I used those adhesive strip and rounded the ends to avoid having a sharp corner that inevitably lifts up. Even then, the edges started to curl. I simply put a tiny bit of super glue on with a toothpick and pressed them down. If you are careful, you won't have any excess glue come out and the edges will stay put. Worked for me.

Ours had heavy rubber pads with a diamond pattern on them glued down. I pulled them off carefully when I stripped and refinished the stairs and then when finished I glued them back down using plain ordinary contact cement. Three years later and they're still doing OK. The stairs however, not so much. It's another thing I wish was not teak, it's a beautiful piece of furniture but not up to the wear and sun beating they get.

These may be what you have? http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|2276179|2276198|2276203&id=1495827

I stripped and revarnished my ladder a winter or 2 ago, and just used the stick on strips. I think my next step will be these. That stuff is supposed to last a long time as deck non=skid, so I'd think it would work well for the ladder.

That does look like what we have Gary. Good to know where it is available.

Have a look in the Upgrades section of the Technical tab for Steve Jones' upgrade to Malena's companion way steps. Steve routed out a recess on each step and inserted Sand White colored Treadmaster. I have done the same on Allez Yukon, except I used Teak colored Treadmaster. Hope this helps.

[QUOTE=windward1;20463]Also I think I read where Tom Soko filled the groves of the stairs with a bead of silicone to prevent the groves from filling with dirt and make them less slippery.

I am wondering what other people have done.
[/QUOTE]
I copied Soko's idea (and many others of his!), and it did make the steps a little less slippery, but not as much as I'd hoped. After 2 years, some of it has come loose and will have to be redone. Looks nicer than the Treadmaster (IMO), but I'm thinking of going that way next time I redo them, out of safety concerns....

My main goal is to get non-skid on the front edges of the steps. Coming down the ladder, that's where I tend to slip. I've been able to wrap the stick on non-skid over the edge, but I don't know how flexible the Treadmaster is yet; have to get my hands on a piece to check. I'd need to get a smaller trim/palm router to route a recess, as my full size routers would not get very close to the sides (a good excuse for a new tool :rolleyes:).

I've seen other boats at shows that have Treadmaster or a similar product built into their companionway ladders, so I guess I could get used to the look.

I have heard of using sand, crushed walnut shells and other things in deck paint for non-skid. Applied using a sift of some sort. I'm not sure if varnish would hold it as well as paint, but have nothing to back that up. I've used an antiskid paint on the ramp that goes into my workshop; has some sort of 'grit' in it, not sure what. It didn't hold up well, but probably due more to weather than wear.

I'd try it on a piece of scrap and see how it looks after it hardens. Please report back if you do so.

My steps had black non skid strips glued on. Not pretty and really not all that effective. I removed them. After sanding the steps and scraping the grooves routed into each step, which I assume was the non skid scheme from the factory, I decided to try a little different approach. I had looked at several non skid products and frankly didn't quite like the looks of them, so...
I cut some strips of beech wood which I glued into the factory routed grooves. These strips are the width and length of the groove and stand proud of the groove about an eighth of an inch after glueing in place. I think that any dense, fine graned wood would work fine, I had a little piece of beech but feel that maple would have worked or the traditional holly if you can find it.
These steps grip your shoes nicely and work well with bare feet and feel comfy to walk on.
The light color of the beech contrasts well with the steps.

One of the earliest Tech Notes I read (circa 1896-87) when we bought our boat in 1998 was to fill those grooves with Minwax wood filler. We bought a little can of it, same color as the holly on the sole, still going strong.

Wow, Stu,

You ARE old!!! :-)

"One of the earliest Tech Notes I read (circa 1896-87)"

And my typing fingers are dyslexic, too. :D

Richard, no, as I recall she just used a putty knife. It did swell up a tiny bit though, although that doesn't seem to add to traction. The thing to remember is that while our steps are very similar, the entryway itself is vastly different on our two boats. We have sloped teak on both sides of our steps with single loop handrails, plus the one on the sliding hatch. You folks have essentially a wide open space to port down to the galley and IIRC your steps are a lot steeper than ours. Hence the good ideas for extra traction, don't know where you'd find a place for an extra single handrail. I've never had any issues with slippery steps, where I could well see that you C36 skippers would. Another example is our C34 Mark IIs, which do not have the sliding hatch handrail, and when I'm on friends' boats, I find I really miss it. I guess I got used to what we have on our boat. I find I use one or two all the time. So far, so good. :eek:

What I have done on my boat is have the First Mate make some pads out of indoor/outdoor carpet and then, I mounted them to each step. We found the bare wood would be come slippery when wet. I tried to upload a photo but the file size exceeded the max size.