Treating kauri deck on yacht

[Aorewa 0]

Question.. I'm removing the varnish off my yacht deck. Yacht is 'Aorewa', a Catherine Anne design Wollocott launched about 1950. She has a modified hull (the builders son said his dad wanted a faster boat). Built in Devonport, all kauri, triple skin. Deck is in excellent condition & looks great varnished but it's very slippery.

I'm wondering if there is an oil I could use on the kauri deck so it still looks like a timber deck but is protected & not so slippery?

Otherwise I'll paint it with non skid deck paint. Would I seal it first with some sort of sealant? Maybe Everdure?. Looks like it had readlead underneath previous paint jobs.

I saw some clear non skid deck 'paint', has anyone used this product?

Thanks for any response.

[Frank 157]

You would have to love almost constant  hard work to maintain a varnished deck in the NZ sun, just use a good paint system and some sort of non skid.If you want the joy of natural timber then varnished cabin sides are more manageable albeit still a fair bit of work, they  look great against the paint though. All of the woolacotts I sailed on were carvel built a three skin hull version  is unusual particularly for 1950.  You might be better to check the forums on Waitemata Woody's for intel on painting classic wooden boats. 

[Aorewa 0]

Thanks for the comments & advice, much appreciated.

Aorewa is definitely triple skinned. Built by the school woodwork teacher in Devonport, (not by the Woolocott family), who (according to his son who inherited her when he died), gave up smoking cigarettes to afford to buy a half pound of copper rivets once a week!

He built her well, her hull & decks etc are in excellent condition.

 

Cheers

[waikiore 438]

You are lucky to have a triple skin one , will require less maintenance than the carvel Woolacotts and probably have the designers hull shape more accurate .