Glossy or non-skid varnish on deck, and CPES or West over vaneer deck?

[mitchflick]

Howdy all, I've got 2 issues:
I'm redoing the deck of my 24' wooden runabout and trying to decide whether I need to do a non skid surface for the bow. The deck had a vinyl top which I removed and am replacing with mahogany plywood which I will either CPES and varnish or West or MAS expoxy and varnish (could use some help deciding between those two processes as well). Generally I will be the only one going up on the bow to grab the mooring penant and secure to the cleet, or anchor, and its only a few steps to get to that point, and I would rather maintain a nice glossy finish, but wonder if I am being a little to impractical in not doing something with a non-skid additive

[Thorne]

Photos of the bow area? How many joints / rails / fittings / leak-points are we talking here?

Personally I'd be tempted to try the CPES and varnish, as you can always remove the varnish and coat with epoxy later -- plus epoxy can crack under movement that CPES and varnish should handle without cracking.

Let's see what the more experienced folks say...

[JimD]

I'd fiberglass the plywood, then varnish. The glass will keep you from ever wearing through the very thin top veneer of ply which is essential to maintain in pristine condition for aesthetic purposes. A very light weight cloth will do.