I've been thinking about deck protection lately. For the last several years I have covered my boat in the summer with a tarp thrown over the boom, but the foredeck, being exposed continuously, is showing stress from the sun. Last year, by October the deck was looking sort of chalky and in need of a good buffing. I know this is from the sun and I know I can make it look better by buffing the oxidization off, but I figure every time I do that I'm also removing deck material and there's really a finite number of times you can do something like that.
This summer I'm planning to keep the boat on a lift just above the water and I can only imagine that being surrounded by the reflective property of water all day, every day will only accelerate this problem. So, I'm on the lookout for options.
The first and most obvious thing to do is cover the boat up--throw a tarp over the whole thing. When the mast is up this is a pain in the butt unless you have a special mooring cover. While I'd love to buy one and completely cover the deck, they are really expensive. Since the tarp based cockpit cover takes care of most of my issues, I started thinking about some sort of wax for the deck. About a year ago I asked if anyone knew of something like this, but essentially everyone said it was a bad idea to put wax down on a deck because you'd kill yourself trying to walk on it. While that's a good point, I decided to look on the web this afternoon to see if there was a product that would provide the UV protection I want, but not the slippery surface. Essentially all I want is a non-greasy sun tan lotion for my boat. They make the stuff for people, so why not boats?
I found this stuff made by Aurora (Sure Step) pretty quickly http://www.auroramarine.com/catalog-sure-step.php
Does anyone have experience with this, or something like this? Looks to cost about 28.00 and, since I'm only looking at the foredeck there might be enough in this can for several years. Says two coats last from 4 to 6 months. I'm interested in hearing from anyone that has tried something like this--and since I think I'm going to go for it unless someone comes up with a dire warning, I will let you guys know how it goes as things progress this coming season.
If I have to call the Sailor's Tailor I will, but this sounds like it might really be the poor man's answer!
Speaking of this coming season--I couldn't be more ready. It was 45 degrees on Saturday and I caught a real whiff of spring as we repaired some docks out at the lake. Although the ice wasn't showing any signs of letting up, the sun was sending mixed messages of seasonal transition. Then, yesterday, about a 1/4 inch of ice fell on top of us, followed by several inches of snow, and now today the high is about 15!! March is certainly living up to its reputation!