Using KiwiGrip
Ben Meakins used KiwiGrip deck paint to refresh the non-slip on his boat’s decks last winter – but how well did it cope with a season’s abuse?
Non-slip paint assessed after a season’s abuse
We spent a busy winter repainting topsides (see PBO Summer 2016): making the surface as smooth, shiny and reflective as possible. However, the next job on the list required us to forget everything we learned about making a surface smooth and shiny: this time we wanted to make it as rough as possible. That’s right – this time we were painting the decks.
There are a few options available once your deck paint begins to lose its non-slip properties and you end up looking like Bambi on ice when you head to the foredeck to change a sail. First up, there’s the stick-on options – Treadmaster and similar. This gives a highly non-slip surface but needs careful preparation to make sure it sticks down. Next come the deck paints with a non-skid aggregate mixed in. These, such as International’s Interdeck, rely on the non-skid granules being suspended in the paint: these are adhered to the deck, leaving a grippy surface behind.
We tried various methods in an extensive test a few years ago (www.pbo.co.uk/event/beaulieuboatjumble/deck-paintstest-17514), but there is another way. KiwiGrip is ‘a durable, homogeneous, elastic anti-skid surface’. It’s a water-based acrylic paint which can be textured with a special roller to suit your boat and your type of sailing. It’s a little like Artex, with the peaks in the paint forming the non-slip. A number of popular colours are available from chandleries, or you can get it tinted to any shade at a DIY store, so it will match any colour.
Polly’s decks had been painted with Interdeck about five years ago, when the original deck pattern had given up the ghost. We’d been pleased with the paint, but after five years of hard cruising and racing it had begun to lose its grip and had become a grey, stained colour. We chose to redo the decks in KiwiGrip for a few reasons. First, it would allow us to vary the texture to suit the area: extra grippy on the foredeck, but slightly less so in the cockpit, where we tend to spend our time seated rather than standing. Second, our test showed that it could provide an attractive surface that looked like an original moulding and resist dirt: and, thirdly, its non-slip properties were the best we could find. Decision made, we ordered a large 4lt tin and set to work.
As the paint is water-based, it’s especially important that it doesn’t get wet while it’s drying, so doing the job first thing in the morning – or in a tent or shed – is very important. You also need to ensure the temperature is over 10°, or the non-slip texture is likely to slump before it dries. We did ours while undercover for painting the hull, finishing off under a temporary winter cover (see the EasyTec test, page 65).