Another milestone for Biscuit...nonskid. There was time today to at least apply the nonskid to the foredeck. In a previous work session, I had begun to layout the tape process for the foredeck and side decks, but the more I thought about the effort and my plan for a final tape line, or border between the nonskid and topcoat paint, I decided to scrap my first approach and renew it with an alternate method.

I began by scribing the transition from the raised nonskid area to the outboard edge of the decks, a soft, open radius. Using a small scribing tool, I scribed this transition onto a tongue depressor and then carefully sanded up to the scribe line. This replicated the soft radius between the outboard edge of the deck and the raised nonskid portion of the deck. I then removed a portion of the tongue depressor, leaving all but a rough half of an inch inboard of the radius curve. The altered tongue depressor became a jig for me to place up against the deck's fiberglass radius, allowing me to make a tick mark every couple of inches along this raised portion of the deck, defining the tape line for me. I applied tape along this line, following the tick marks, which presented me with a nicely defined nonskid area on the foredeck and reaching back to the forward portion of the cockpit on both the starboard and port side decks.

With the tape firmly pressed into place, I then began sanding the field to create a surface with good mechanical bond properties to accept the fresh nonskid paint. After completing the sanding, I vacuumed the surface and wiped it clean with acetone.

Biscuit's owner had supplied nonskid paint - a TotalBoat product, beige in color - and so I collected it from the shop and mixed the paint for a period of time to ensure it was properly prepared for application. I poured out an adequate portion in a pool roller pan and used a 4" mohair roller to apply the nonskid paint. The small diameter mohair roller, along with the sanded nonskid paint, provide a complimentary textured surface for this specific application of paint. Tape layout is also taking place in the cockpit, and when complete will be the next portion of Biscuit to receive nonskid.

Total Hrs: 4