Hear Hear!!
Thank You KennyMac
I recently bought my first 'glass boat and wondered the same thing. Good to know it ain’t just me… misery loving company and all.
When the deck get’s real ugly I think I’ll just spray some grey primer on it. Who needs glare?
Given the rest of your post,
I would think the drinking would slow you down ;-).
" With all of that it keeps winning me medals, ribbons and plaques."
I have often
wondered why they do not add some gelcoat to the resin to color it a little. It would prevent the sratches for looking so bad it the resin was the same color as the gelcoat. Scratches would then not show up as a white scar
Jack…
Stay away from my boat! 
I don’t think that works
– Last Updated: Jul-24-07 11:06 PM EST –
First of all, I think you mean you want them to add the same coloring to the resin as they put in the gelcoat. Gelcoat would be a lousy material to mix with resin, and I don't think you'd want that.
Now to address your ponderings. My guideboat and packboat have no gelcoat (the builder doesn't like the stuff because it's so darned heavy), so they color the hull by putting pigment in the resin. The coloring looks wonderful; it fooled me into thinking there was a gelcoat layer for quite some time. You'd think that scratches wouldn't show up so well, but they do (another reason I thought the boats were gelcoated). The scratches look white at first glance, but they are really a lot brighter version of the base color. I can't tell you why this is, but I can vouch for the fact that tinting the resin does very little to hide scratches.
I might comment that I'm another who's not too concerned about the appearance of the hull. I do take steps to avoid scratching the boat, but though I'm kind of fussy in that regard, I can't say it's because I think scratches "look bad". In fact, early this spring I patched a bunch of scratches in the epoxy-graphite coating on the part of the hull which takes the shape of the "bottom board" on wood versions of such boats, and then I used the leftover mix to fill some scratches on the uncoated part of the hull too. Thus, instead of some of the scratches being whitish green, they are now black!
so roll it
the wetness gives it a nice shine and makes all scratches go away while wet.
A dry deck is a wasted deck!
An unscratched kayak is similarly superfluous!
CALL THE MANUFACTURER
– Last Updated: Jul-26-07 12:20 AM EST –
and ask them to make you a rotomolded QCC 600P.
P = polyethylene
It just might work
Two years ago my wife called them and asked them to make a smaller QCC.
They did and asked her to help in the design.
She did and now has the “baby QCC”
Cheers,
jack L
that’s funny
– Last Updated: Jul-26-07 8:38 AM EST –
a QCC equivalent of the discontinued Alto or plastic Dagger Cortez.
For JackL…
Here is what you are looking for. I have used it on four boats now, and it comes in clear and textured black. The tape conforms to curved hull shapes nicely, holds up to abuse, etc.
Trimbrite BodyGuard TRIT9020series 1 13.95 Color = Black Textured (#TRIT9021)
Protection Film
You can get it from Autobarn.com website. I would use the clear version of it only on wooden boats as it tend to show air bubbles(?) through it. Black textured looks and works very nice.
By the way - my brand new, pristine, Impex Outer Island ocean cockpit boat is no longer pristine. I have now run it over a barely submerged log and likewise submerged rock so the bottom is definitely scratched. OH - and my OI OC is BLACK DECK, BLACK TRIM, and BLACK hull.Yup - when its wet you don’t see them, but painful to see when dry.
I hit them a bit with rubbing compound and noted that they did dull the white shine somewhat. My next attempt is a nice, new, black SHARPIE!!!
Yes, I am slightly anal about my boats!
OH - AS a side note. I also found (on Autobarn.com also) a two inch wide auto protection strip (very thick) tape for a keel strip. WOW - it REALLY works GOOD!! The only challenge is to keep it from wrinkling when I go up the curve of the bow and stern. Maybe if I heat it very slightly it will flex easier? But, when I went over that submerged rock - it took the brunt of the full-length scraping at 4kts and doesn’t show any wear from the rock!! This stuff is great!
Scott
Thank you sir
do you happen to know what width(s) it comes in?
JackL
Protective tape widths
Jack
The deck protective tape is 6 inches wide (really perfect width) and I use two strips in front of the cockpit and one strip at the bow and stern paddle holding points and a strip behind the cockpit for entry.
As to the keel strip protective tape (thick stuff) it comes in the perfect size of 2 inches wide x 16 feet long, which is perfect for my 18 foot long OI.
Ain’t life grand? This tape for the keel is tough as nails, costs a few bucks (vice keel strip cost) and adds little/no weight to boot!
Scott
My Good Man
How could you possibly be so anal about your boats? I wouldn’t have an inkling what that must be like at all. Maybe an intervention is in order…
M
*BTW-I have Sharpies in every color of the ROYGBIV spectrum…
Me, anal???
You said it man!
However, how COULD I be anal about my boats and still order black over black, knowing that EVERY scratch, scrape, nick, chip, etc SHOWS UP so darned brightly???
Well, I bought 1500 grit wetsand paper, of course ----
And I am going to test it tonight…lets see, water, sand some, when scratch is smoother then use rubbing compound to smooth that up more, then wax that to smooth it up more…then buff up with a cloth…then c-a-r-e-f-u-l-l-y turn the boat over and check the deck…
heheheheheheheheh…
S
Alto?
Wow. Somebody else knows about the Alto. We have two of them and they are great boats. I wish they would bring them back with bulkheads and hatches. I know they would sell.
When I bought my 700 I was surprised at how similar it was to the Alto. Maybe the Alto was just ahead of it’s time.
Invest in a power buffer…
…makes things so much easier fore us anal ones…
Just sandblast the whole thing…
… and be done with it!