smooth is a bit slippery!! But texture is a bit ruff on the bear feet, thats why people use both. but i think thats to much cash!! i would just paint with smooth and sprinkle fine sand on it, this way you get something in between.

It is gel coat just as any other fiberglass surface of the boat...it just has a bit of a non-skid surface to it rather than the super slick outside hull...the prep is key to prevent the flaking you mention...follow what the others are saying about prepping the surface...I remember readin' one guy who put the non-slip granules in the paint...applied it, then sanded to get the TOPS off the granules...THEN painted again w/out granules...PERFECT!!...

I'm gonna get into it.... Soon enough, school just started and I need to replenish my bank a bit from my boys school shopping.

the way I've done it is to tape off the area real good(sharp lines make it look great)apply one coat of paint, either spray it or roll it. Then I take a cool aid container(or any other half qt container with a lid), drill numerous holes in the lid to make a salt shaker for the non skid material(best to have this ready before the firsts coat, test it out to make sure you have the right size holes in it). While th first coat is still wet(let it dry a little, but not very long), I sprinkle enough non skid using the salt shaker to cover all the wet paint, let it dry over night. Take a wisk broom and an air hose, brush or blow all the excess off the no dry paint. Once you got all the loose stuff up, put one more coat of paint over it. I've had the best luck with the Awl grip heavy non skid, but I've done it with sand and the "top sides" non skid as well

I'm gonna add my 2 cents.
If you go to home depo in the paint dept. They carry a aggregate that is a silicon. Either mix it in the paint or sprinkle while the paint is wet. Lowes carries the paint made made by the same company that makes the aggregate but cant sell the aggregate. I found its better to lightly sand after the first coat a apply a second coat without the aggregate. If it still feels to ruff. Add a 3rd coat.

OR

You can always do what I did and use truck bed liner (Like Rhino liner) on your deck. It works great, is non-skid, is flexable, doesn't seem to wear out and cleans up easily.

I used a product made by U-Pol called Raptor. It's a urathane coating you spray or roll on. Comes in a kit, is tintable to whatever color you want. (as long as they make that color that is) It's very easy on bare feet, and yet it has urathane rubber's inherent non-skid properties. Oh, and it looks great also.

This is my deck after I did it.

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l1...511/photo9.jpg

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l1...1/photo8-1.jpg

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l1...11/photo10.jpg

Reel I will have to check into that one. I was actually considering getting my floor and bracket Line-X'd. That is a good looking color.

I'm gonna jump in on this one because non skid is gonna be my next purchase. Grizzly grip is a great product that is a "bedliner" type application but it requires expensive primers. I really like the Durabak because it does not require expensive primers and it takes dynamite or c-4 to remove it.

MJ , I like the durabak and probally be using it on my boat. Did you roll it on? How did you like it on your boat? I've heard horror stories about it getting dirty and then being hard to clean.

Destroyer, the bedliner you used did you roll it or spray? Did you buy the clear base and then tint it your color? Can you get it in white? Do you need to prime the surface? Thanks Des!

I don't mean to highjack this thread, I figured we could all gain some knowlege.

Kracker this coming from experience. The durabak comes with stipple rollers to roll it on. Hit the surface with sixty grit paper and it bonds well and does a very good job of hiding repairs. I liked it on the 250 Sportsman because you could not slip on it, even with a nice coat of fish slime and blood. I go barefoot on my boats and it was not so bad on the feet. But I used dark grey and it got so hot in sunlight you could not stand on it. I painted a section white with some sherwin williams tile clad hs epoxy right over the durabak and that fixed the hot deck issue. That section also stayed the cleanest for some reason. Durabak is a good product but it just gets so dirty and nasty looking even with constant cleaning. Its wonderful for a barge or a workboat. But for a restoration you spent a year on, i think you will be dissapointed. Maybe the answer lies in coating over the durabak with an epoxy paint? I sold the 250 Sportsman before i could find out just how well it worked.

as stated above it comes with rollers, and thats how i did it. as far as cleaning, it got messy, but i had a salt water wash down, so would keep the mess down thur out the day. when getting home i would wash every day with bleach & scrub brush, and always like new. But my v20 like the Sea ox is a fishing boat never saw wax or anything like that, just clean and go!
If new or restored maybe I would have been worried about keeping a shine, but its a boat for doing what i want, no time to worry about teak, blood, guts, shine, ect... ect... ect...