waxing a kayak?

[preacherman]

I recently read in a thread about waxing the bottom of your kayak for better efficiency. Is it true, and what is the easiest way to do it?

[Lowrider]

oh yeah it will get you an additional .2 mph

[MarkT]

If you have a polyethylene kayak then your boat is essentially made out of wax--a very high molecular weight wax.

[greyloon]

Probably do better by shaving the cut edges that stick up off. Wax stuck in the cuts and scratches may dry white, not something you may want to have to look at.

[Jolly Roger]

This has been discussed a few times on here. I will start by saying that I do not think that waxing a kayak helps or hurts the speed or glide.

But I will point out that all boats that race, be it sailing to go fast boats, they Wet sand there hulls. Wet sanding makes for a very, very fine corse bottom. In real world conditions a perfect smooth bottom slows a boat down, a slighly course bottom speeds them up. Water tends to stick to smooth surfaces. It is considered a bad ideal in the racing world to wax your hull.


Now common sense tells me that if you have a buch of cuts from oysters or normal use. Filling these cuts up with wax may improve the glide, but maybe not enough to notice.

[mike]

Most of the time the white would be under water and hopefully you wouldn't have a chance to look at it.

I agree with the .2mph.

[Cubera]

Too much time on your hands.
It all goes back to the "motor", and hull type.

[Jolly Roger]

Here you go, from someone smarter then myself about the subject.

"However, one of the benefits of waxing is NOT speed. A good wax job will actually slow your hull down. So what is the best treatment for a hull when you're looking for speed?"

"Mike Davenport has been involved in the sport of rowing since 1975. Now he is the head rowing coach at Washington College, in Chestertown, MD. For several years Mike was involved with the U.S. National Team, as their Boatman; and in 1996 he was the Boatman for the U.S. Olympic Rowing Team. Currently, his company, SportWork, is the leading educational consultancy for USRowing and their Coaching Education Program. Mike has written eleven books, seven of which are about rowing. His Web site http://maxrigging.com and his monthly e-zine MaxRigging strive to supply the latest and greatest information about rowing and the rigging of rowing equipment."




source
http://www.sideroad.com/Rowing/cleaning_boat_hull.html


If you are racing then I would not put wax on the hull. But the benifits from waxing a fishing kayak hull may be worth the effort. The truth is that fishing kayaks are slow, and the the difference in waxing a fishing kayak may not even be noticable. Wax will protect your hull from UV if it is transorted or stored with the hull in sunlight.

[Strider]

pm the racers/boat designers/builders on this board, gerald, Pogo, Jerry B, Charlie Tuna. Ask them what they think about waxing.

Kim

[4x4cdg]

303 is great stuff and works very well at preventing UV damage. I have been advised to apply it once a month for best results.

[TexasSurfFisherman]

I coat all my yaks on the bottom with slide butter that skate boarders use on their decks.

[preacherman]

Well, the rubbing compound idea mentioned in the article does sound like a good idea. As for waxing, I think I'll stay away from that. Thanks everybody for the input.

[MarkT]

The second generation Prism had a pebbly bottom surface. I never learned whether or not that was on purpose to add a little turbulence to break up the boundary layer.

[gerald]

I never wax my boat. However, before big races, I DO clean and sand very smoothly. In fact--that's what I'll be doing this evening for the upcoming CR100...

[mrkm1010]

I bet I could increase my speed if I'd just leave the kitchen sink back at the truck. I have been accused of packin a little heavy, but I'd rather have it in the yak than paddle all the way back to the truck. I guess my point is if your kayak fishin how fast does your boat need to be? I am continually impressed by Jolly Rodgers's knowledge of the water. He is a true waterman! Having surfed a long time I have heard that a rougher surface (sanded vs slick) creates tiny air bubbles that the hull rides on ,less friction faster bottom. Look how fast a shark can swim.

[rod dawg]

Just use gafftop slime

[greyloon]

Just use gafftop slime

Good idea to keep a bottle around, great for lots of stuff, including hardhead stings.

[Terrapin]

Turtle Wax 2002 has a silicon formula to protect plastics and paint from UV for cars that works great on kayaks. Comes in a green pump bottle.
Spray on, wipe off. I use it on my kayak and it still looks good after 4 years.

[TaylorBordelon]

What if you wanted to wax the whole kayak to make it look good. Not just the hull to make it faster.

[TexasSurfFisherman]

Just use gafftop slime

Lord knows you got a lotta practice at that huh Rodney?