Re: [Paddlewise] urethane paint for bottoms?

Kirk has summed it up very well. I have coated over 20 boats with both UA-75
and now UA-7000. Gaco has discontinued UA-75 and replaced it with UA-7000.

It is a very durable finish. Kirk is right I treat my boats very poorly in
an effort to determine how tough they are. I have six boats laying around
the yard that have been out doors in the shade, sun and under trees for up
to four years and no sign of UV deterioration. The have been routinely
dragged over rocks, mussles, sand and concrete without noticeable effect.

That does not mean it is indestructable. You can put a knife blade through
it but a sharpened stick is very difficult.

There is a slight yellowing and a dulling of the surface with time. I have
only used it over a precoat of ZAR exterior satin polyurethane to seal the
fabric. UA-7000 does not seal the fabric very well all by itself. The
precoat is necessary. I only put the UA-7000 below the gunwales.

As Kirk said it is very toxic - repeat very toxic. I use full ventilation of
the shop plus a fresh air supplied upper body breathing apparatus and air
tight clothing and gloves. I stay in the shop only as long as it takes to
coat 2 boats. Total time is about an hour. Then I get out and let the
UA-7000 dry and the shop air out.

It takes about a week to 10 days for the UA-7000 to cure. Up until it has
cured it can be damaged by contact. After that it is like iron.

It is not inexpensive, figure about $240 for 1 gal ea Part A and Part B. The
other problem is that once opened its shelf life is about 2 weeks.

Bill
-----Original Message-----
From: Kirk Olsen <kolsen_at_imagelan.com>
To: Norm Strutin <nbsnbsn_at_ibm.net>
Cc: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net <paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net>
Date: Wednesday, November 11, 1998 10:00 AM
Subject: Re: [Paddlewise] urethane paint for bottoms?


>On Tue, 10 Nov 1998, Norm Strutin wrote:
>
>> In addition to graphite impregnated epoxy, I've heard that urethane
>> paint has been used on hulls to reduce abrasion. Anybody have any
>> experience with this?
>
>Some of the folks on the baidarka mailing list are using aliphatic urethane
>on their boats.  I've seen a boat that had Gaco AU 7000 (I think that's
what
>it is) on polyester fabric and the finish was flexible, clear, and glassy
>smooth.  According to the builder the urethane is also very durable.  There
>were no scratches visible on his boats, he normally runs them right up
>onto the beach.
>
>The aliphatic urethane is also highly toxic.  They apply it using a fully
>hooded respirator with an external air supply.
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