John, West Marine would have everything you need. Just about any marine finish restorer would do fine on your deck, as long as it says on the label that it's safe for gelcoat. I once used a gelcoat restorer/rubbing compound on an old kayak (A necky, in fact) that had been stored outdoors in the sun for years, and it looked great when I was done. In fact, it's owner said they'd loan me a boat anytine I asked if they were going to come back looking that good. A good quality marine wax over the top will help keep it looking good. Look for something with UV protection listed on the label. As to your keel, you have two options: Gelcoat, or a keel strip. Personally, I use a keel strip made from epoxy thickened with fumed silica. It's tougher than gelcoat, and can be pigmented to match your hull if you like. Myself, I'm more concerned with performance than appearance. Many of my friends are now also adding graphite powder to the mix, to improve the life of the strip by making it less susceptible to abrasion. It does give you a black keel, though. Either epoxy or polyester resin will work, but my experience has shown that the epoxy strip lasts longer. YMMV. Wayne -- Wayne Smith wsmith16_at_charter.net Check out my website! http://webpages.charter.net/wsmith16/home.html *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Tue Jul 31 2007 - 05:27:43 PDT
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:31:25 PDT