I have a new kevlar Q500X on the way. My current ride is a poly LiquidLogic Seneca. It must be pretty well built because I have never had to worry much about things such as tight straps doing damage during transport.
The folks at QCC don’t like rollers for composite boats so I will put padded saddles on both ends. They also said to let the materials cure for about a month before using any kind of protection on the surface.
Does anyone have additional composite tips to prevent me from doing something stupid on my first few trips?
Thanks
DaveJ
Congrats on your new ride
QCC hulls have areas where the glass is too thin for the Hully rollers to work. I like the Yakima Mako saddles, with the felt pads on them. The Mako Saddles are designed to have a base that flexes as you go over rougher roads. The saddle base flexes instead of your hull.
Is it Fiberglass, or the lighter weight Kevlar? My friend has a kevlar one, and it is lighter, and stronger in some ways. Be carefull when tightening the rack straps down on the kayak deck. My friend had the strap over the front of the cockpit combing, and when he tightened the strap the gelcoat and cloth cracked pretty badly right where the combing joins the deck. he said he called them and they said they would send him some gel coat, but they never did.
I am a big fan of “Star Brite Marine Polish with Teflon” for composite gel coat kayaks. This helps protect the gel coat from UV rays, and the Teflon makes the hull really easy to keep clean. 303 will work for UV protection, but it makes composite hulls feel greasy and smeary. I like it for Poly kayaks, but Star Bright is the thing for Composite.I did a review on this polish, so you can read it if you want more info.
Happy Paddling!
The QCC composite is one tough…
Yak.
I cinch ours (a 700 and a 600) down to my Yakima saddles as tight as I can get them, and this past winter they were on and off the truck roof almost every day for two months.
In my hast to get mine off the truck roof one day, I let it slip and it dropped from the height of the top of my F-150 4 x4, and all it did was break a piece of gel-coat about an inch wide by 3 inches long in the bottom of the bow.
A little two part epoxy, and some white auto spray paint, (advised by Phil) had it back to almost new looking and it is as good as new)
With that said, I wouldn’t drag it over a shell strewn beach like I used to do with my poly yak
Cheers,
JackL
Folks ofter overtighten
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especially the kind of folks who do not think they need to learn anything. I see folks advocating mechanically advantaged ratchet systems for boat strapping. Even the idea of using the one inch ones for a kayak makes me shudder! (great for tightening down air tanks on the back of my truck when I delivered gases though. Those tanks weighed about 150 pounds a piece and were metal).
I agree with the recommendation of felted mako saddles for your boat, if the bucks do not put you off. Othewise mako land sharks or anything with a bit of flex. Works for me. The makos are not so hot on hard chine boats though.
Enjoy your new boat, may she bear you with grace.
She will last you 20 years wiht a small bit of care so put some 303 on her later. Store out of the sun if you can. Keep your bow and sternn lines with a tiny bit of slack. if the bow line tightens, you are in trouble; stop Make sure you get aluminum rudder rails for your 500. IN high winds you'll want that rudder working.
A favorite boat on mine for big loads. surprisingly fast for a 23 inch beam, but that high volume makes it a bit rudder dependant in high winds
No Strap on the combing
The mistake my buddy made was to have the strap on the front edge of the cockpit combing itself. When he pulled the strap tight (No ratchet), it pulled the combing down into the deck, cracking the gelcoat and cloth. If he would have had the strap on the rounded section if the deck just in front of the combing, he would have been OK.
My previuos comment was to make hin aware to not do this.
Happy Paddling! 
DaveJ
Congradulations on your new QCC, I hope you like it as much as I like my 600 and 700.
I have Thule racks and have had no problems with the yaks riding on them
I snug the staps down well and have not seen any issues so far, and dont expect to. I dont have the miles or time that JackL has or others but Ive not seen a problem. I built storage racks and have a cradle under the hull near each of the bulkheads. (Phil sent a templet for me so that I could have the racks ready with the new boats.)
Ive had mine for about two months. Gelcoat does take some time to cure. This board seems to like either 303 or nothing for gelcoat. I have always used marine wax with UV block on boats with gelcoat and have done the same with the two QCCs.
happy paddling,
Mark
Beat the living hell out of it…
…at least for the first 30 days… find the weak points if any… you can return it… after that follow above… GH
Thanks
If I don’t kill it the first couple of times out, it will probably live forever.
I currently use 2 snug straps at each bulkhead rather than 1 tight. It sounds like the gel coat/kevlar is tougher than I imagined.
I also will be loading on top of a Ford F-150 4X but the missing 20 lbs should make it easier so I might not miss the rollers so much.
Star Brite Marine Polish with Teflon sounds like a pretty good idea and I will try it.
Thanks All
DaveJ
Yes to that
round surfaces avoid concentration of force. Sticking up surfaces get hammered down.
remembe: polish removes gelcoat
I’d just use a polymer based was first since the gel coat will be unoxidixed. Maybe starbrite makes one
Still waiting
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for my QCC400x and had the same question posted on the board last month.
http://www.paddling.net/message/showThread.html?fid=advice&tid=318073
I went out and got the marco saddles
www.marcosaddles.com
Very easy on/off instead of fighting with 4 saddles and lining them up.
Did you say let the gelcoat cure BEFORE doing the wax coat with the StarBrite? I was going the wax the boat the instant I got it home!
Wait a while
No need to polish a new boat!
Concerns over polish removing gel coat are way overblown. Starbrite is top notch. Polymer based and if abrasive at all - it’s very mild. It simply rubs on by hand and is wiped off when dry. Would take a crazy amount of applications to be an issue. Seeing how once or twice a year is more than enough - hardly a problem!
For chalky/faded decks/hulls - their rubbing compound for glass boats is great too. Some material removal with this of course - but quite minimal.
Hand work - not power tools!
Starbright does not use Abrasives
The Starbright Marine Polish with Teflon does not use abrasives to clean. It states this right on the bottle. Other than the first time I put the first coat on my deck, I have never had any colored gel coat residue on my applicator or polishing cloth.
I have no worries about is removing “good” gelcoat. I have been using it for 3 years now, and have had no problems at all.
There are so many positives with it, I feel safe using it.
Happy Paddling
AMEN!
I use it for the Extra UV protection is gives.
It makes my deck sparkle in the sun like I spent weeks buffing it.
Plus the teflon make it super easy to keep the “river scum” cleaned off of the hull.
You have to try it to believe how good it really is!
Happy Paddling!