Non-skid

[nimbus]

We are thinking of re-painting our deck and cockpit, which seem to have already been repainted before in various shades of gray. I'm wondering if we should strip the decks first and then apply a new coating, maybe kiwigrip, or just apply the new coat over the old after fixing up any old holes and soft spots. Does anyone know what the original decks were like? Were they patterned nonskid? Typically has there been lots of rot problems in the decks of Evelyn 26s as with the Santa Cruz 27s?

[paul]

My E26 OD I believe is a 1980 model. The deck is original and has what I believe is factory Non-Skid, but it is an irregular matrix, sort of like small bubbles 1/4-1/2" dia. Another sailor was looking at mine, laughed and recalled early E26 days where he had to sit on the stuff during an overnite race.

I'm in New England and we have short season, May-Sept. I launched last yr, don't believe boat had been in water for at least 5 yr, and probably infrequent for 10 yr +(it still had original Kenyon instruments). Mine had some wet spots in hull core near the keel, which were repaired. Believe cause here was small crack/irregular f/g layup at keel trailing edge, and also from water seepage thru screwholes that held floor in place.

On deck, (not fully repaired) I have some soft spots around 2-3 stanchions, and also up front at bow, from bow pulpit. Bow part is major as believe it's gone back to anchor cleat, and I am on mooring during season. I beefed under cleat with larger area 1/4" ply to distribute load but plan to repair area once it warms up here. Probably pull up 2-3 ft of deck (at least that's all I hope to do). Otherwise, deck is OK.

Also have a few minor leaks around hull/deck seam, if time permits plan is to remove rail and rebed seam w/5200, not sure I have time for this operation this yr. Prior owner had said if rails are removed, hull gets sprung and you can never get them back on. However, the 32-2 guys have done this, I have done this before on 2 other boats working 8-10 ft at a time.

I'll see what I have for pics and try to post something.

[paul]

We painted the entire inside of my E26 last yr. This should give an idea of paint requirement needed if you are doing the hull. Essentially the entire inner cabin roof and inside hull walls down to benches. Used 1 gal, maybe 1 gal + 1 qt. of BlueWater MegaGloss Polyurethane Topside Enamel 8700 Series Neutral Color. I also put down Bluewater primer before the Neutral.

We used a short nap roller and brushes for edges. Finish was not that bad, not gelcoat smooth but not brush streaks either. Coverage of this stuff was good, no light spots. The prior owner(s) had stripped headliner out, so interior was bare f/g. I prepped with some light sanding and solvent wash, keeping interior well-vented with fan.

During this time I also dug out a couple of wet spots in deck, one was 4x4", other 4x6" to repair some core. I think I used some Petit topside enamel to match deck, as I still have a partial can. Have not seen any peeling, but most of paint under stanchion bases.

After 3-4 months, interior still looked fresh. My boat sits on mooring on Atlantic, about 200 yr offshore, had concerns on mold as sometimes it's buttoned up for 2 weeks. Did not notice any. Currently still under wrap (it's winter) and will remove tarp in a month or so. Boat yd is 35 mi away so not a frequent visitor.

BlueWater is available on-line and about 1/2 of InterLux, Petit, etc. I also used their ablative for bottom with good results. Prior I had used InterLux or West Marine ablatives for years. This has been a budget project, hence BlueWater paint. But am very happy w/results so far. Anyone else use BlueWater paints??

BTW - my hull is painted by someone w/bad roller, brush man must have forgot to tip. Looks great until you get within 20 ft (this done before I bought, my guess it is 5 yr old by now and not peeling). I think Sailing World had an article by Karl Anderson on how to do roller/brush and tip a couple of years ago.