Repair, Tools & Materials

Sticking to a regular boat bath regimen not only keeps a boat looking good, but it also helps protect it from unnecessary, accelerated wear and tear. Practical Sailor tested a cross-section of 13 products-aerosol sprays, gels, powders, and liquids-advertised as either boat soaps or wash-n-waxes to find out which one was the best grime buster and which one left topside wax intact. The test lineup included products from well-known marine maintenance manufacturers-Star brite, Interlux, Woody Wax, Nautical Ease, 3M, Sudbury, and Marykate-as well as some familiar in the automotive and home cleaning industries-Mothers, Ecover, Eagle One, and K2r.

Our topside-paint test panels have endured three full years of 24/7 exposure to the elements. Testers have regularly scrutinized the paint samples and rated the topside coatings on gloss retention, flow out, scratch resistance, and anti-oxidation ability. In this final round of evaluating, we also compared the panel results with the products real-world performances aboard our test boats over the last three-plus years. Top performers in the Practical Sailor tests included one-part urethane paints from Interlux, Epifanes, and Pettit, which all delivered handling convenience and a surprisingly long-lasting finish. The best two-part hull paints offered the most durability; picks in this group included coatings from Awlgrip, Interlux, and Sherwin-Williams, a good choice for the budget conscious boat owner.

Just about every sailboat owner has at some point mixed up a batch of epoxy to fill a hole, glue parts back together, or tackle an extensive project. Practical Sailor testers evaluated four marine epoxy resins based on their mechanical properties (strength, adhesion, hardness, and flexibility) and key handling attributes such as wet-out, sag, curing, and overall handling. We tested West 105 Epoxy Resin, MAS Flag Resin, Raka UV-inhibited epoxy, and Interlux’s Epiglass HT-9000.

Technical Editor Ralph Naranjo equates spare time with boat projects. His basement shop/test facility has spawned a wide range of boats, boards, and parts for bigger boats. The two latest are test platforms for long-term evaluation of the resins and materials looked at in this round of epoxy evaluation.

Technical Editor Ralph Naranjo equates spare time with boat projects. His basement shop/test facility has spawned a wide range of boats, boards, and parts for bigger boats. The two latest are test platforms for long-term evaluation of the resins and materials looked at in this round of epoxy evaluation.

The trick is to choose the right one. Some sealants get hard enough to sand or drill, and others stay supple. Some will stick to anything; others pull away from glass and certain plastics. Some will writhe and stretch as your boat "works." Others crack. And some, designed for household use, won't hold up in the harsh heat, cold, wind, and ultraviolet your boat is subject to. We recently took a look at a range of the most common types in the August 2010 issue. If you've got a teak deck to caulk, then our test of teak deck caulks can be found in the October 2008 issue.

Boat owners looking to put some stick back into a slip-and-slide deck have a few options: apply a deck paint with a nonskid additive or glue sections of specialized nonskid mat to the deck. Choosing which type of nonskid is the right one for your boat makeover is a balancing act between aesthetic taste, traction needs, and budget. Practical Sailor tested 11 commercially available nonskid options that the average boat owner can easily apply: one paint with no filler media, five paints ready mixed with nonskid compounds, three nonskid additives that testers mixed with two-part topside paints, and two nonskid mats (one is self-adhesive, and one is glued on with an epoxy). All of the products can be applied to fiberglass, wood, or metal. Manufacturers included Pettit (Kop- Coat), Epifanes, AkzoNobel (Interlux and Awlgrip), West Marine, Pachena (KiwiGrip), Durabak, Tiflex (Treadmaster), and SeaDek. Using some creative bench tests, we evaluated how much traction, grip, and drag resistance each offered; we also rated how easy the products were to apply, how uniform the grit was, and how easy they were to clean.

A good DIY nonskid offers effective traction (obviously) and is easy to apply, easy to clean, durable, and gentle enough on knees and elbows that a foredeck monkey won’t leave blood stains behind. Testers focused on these criteria during bench testing, and when considering final ratings, we weighed the results according to their importance. For example, a product that had great grip but was hard to clean rated better overall than one that was easy to clean but offered no traction. This was a fairly close race, so we used a plus-minus system in the ratings (see accompanying Value Guide)—something we don’t often do—as every point mattered.

Formerly the manager of a full-service boat yard, Practical Sailor Technical Editor Ralph Naranjo offers a survey of the tools he can’t live without. His toolbag is chocked full, and a peek inside finds saws, trimmers, planers, grinders, belt sanders, multi-tasking power tools, and drivers. His tool inventory—comprising top-of-the-line power tools and tried-and-proven devices, is one that enables him to handle most any boat project. If you’re looking to fill in you’re the gaps in your tool lineup or to stock your workshop, be sure to check out this special report.

Formerly the manager of a full-service boat yard, Practical Sailor Technical Editor Ralph Naranjo offers a survey of the tools he can’t live without. His toolbag is chocked full, and a peek inside finds saws, trimmers, planers, grinders, belt sanders, multi-tasking power tools, and drivers. His tool inventory—comprising top-of-the-line power tools and tried-and-proven devices, is one that enables him to handle most any boat project. If you’re looking to fill in you’re the gaps in your tool lineup or to stock your workshop, be sure to check out this special report.