Anyone heard of a product or technique called "Sugar Deck"?



A buddy of mine was going to do some work on my H17 hulls and sanded off the non-skid gelcoat area aft of the crossbar on one of the hulls. I'm going to reapply the gelcoat there, but I'm trying to figure out how to get something approximating the nonskid texture back. He mentioned applying Sugar Deck, but I can't find any references to it - either as a technique or as a commercial product.



I'm thinking I may apply a thick gelcoat, cover it with a layer of mylar to give some shape and press 15-30 grit sandpaper into the mylar while the epoxy cures. Any other ideas?

Charles,



The sugar deck was used a lot bu the guys who built wind surfers. It left a pretty good non-skid that was not too agressive as to take the skin off the bottom of your feet after they have been wet all day.



It was typically applied with a clear laquer because of the art work on the boards. Other paints will work but they must be thin. It was applied by sifting white table sugar over a coat of still wet laquer where you want the non skid. After the first coat with the sugar drys gently blow off the excess sugar. More or less can be removed to give more or less texture. Then coat the non skid again with laquer to seal in the sugar.



Note that the sugar never gets fully encased and will melt the first few times in the water. This will leave a nice clear finish for those special paint jobs.



Several boat manufactuers (Larson, Glastron, Welcraft) use the same basic technique with grit applied in regulat gel coat. This is a little more agressive and heavy but makes a good non skid. It also does not atract ants the first few times in the water. US Paint is one of the suppliers of this grit.



Good luck



Matt

A number of people responded to this thread on another forum last year. Table sugar was sifted onto final gelcoat to taste! Try it first on something else, like the hood of your wife's car.

The US Paint grit additive - is that the GRIPTEX product?

sugaring the finish to get a nonskid is about as easy as a process gets. In my experience it has only two drawbacks.... it's a bit unpredictable in terms of the way that it will react with different finish media, and it's near impossible to get a perfectly uniform look with it. note, I said "perfectly uniform". it's generally just fine for those that aren't picky. for another low-dough solution, go to home depot and grab one of those hook and loop rollercovers that's intended for use on textured ceilings. after applying gelcoat, run that roller over the top a few times to **** things up.



alternatively, most resin manufacturers also make a gritty additive of one kind or another.

And what about this surfer technique: Take some fiberglass cloth, the kind of finish one for sail boards, put a layer of resin, then the cloth, then when the resin is almost cured, remove the cloth ---> you will get a regular texture with nice hedges if you took care to tape them.