Background:
I bought a Catalina Capri 25 that was damaged. The boat ad been hit on the Starboard side, mid deck. The top deck was crushed at the rub rail about 22-28 inches and the hull was damaged or holed below the rubric and the glass in that whole area was crushed. I spent a full winter reading up on fiberglass repair, how to remove and replace, ect. I contacted Catalina and got the layup schedule of the glass layers and was reading about how I was going to del with the top deck and replacing the damaged glass as well as replacing and matching the non skid.
Effort 1: Glasswork
I read may and may write ups on glass repair and came to the conclusion that I was going to replace the glass as it was done at Catalina - I took a grinder and cut out all the damaged glass, hull and deck. I have photos that I will post later - they are archived. I wanted to use Polyester resin to fix the hull as I read that epoxy didn't bond well with polystyrene. I built up layers of glass and followed the schedule that was provided cooking the resin between layers and making sure that the mixture was just right by following directions and using a pump system. All Gelcoat is polyester resin with color pigment added. The hull I decided to paint - I used a full suit, are regulator mask, ect - the whole deal. Bought a spray rig and sanded the boat with a ladder 13' up in the air. 100 to cut the old paint, 400, the primer, filler, sand some more, and then 6 coats of Brightsides paint - Interlux I think. Then color matching sanding - several times - I NEVER want to paint anything again, NEVER...
Effort 2 : Deck
The deck at this point had a hole in it, I would say it was 1/2 moon in shape over several different compound radius angles for track and hardware along with a channel for water to run in - very similar to our decks but my track for my Genoa was outboard and next to the rail. Same method was used above but the deck had cormat as the filler layer so it was built from the bottom up. Once I got to the top deck and glass work I got the basic shape layed out and was using polyester resin and glass as a filler. I was using it more like filler putty but much stronger and the poly would still hold to itself as it does not fully cure until the air is sealed off from it.
I got the deck built back and then took a router (yep) and carved out the channels where the equipment would go. I thin would add filler and final sand the areas. The non skid was my best idea of all. I took PVA (poly vinyl alcohol) and put this on the port deck, I then took gelcoat and several layers of glass and made a mold of my nonskid. I then took my router and set it down about 1/16" to 1/8" and routed out the area for the non skid. Poured in gelcoat and resin and let it setup until almost cooked, prayed the mold I made with PVA and set it so gently onto the deck, placing 4 12v batteries on top and let it cook for an hour. It turned out very well and got a lot of compliments from boat owners at our club on the job.
OK Now your part - My deck didn't match and I hated it- I spent all this time and the new non skid was a different shade as then new- so, I took a mask and covered my face as I always did, and then cleaned the full deck non skid with acetone, I cleaned it 3 or 4 times to get all the crap off the deck. I then mixed up resin and gelcoat and using a very small roller just went over the old gelcoat with the new batch - I worked fast and sectioned off area I know I could do in a short amount of time. Once I would finish the area I would spray the PVA all over the area so it would cure hard.
I will look for some photos - resin vs painting - The extra step is the PVA and results in my mind are worth the little effort it takes.