Hi,

I have been trawling through the forum for some weeks, watching videos and devising a plan to paint the deck of my 1972 Northerner 28ft (Compass predecessor) which I bought a few months ago. The paint is tired, some repairs are needed and the substrate is showing through in many spots.

I would have liked to res-erect this topic by Cabron as its one I have been going off but SeaBreeze tells me it too old. www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Sailing/General/Painting-Deck

I have never painted anything in my life. So I am just looking for some feedback on my plan so far which is below. Im currently practicing a few things on the anchor locker hatch (see images)

General Plan: Plan is to fix holes, sand, two coats of an undercoat (including where antislip areas will be), two coats of single pack Topcoat (excluding where antislip areas will be). Then do Kiwigrip.

Detailed Plan
1. Fix dings and spider cracks by dremilling out and filling with International Epifill. Sand flat.
2. Remove staunchions (and fill all holes ready to replace all staunchions with new ones) and remove other deck hardware where possible. Tape everything remaining up.
3. Wash down everything with Diggers 4L Wax And Grease Remover. Rinse with fresh water.
4. Sand deck -
4.1 Sand deck with 80 grit and Ryobi orbital sander. Only sand paint down but not down to substrate.
4.2 Sand diamond pattern grit down to near flat but not so the substrate is showing.
4.3 Do final sand with finer grit (~180 grit) sand paper with orbital sander.
5. Wash with fresh water
6. First Undercoat - Paint with International Pre-Kote over entire deck (including future antislip sections).
7. Sand with 180 grit with orbital sander.
8. Second Undercoat - Paint with International Pre-Kote over entire deck (including future antislip sections).
9. Sand with 180 grit with orbital sander.
10. Mask off antislip areas
11. First Topcoat - Paint deck (excluding future areas of antislip) with International Toplac (white)
12. Sand with 180 grit with orbital sander.
13. Second Topcoat - Paint deck (excluding future areas of antislip) with International Toplac (white)
14. Peel off tape and retape for antislip areas.
15. Do antislip areas with kiwi grip.
16. Peel off tape.
17. Replace deck hardware.

Questions
1. Do I need to use a primer first? If so what would be a suitable one (i.e. International Yacht Primer)? How much do I need to sand off the current paint?
2. Do I need to go all the way to the substrate or is it sufficient to leave the current paint in place? In many locations the current paint is very thick and sanding all the way to the substrate will take a lot of sanding. In other areas the current paint is thin and the substrate is already showing. See attached images.