With the toe rail finished in Imron MS1, the next step is to final sand and prime the decks with Awl Quik.
Sanded, taped with 3M fine-line and sprayed with Awl Quik.
That 2″ x 12″ scaffolding outboard is essential for painting the deck and cabin top.
The next step will be to longboard the Awl Quik, then spray the final coat of Awl Grip 545 primer. We’re taking the time to longboard even the non-skid areas because any low spot will hold water and dirt.
For example, our 1968 Chris Craft Commander 42 has the original faux teak deck look with little grooves between each strip of “teak” molded into the gelcoat. Those little grooves are intentional low spots, and they are magnets for dirt! A little bit of effort now will have a big cumulative pay-off over the years after we commission the boat.
The next step after priming with 545 will be to machine sand with 320 grit Mirka Abranet. After that, the whole tent and boat will get a thorough washing, then we’ll tape it up and start spraying AwlCraft 2000 and Awl Grip non-skid over all the top surfaces in fairly rapid succession.
In preparation for the shiny topcoat, the chief Boatamalan* asked me to work up the layout of the non-skid. Since the deck is 15 feet wide and the cabin top is about 12, it helps to map out the non-skid because it is applied after “the shiny.” The non-skid areas give the painter a place to stand while painting the other areas.
Boatamalan: portmanteau indicating highly skilled boat workers of Central American origin. 😉
First draft 2D non-skid map
Gotta love Sketchup!
But once I started, I couldn’t help myself. This Sketchup is addictive! So I took the 2D model and stretched it to 3D and moved some things around.
Dark grey = non-skid, light grey = Matterhorn White shiny
The stripe on the deck and all around the border, including a narrow band around the cabin top, will be done in shiny AwlCraft 2000. The square on the deck is for the hatch.
Please comment below if you have a better idea for the non-skid map!
1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Cast Your Vote for the Non-skid Layout
1969chriscraftroamer46 
Great posts, I really enjoy watching progress. Re: non-skid map…Maybe leave the entire bow seat in shiny. People will be sitting there lots and non-skid is tough on clothing during seating and will look more “dirty” when cruising. That’s the way Hatteras did my 53MY. Have to be careful stepping up and down on the seat, but prettier.
Thanks, Doug! I considered keeping the whole bow seat shiny, but I’ve had a lot of slipping “near-misses” on my Commander and previous Connie. You know for certain you’re getting older when safety becomes a higher priority than aesthetics! lol
One alternative I considered was to have a 6″ narrow band of non-skid near the sides of the bow seat. But if I did that, I would need non-skid on the cabin top in the same area. I couldn’t come up with an attractive layout using that approach, and I’d prefer to keep the non-skid on the cabin top to a minimum.
The paint crew chief, who works on Weaver Boatworks’ sportfishermen, thinks it would look great with just a 1″ border of shiny around the cabin top, bow seat and deck, and then non-skid over the rest. I keep reminding him that this isn’t a sportfisherman, and that people actually spend a lot of time on the bow seat.
Q
very thorough and high quality work! impressive! great crew
As always, great morning exercise, getting worn out following your blog. Not sure how dirt catchy the non-skid will be but if it is would it be good to have a larger border between it and vertical points?
Keep up the great posts.
Tim
Hi Tim. The painter says it starts looking goofy if the shiny is too wide. I don’t have any basis for comparison, so my “intuition compass” is just sorta spinning around in circles.
Q