For those that know marine fiberglass work
 

I'm looking for suggestions from those that have any experience doing fiberglass work on boats.

I'm putting a new floor in my boat and I've been contemplating what to do for a covering. Its a 15' chrysler charger with an outboard motor so I dont have to worry about a cowling. The floor is plywood, about 5'x10', and I just finished ripping the existing vinyl off the floor. I want to put something on the floor that is not too slippery when wet, but am trying to shy away from any outdoor carpet because it holds dirt and will stay damp forever. I'm trying to shy away from anything that might feel like 24 grit sandpaper just in case people want to sit on the floor.

At first I was contemplating finding a textured linoleum to put on the floor, but recently a friend mentioned that I could simply cover the floor in resin, then add crushed walnut shells into it to add grip. Has anyone ever done this type of project with good results? If you have other ideas on how to build a floor with decent, I'd like to hear those as well.

Crushed Walnut shells may work, but how good can it really look? I would suggest start collecting seashells or little pebbles or something small that you can embed in the surface of the resin. You could also try some sort of rubber floor covering instead.

How about truck bed liner paint, that texurized tough stuff. They sell it walmart and auto zone. The only down side of it would be is that it is black and would be hot as shit on your feet, but you could use it as your base and then coat it with a high quality enamel paint in a light color.
Lowes sells a two part epoxy paint for garage floors that is lighter in color and super tough.
Resin is expensive and not fun to work with.

You should get a light-colored Line-X spray-on truck bed liner. Even though it's a more expensibe than the spray cans, it's way more durable and they'll even mix custom colors for you.

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Astroturf?

Dunno, I have a friend that does boat repair for a living, but that is the best thing I can suggest given your restrictions.

mmmmresin with crushed wallnut shells sound like 24 grit sandpaper to me !! :)

I was just looking for diamond plate rubber flooring to line my toolbox drawers and make a top surface for the bottom cabnett, maybe something like that would work. it seems it's a hassel to get though. it's black too and would get hot as hell in the summer...nevermind

I can't think of many non-skid surfaces I'd want to sit on in a bathing suit.

Thanks to everyone who replied. What I finally decided to do was to buy hard enamel grey deck paint, and mix floor texture into it before painting with it. This was sort of a compromise, as I really wanted to put the non-skid surface into the resin so it would last longer. The reason I considered the walnut shells was so I could at least sand them down if it was too rough since walnuts are softer than the grit on the sandpaper.

At least with the paint, if I don't like it, I can strip it off easier than the resin. I put it on today, and so far, its not bad. I'm also going to use strips of outdoor carpet on sections of the floor, which is also a compromise. The carpet will be removable though as I hate the idea of it always being damp.

I guess there's not always a perfect solution when there are so many restrictions. Thanks again.

sand is good
shredded rubber is also good
saw dust works also
dont need to go overboard, apply while first deck coat is tacky then paint over when dried
try them all on small bits of scrap wood about bum size

check out saftey supply places , they have anti slip pads , if i remember right they come in all different shades , sizes and widths