Painting non-skid deck

After pulling up EVA decking I will be repairing gelcoat blisters and painting non-skid deck.
This is only the cockpit area, not the whole boat.

I will sand off blisters and fair with Total Boat epoxy fairing compound.
I will prime deck with Total Boat epoxy barrier coat.
I will paint deck with Pettit EZDeck and EZpoxy in Off White color.

Regarding existing diamond pattern. It is very worn, with some smooth places already.
Asking anyone who has actually done it. Do you think it needs to be sanded completely smooth?
I am leaning towards light sanding and a heavy scrub with acetone.
I did my hardtop without sanding smooth and it worked out great. But that was not diamond non skid.

I will use the small rear deck hatch as a test. The fuel tank hatch is in great shape. I already did the recore project.
I can paint the hatches inside an enclosed porch. The rest is dependant on weather. I will get the prep done and be ready for a weather window to paint the rest.

Pictures to follow....

So stuck with the plan..

"I will sand off blisters and fair with Total Boat epoxy fairing compound.
I will prime deck with Total Boat epoxy barrier coat.
I will paint deck with Pettit EZDeck and EZpoxy in Off White color."

In addition, I built up the forward corners with 2 layers of chopped strand and epoxy and then faired. They were always getting spider cracks.
I did not go crazy trying to fair it up the vertical. I taped a line. I'm not painting the whole thing so there is going to be a line.




Total Boat epoxy primer


Found a problem with Pettit's color. Both the EZDECKS and EZPOXY say "OFF WHITE".
They are different colors. The EZdecks Off White is creamy like original Grady (before its faded by 25 years). The EZPoxy Off White is close to what it looks like now.
I did first coat of EZDecks non skid with a masked edge. Plan was to do the second coat with EZPoxy over everything and then another second coat of the edges.
Now I'll have to do the "second" second coat over everything.
I used the ezpoxy Enhancer. That caused some waste because once mixed, you have a pot life that is not as long as the wait for the second coat.
Kind of defeats the benefit of using a one-part paint...
A pint with 3 capfuls of enhancer was too much. A cup of paint with a cap and a half was just right for second coat.

Paint is curing overnight and it gets the last coat tommorow







And I went and bought Almond color silicone that I now have to take back and get White.

FYI. DO NOT use Home Depot Premium 6" rollers. The primer destroyed that after half the hatch..

The WOOSTER PRO brand "Woven" that include "paints, stains,..urethanes and epoxies" worked well.
I got them in 4" and 9" 1/4" nap. The red ones are great for doing the multi-corners because they paint from the end too.

I got some 9" for my other concurrent project of painting the barrier coat on my hull.