16ft kayak

[weaponhead]

I have almost finished a 16ft Hartley kayak sheeted in hoop ply with hoop framing.
the whole thing is basically glued together with epoxy using temporary fastenings to hold things inplace until the glue sets. I have used all Bote coat products and am pretty happy with them particularly the epoxy glue. Everything has had 3 coats of epoxy, the hull then had three coats of primer (aquacote) and 4 coats of aquacote blue. The deck and cockpit will be done with aquacote clear. I am not one hundred percent happy with the finish that I have on the hull I used a foam brush all previous coats were applied using foam roller.
Has anyone used aquacote if so what techniques did you use any hints or advise most appreciated before I attack the topsides.
Cheers MG

[thumpergman]

sorry no advise but your build sounds great any show off photos
cheers

[wolf]

I used the same products on my Redfish 'King' cedar strip kayak. What about the finish are you not happy with, I was disappointed that I couldn't get a decent gloss finish - turns out the aquacote is a matte or satin finish. I used an airless spray gun for the last few coats, which gave me a nice even and smooth finish......but not gloss


Wolf

[Dave Brewer]

How have you found it Wolf-is it durable,sun and scratch resistant -I've been curious about Aquacote since I first heard about it.
Cheers,
Dave.

[wolf]

Hi Dave,

My Kayak has had a fairly hard life over the last 4 years, it's due for a recoat this year. The finish has held up reasonably well, it seems to have performed as it should although I'm no expert in things marine, the kayak was my first boay build. I wont be using aquacoat on my current project (Snapper Boat) because I'm after a gloss finish.

Wolf

[Dave Brewer]

Is that David Payne's Snapper Boat?There are I think four of his Yellowtails on this forum(including mine),where are you up to with your project?
Dave

[wolf]

Yes, the Payne Snapper boat. Have had a few distractions (work) but almost ready to turn the hull over. Still hoping to get it in the water this summer. I started a thread a few months back, haven't updated it.

[anewhouse]

I've used Aquacote as UV protection for the epoxy on five strip built kayaks. The oldest one is about 7 years old. I recoated it about 3 years ago just because I thought I should, not because there was any obvious deterioration.

My two year old kayak would average about three or four hours a week on the water and half an hour to an hour in the sun on the car. It shows no signs of needing to be recoated yet. So it seems to stand up to the sun well enough. It also seems to be pretty tough.

I don't know the secret of a perfect finish. I just work on the principle that as soon as a few drops of water splash on the deck, any imperfections in my finish are not apparent. I don't mind a satin finish. It makes imperfections harder to see. :q

The finish in the attached photo may not be perfect, but it's good enough for me.

[weaponhead]

I will put some pictures on soon.
I found the finish to be glossy enough (certainly not matt) but it just did not seem to level out once applied, the marks off the foam brush stayed pretty visible. It dries very quickly almost as soon as applied I was aware of this and used it early in the morning but still it was like it dried too quickly to even out.
Having said all this it is a kayak that I hope to get a lot of use out of with my kids and I am sure it will get plenty of scratches etc so is it really that important?