Case Study
2018 28′ Whitewater

One of Glidecoat's goals when discussing a marine coating application with a boat owner is to understand the problems they are trying to solve. For Joe's boat, he wanted to remove the oxidization from the surface, add a higher level of protection, given he does not have a cover for the boat and help reduce his maintenance on the non-skid, metals, engine casings and the remaining flat fiberglass.

If you are researching the possibility for a marine coating application, one of the best times to get the application is when the boat is brand new, or just a few years old. In this instance, the application does not require extensive restoration work and helps minimize the cost.

For this particular project, we had a few areas of concern, such as the gunwale rails that were already showing a medium level of oxidization with the gloss meter readings registering in the low 30's. Typically, the gunwales are one of the worst areas on a boat for sun damage and require several restoration steps and a added layer of marine coating to protect this area moving forward.

Marine Coating Process

Considering this particular boat had varying gloss meter readings in areas across the boat, we had to adjust our restoration process based on particular sections. For instance, with the noticeable oxidization along the gunwales, we had to complete a 7 step marine coating application process. This included the use of wool pad and medium compound, then downgrading to two additional buffing steps with our Rupes polisher.

Joe does not currently have a cover for his boat and due to the gunwales are a highly sun exposed area, we applied three coats of the marine coating to this section to provide high level of protection to fight off oxidization.

5 Step Marine Coating Process To Remaining Areas

For the remaining areas on the boat, that had gloss meter readings in the 60's to the 70's, we could use our 5 step marine coating process by buffing the surface twice with our medium grade nano compound, followed by our nano polish to bring those gloss meter readings back and beyond factory new before proceeding forward with the marine coating.

As you will see below, the boat turned out amazing!

After completing the restoration steps and applying the 28' Whitewater marine coating, the gloss meter readings jumped from as low as 31 to all the way up to 102. Just as a frame of reference, typically brand new boats will have gloss meter readings in the mid 80's!

Another key advantage to the marine coating and the application process is the consistency in the shine across the entire boat. Before starting the project, the gloss meter readings were registering all over the place. A few examples, include;

31 on the gunwale rails
63 on the hull sides
67 on the gunwale walls

After the marine coating process, all of the gloss meter readings jumped into the 90's and our highest included 102 on the hull.