Here are a couple of before and after views of the bow sprit. The new one made from a nice clear grain piece of Douglas fir. It started out as a 6ft 4x4 and got whittled down as you see to about 3x3 at the out board end with a power plane. It's about 1.5"x 3.5" round bit for the cranse iron to slide over. On this boat there are 2- 3/16 whisker stays and a heavy bob stay.

I added side decks to the sprit made from 2x6 white oak. They were glued and through bolted with 9/16 stainless all thread. I don't think they will fall apart any time soon. I sealed the entire thing with 6 coats of Glidden Porch and Floor paint. It's a one part polyurethane that I've used for a whole bunch of outdoor jobs and the stuff is about bullet proof.

Oh ya and its CHEAP like me.

Lets face facts,all linear polyurethanes are pretty much the same but the "marine" stores just charge the hell out of you for it. Don't get me wrong it ain't Algrip but you can paint your boats for the rest of your life for the difference in cost. ALL the commercial fishermen I worked with used it on their boats because its tough as nails and its cheap and comes in any colour they make at Home Depot.

I also used the same paint, tinted to my exact colour, on my decks. To get that extra grip I like I layed down 3 coats(allowing a day between to dry) covering the last coat with a heavy layer of Black Diamond Sand blasting media while it was still wet. Once it was completely dry, I blew the loose media off the boat with high pressure air and then painted over the "stuck down" media with 3 coats of the Glidden P&F tinted to "ChampagneSparkle".

This deck will be much to coarse for some people, but I like the extra grip when things get snotty. It is not nice to fall on and will remove skin if you do but you shouldn't slip at all. I wouldn't use it any place you sit, just the walking surfaces.

Geeze who names these colours anyway?