Apparently, High Tech Fabric Guard by 303 Products is THE STUFF to restore the water repellency of Sunbrella boat canvas.

I sure hope so! My cockpit bimini top started leaking this summer. Not so much “leaking” as “the water soaks in instead of running off, and eventually starts dripping from the bottom of the fabric.”

So yeah, leaking, I guess. Anyway, I’ve just used up a whole 16-ounce, $18 spray bottle of the stuff I got from the helpful folks at Seattle Fabrics.

Sixteen ounces is supposed to coat 40-80 square feet for heavier fabrics. I guess I overdid it a little, since my top measures about 30 square feet. Oh well, what would I do with a leftover four ounces of this precious stuff?

By the way, I cleaned the fabric the day before, with Woolite in the washing machine on “delicates” cycle, as recommended by Sunbrella. I let it air-dry overnight, and through the first half of the day today. It’s windy, reasonably warm, and partly sunny today, so the magic spray should set up pretty well on the fabric.

Now, I’ll just let it dry. Four to 72 hours, depending on conditions. I’ll hang it in the carport and leave it until my next trip down to the marina. With school (and work!) starting up again this week, that’ll be at least 72 hours from now.

I learned about RejeX at the Seattle Boat Show last winter, and figured I’d give it a try as a window coating. It’s made by the same folks who produce CorrosionX, another magical concoction I’ve been using around the boat.

You know, sometimes these amazingly unbelievable coatings actually work as advertised. That appears to be the case with RejeX.

Here’s what I did yesterday morning while tied up in Prevost Harbor. I rinsed all the saltwater off, washed the windows with Windex, and then applied the Rejex as directed, to the port-side cabin window only. The starboard window only received the cleaning.

Here’s what I was NOT able to do as directed: I didn’t let it cure for 12 hours. We went out and put it to use immediately. After a bumpy crossing with lots of saltwater spray on both windows, you can see the difference:

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If this stuff really works as advertised, it’s going to be very very popular. The product is called Golden Shellback, and it claims to be…well…read for yourself:

Golden Shellback coating is a unique coating that protects critical operational equipment against damage and loss of function caused by exposure to weather and moisture. It is ideal for application in the electronics industry.

Golden Shellback coating produces a vacuum deposited film that is nonflammable, has low toxicity and has the ability to weatherproof electronic devices and other surfaces. It contains no volatile organic combustibles (VOCs). The clear, nearly non-detectable, uniform film is insoluble in solvents. When applied to clean, moisture free surfaces, such as plastic, copper, aluminum, metal, ceramic, steel, tin or glass, the coating is transparent with excellent weather proofing and anti-corrosion properties.

I have to say, it’s difficult to believe that it works, especially at the prices being discussed ($50-$75 for most phone/PDA devices) but people I take seriously say they’ve seen it with their own eyes, and it’s not a trick.

I’ll be keeping an eye on this. So will Ben over at Panbo.

Normally I try to include illustrative photographs demonstrating some compelling aspect of my topic for the day. This time, I’m just TOO EMBARASSED to show you my trim tabs.

Suffice to say that they look like a hands-on exhibit at the aquarium.

So one of these days Real Soon Now, I’m going to pull this boat out of the water and clean up those trim tabs.

But then what? Well, I’m hopeful that a can of Pettit 1792 Zinc Coat Barnacle Barrier (available at Fisheries Supply) will do the trick! Apparently, this product provides a protective “coat” of “zinc”, creating a “barrier”, if you will, against “barnacles”.

That’s my understanding, anyway. Actually, there’s a nice information sheet available from Pettit.

Anybody have any experience with this product?

I’ve learned about several interesting and useful products recently. See, my foredeck hatch started leaking, so I removed the hatch frame from the deck, which required persistence, patience, and the misuse of several plastic utensils from the galley. Here’s a photo I took during the process, showing some exposed (and wet!) balsa core:

But hey, I got the hatch frame out without damaging it or the boat! Then I protected the gaping hole in the foredeck from the elements by taping the hatch (without the frame) back in place over the opening:

Once everything was exposed, I had Aaron come over and take a look at it. (more…)

The other day when Tim was working on his foredeck hatch leak on the C-Dory, I suggested some super tape I’ve used for temporary leak protection. Tim got directed to some high-grade duct tape that promises to minimize the horrible, near permanent residue from regular duct tape. I was actually thinking of another product, 3M Preservation Sealing Tape, which costs-an-arm-and-a-small-piece-of-a-leg, like you’d expect of any good, marine-grade product (ahem). Its intended use is to supplement those plastic shrink wrap jobs that some folks use to store or transport boats. 3M claims that it comes off a year later without residue. It’s tough and thicker than most tapes. I’ve left it on surfaces in Mexico for a year, and from experience can say that it eventually crumbles in intense direct sunlight, and will leave a little yellowish stain on white fiberglass. It sticks very well to smooth surfaces and seals pretty well, but it does not stick well on rough surfaces like non-skid. (more…)

Duct tape…it’s great, ain’t it?

Well, it’s great for a while. On a boat in saltwater, it’s good for about a week or two, and then you better remove it and replace it with something more permanent. Otherwise, it gets kinda yucky. It leaves sticky residue behind, and DANG but it can be difficult to remove that crud. If you leave it down for months, it gets even yuckier, very much like the image on the right:

Equal Weathering Exposure
3M Performance Duct Tape with clean removal	Typical duct tape with residue and degradation

But wait, what’s the product on the left? That’s 3M Performance Plus Duct Tape! THIS is duct tape for boaters! 3M makes two significant claims about this product: (more…)

In the last several years, the toxicity of antifouling paints has been shown to damage the marine environment significantly. Governments, led by the European Union, have begun to outlaw the worst offenders, such as tributyl tin (TBT), and now even copper compounds. Surprisingly, the U.S. lags in this area, though TBT is no longer widely available. While many sailors are great lovers of the natural world, when barnacles, tubeworms and weeds start to cover the hull, the first impulse seems to be to wish for the good old days when TBT would keep the bottom clean for four years straight. Never mind that these compounds have been implicated in the decline of New England’s shellfish beds for starters.

How has the market responded to the problem? Rather shoddily in my opinion. Ablative paints, which continually shed a little of their surface are one example. If anything, an even larger amount of toxic material is released by these paints. Marinas in the Pacific Northwest are now forbidding scrubbing the bottom of a boat with an ablative paint because of the buildup of poisonous particles.

Another approach has been the introduction of strong biocide paint additives like Irgarol, which was accumulating so rapidly in environment that the European Union has been moving to ban it, too. There’s hope, though, in the form of innovations such as Epaint’s EP2000, which was developed with support from the Coast Guard (a major consumer of bottom paints). EP2000 slowly releases hydrogen peroxide, which decays harmlessly into water, and has shown to be as effective as the antifouling industry leaders in testing by Practical Sailor. What’s more, EP2000 is a waterborne formulation with no VOCs, and is much safer to apply than traditional bottom paints. Epaint has developed a number of variations, including one for metal boats—particularly pertinent as the current generation of copper-based paints create corrosion problems when applied to aluminum and steel. It’s great news the companies like Epaint are actually innovating in this area. I’m looking forward to trying it out on my boat.