ferongard vs 303 ? any thoughts

-- Last Updated: Jul-21-09 2:17 PM EST --

i can't find the 303 in my area...i found ferongard which sounds like the same thing, has anyone used this ferongard or should i just get 303 online?
the application sounds the same.this is for my new bright yellow kayak.

thanks in advance.

Poly kayak, or composite?
If composite, consider a yacht wax with UV inhibitors. Stays on longer.



I’ve used both. 303 really should be polished down after applying, or some of it will slough off into the water. Yacht waxes (I use one from 3M) actually don’t need to be polished down, but they look great if you do!

Another option
MaxGlide Speedwax $13

A little goes a long way. Works great on anything from kayaks to polish and shine but also to make slick as all get out. Significantly reduces ring around the kayak at the waterline. Have a customer here in town that uses it on his RV to help keep the bug splat to a minimum as the stuff is basically liquid teflon.



Oh, found out, don’t spill it on tile floor. Makes quite a slick that stubbornly doesn’t sponge up.



See you on the water,

Marshall

The River Connection, Inc.

Hyde Park, NY

www.the-river-connection.com

uv screen ?
does this product have it?

it’s the p+h scorpio
new material…is it corlight? or something like that, it’s not composite but not poly either. does this require lots of elbow grease? and does it keep the rubber pliable? how often would you have to use it? sorry for so many questions- i just am trying to avoid buying something and then i have to get something different.

High quality boat waxes such as 3M
(liquid or paste) will work fine on any surface. I’m afraid I can’t tell you how good a UV screen is provided by the various products. The manufacturers seem not to have provided the data.

Marine waxes
or a high quality carnauba wax like Mother’s or Meguiar. Something new - Turtle Wax ICE a polymerbased polish w. UV inhibitors that is meant for metal, fglass, rubber and plastic. It comes in liquid and paste, I used the latter.



Corelite is a sandwich version of plastic so that’s what you want to protect,plus you have rubber hatches and other rubber fittings. Unlike traditional waxes TW ICE can be applied in direct sunshine and comes off easily w/out going hard and crumbly.



I just polished my car and my composite boats with it and rate it outstanding. Repeated coats just bury clearcoat scratches on my car and filled in slight gelcoat scratches on my kayaks as well. Plus it has held up beautifully going on 10 days soaked in the water. (the kayaks, I mean).



As for 303, it’s a great product to use a few times a year, and very sparingly, on rubber hatch covers and any other rubber fittings to keep them hydrated and flexible.



Please do not be one of those who put on way too much and/or soak every sq. inch of their boats in 303. Marine wax or ICE will give many more treatments over a longer time (thus lower cost per treatment) and, more importantly to me, these products do not release a viscous slurry of nearly liquid petroleum distillates like an overuse of 303 does. As paddlers it seems natural that we should care what we discharge into the water and around aquatic life.


But, waxes and polishes are so much
more work to apply than 303. At least I find Starbright Marine Polish to be much more work to apply than 303 and I can never get all of the white polish off of the black lettering and trim on my boats.



I do try to get any excess 303 off of the boats.



Sadly, I rarely treat my boats with anything and the pond scum / algae really sticks to the surface of the gel. I do usually use my bilge sponge to remove the pond scum / alge from the boat after each use before loading on my car. Since I got the 35 lb or less boats, I don’t leave them on the car as much when not paddling - easier to put away and get out of the garage.

I don’t find 303 easier to polish.
And the marine wax I’m using has no whitish residue, so I don’t have to polish it. Boat slides off rocks better if I don’t polish.

Bottom coating
Reading the bottle in front of me;



“MAXGLIDE for Sailboards is the performance enhancing Bottom Coating Formula that combines the extremely hydrophobic nature and super low coefficient nature of PTFE in a patented liquid form.”



No UV but theoretically you’ll go faster and not have stuff stick to your hull.



See you on the water,

Marshall

The River Connection, Inc.

Hyde Park, NY

www.the-river-connection.com

so many choices
and we don’t even have sun in nh…don’t know why i’m worried. hmmm. fast is nice though. i wish one would do it all.