I know that Bell’s “white gold” and “black gold” have been discussed repeatedly on this Board and I know that CW has written the definitive posts on each of them. However, a P-net search on “White Gold” turned up nothing. The Google results were more about boats than about the lay-ups.
Please forgive me for bringing this up yet again … what is white gold? And, is there any reason to be leery about decade old ‘white gold’ with unknown storage history. Does “white gold” warrant a price premium in a used boat market?
I have a Magic in the WG layup…
– Last Updated: Nov-20-09 6:50 PM EST –
This boat blushes when moisture is trapped under a pad for any period of time longer than a couple hours. It's unbelievable to me that a canoe, especially one the quality of a Bell, could be made of a material that has a chemical reaction from water that leaves a whiteish film that won't come off very easily unless wiped down with acetone. For Pete's sakes, it's a canoe that is intentionally made to come in contact with water. Fortunatly, I got a pretty good deal on it when I bought it used but I'm still pretty peeved about it. I've been told not to use the acetone to remove the blush as it will weaken the material with continued applications of the acetone so now I just put up with it and try to wipe the moisture up whenever I'm done paddling it. It's a 2004 model.....
Merlin White Gold
I have a Bell Merlin II in White Gold. I’m quite happy with it. Obviously, it is heavier than the Black Gold or Kev Lite layups, but it seems significantly tougher and is still, for me, a very manageable weight.
I have had the blushing with water pooling in the interior but I haven’t considered it much of an issue. I let the canoe dry out thoroughly, and if I want to get rid of any residual blush, I spray a very small amount of 303 Protectant on it and wipe it down and it is gone.
Had the UL layup
and it too had splotches of blush. A 2000 model.
Never bothered me…my boats do not get babied and I can make them look bad all by myself after a week or rocks and bogs and portages.
man Rick, no way you can live with that
That’s got to drive you bonkers. How do you sleep?
Send me your price and I’ll see if I can get you out of this mess. There’s no way you can live with it.
All bell hulls from early- mid 90s on
– Last Updated: Nov-23-09 6:15 AM EST –
Maybe 95 on, were, maybe are, made w/ Co-Rez 5000, a vinyl ester resin. It was too much trouble to stock separate quantities of Iso-Poly for the glass boats.
The white blush, which is also a terrible thing to do to Zinfindel, thereby affects all Bell boats in any laminate.
Of Bell's laminates, the Carbon/Kevlar hybrid Black/Gold is far and away the toughest, followed by the Glass/Kevlar hybrid white, initially two glass layers and one Kev with partials, later one glass with two Kevlar layers with partials. Kev/Crystal -Kev/Lite has always been the lightest but also the most fragile option; rather perfectly aligned with American purchasing practice[s].
Blushing
My Wildfire and Flashfire are 93 & 94 boats and have never had blushing like the newer boats.
The WhiteGold of this vintage has proven to be very tough and durable…I highly recommend the WG as a good lay-up.
I’ve seen something similar
I have a Merlin II in Kev-Light. It has white coloration all over the place inside the hull, especially where I put my kneeling pad. Here’s where we differ: I’ve never tried to clean it off or make it go away. It doesn’t affect how the boat works, so I’ve ignored it, but I didn’t know until now that it was the result of some kind of chemical reaction. Now that I know (roughly) what causes it, I’ll have to… um, just keep ignoring it like I did before.
Modern Substatute
Hemlocks less expensive laminate is a modern day sub for Bell’s White/Gold, improved via using all cloth and dropping the core mat cookie. Yeah, prices have gone up, but if one espouses E glass and Kev in combo, Hemlock is the best bet going.
CEW in his days
before teh canoe business.
Jim