year old J30.

Naturally you go to West Marine and they have no samples of anything to see what all these paints are about. And the sales guys making $10 an hour ... are no help.

So following the advice of a few of yous ... i bought a Qt of White and a Qt of Gray Interdeck. Because I need to do two decks and one is in Naples they had to be the same shade and a shade that works well in 90+ degree sunshine ... But white was out.

Photo below shows white sample, gray sample and a 1-1, 2-1 and 3-1 mix. I think the Vee Jays are going to the 3-1 mix ... Ignore the flat black ... that was just on the old stick.

Two coats with additional non skid compound from the shrouds forward because Inderdeck doesn't seem to be agressive enough for a wet J30 foredeck.

update 1. 10/3/2010
Painted the 505 foredeck from the chainplates forward.
1. only prep was powerwash twice in a week to get the chalk off the original gray gel coat that was getting pretty thin.
2. 3 qt Interdeck white, 1 qt Interdeck gray mixed together and returned to original cans.
3. foredeck qt got 4 oz additional skidless compound -- in this case Pettit 9900 Silicon Oxide i had picked up at yard sale 10 years ago. with a shot of 333 thinner to loosen it all up. [yes it has taken me 10 years to address the skid deck.]
4. one coat, one qt. -- down here in strong sun they tell me to do one coat every couple of years rather than a double coat.
5. an aggressive surface guessing about an ~60/~80 sand paper [but not as even as sand paper -- second coat in couple of years should even it out] ... will see how the foredeck crew reacts with this on wet deck.
6. the 500 series J30 has white non skid borders near the toe rail and around the hatches ... kissed them off and ran the paint to the toe rail and hatch edges. that white gel coat was pitting anyway.

next to do is the cockpit seats in the straight interdeck with no additional skid compound. to see what that feels like ... then to decide how aggressive to make the side decks. The concern here is the younger gals wearing thinner fabrics and short shorts. so we can't be too agressive or they will start wearing that heavy duty Gill stuff.

Update 10/16/2010

First spin run with new deck antiskid ...
foredeck qt +4 oz silicon dioxide
side decks qt +1.5 oz silicon dioxide.
cockpit seats straight interdeck.

no blood on foredeck ... foredeck crew happy with surface. I did get one of those spray antiseptics and bandage at CVS ... just in case. So far no gals with thin bikinis ... next big test.

Only problem with Interdeck ... it does take a week to harden up for racing. will have to do balance [cabin top and cockpit floor] in spring before leaving for the summer.