Deck Paint

[zz4gta]

I have a merit 25 and wanted to redo the black stripping along the portlights as I'm replacing the portlights. What paint and procedure should I use? Thanks.

[Siamese]

I've had great success with Interlux Brightsides one part polyurethane. I did the hull and deck on a 26 footer and was pleased with the results. Was good enough for Michigan where we don't have salt and tropical sun to deal with.

Seems like it would be too much hassle to mess with awlgrip (two-part) for a stripe.

I found the Brightsides to be fairly good at self leveling. On the hull and deck you had to have just the right light to see the brush strokes.

Not knowing if you've painted fiberglass before, pardon me if I get too basic. Job one is to get the wax off where you'll be painting. Not just the wax that you've applied, but the original mold wax that became a part of your gelcoat. Use a de-waxer and follow the instructions. When doing an entire deck, sanding is necessary to get rid of the remaining wax and to allow the surface to grip the paint. Because you're doing a stripe, you'll only want to sand that particular area. I'd tape it off and carefully hand sand it. I'd be pretty happy with 200 grit...don't want to lose any more gelcoat than you have to. After you sand it, some more de-waxer wouldn't be a bad idea. Retape it, and you're ready to paint.

By the way, I don't know if your original stripe is gelcoat or painted on. If it's painted on, you can ignore what I've said about getting all the wax off. Maybe wipe it with some Acetone to get off the wax you've applied, and follow up with a light 200 grit sanding just to provide enough "tooth" for the paint to brush on easily and adhere. Which is to say, I would not try to remove the old painted stripe unless it was peeling. If it's just faded and worn, there's no reason not to leave it in place. I'd probably still prime though, and hope that the new primer and paint are compatible with the old paint. I wouldn't be too worried about that as the Brightsides isn't terribly exotic stuff.

A good brush is all you need for this job. Prime the area with Interlux primer and follow up with a couple coats of Brightsides.

[zz4gta]

Thanks for the reply. I've attached a couple photos to better discribe weather it is paint or gel coat. These are from when I looked at the boat. It has since been cleaned.





I don't believe there has been any use out of this boat in a very long time, 10 years, so it shouldn't take much sanding to get any remaining wax off. So pretty much scuff, clean, and paint w/ good brush using brightsides?