Five months ago I finished glassing the decks and cabins and thought that I just had a few little things left to do before I was ready for painting. Was I wrong! So, it’s taken a while but now I’m back to finishing the glassing job. It’s time to put on the final coats of epoxy to fill the weave and to apply the nonskid texture to the decks.

I started with some light sanding to remove drips and blobs from gluing the various pieces to the decks. I also did some fairing to fill pinholes and dings. I didn’t try to completely fair the decks and cabins - I’m aiming for a working boat finish and not perfection.

Sanding the Decks

Fairing Pinholes

I added coats of epoxy to the vertical sides of the cabins until I had the weave of the fabric filled in. Including earlier coats, it took 5-6 thin coats of epoxy to fill the weave on the vertical surfaces.

Filling the Weave on the Cabinsides

Horizontal surfaces needed just one more coat of epoxy before applying the nonskid texture. To texture, I rolled on a thin coat of epoxy and then sprinkled on nonskid material intended for use in concrete sealing. I went back over the nonskid with a roller to press it into the wet epoxy.

Masking for Nonskid

Nonskid Material

Nonskid Texture

The next step is priming the decks and cabins.