POLISHING THE KEEL OF A RIB? GOOD or BAD IDEA!

[Maximus]

Originally Posted by PeterM

My name is Peter and a buff my hull......OCD?...yep, help needed.... ;-)

O.C.D...Or... in the PROPER ORDER!! C.D.O...Phew!....That's Sooo Much Better!!!

[Chris]

When a GRP hull is made the mould is waxed. So when the hull is removed it's waxed. Over time (and polishing) this wax is worn off. It's important to replace it to protect the GRP and to limit fouling.

[Maximus]

Originally Posted by Chris

When a GRP hull is made the mould is waxed. So when the hull is removed it's waxed. Over time (and polishing) this wax is worn off. It's important to replace it to protect the GRP and to limit fouling.

[Mollers]

Originally Posted by Chris

When a GRP hull is made the mould is waxed. . ....

Yeah, to release. The rest sounds like cobblers to me.

[Nos4r2]

I did wax the 5.4 hull.
I can't say it made much difference to fouling rates and it wasn't any faster.

However after 2 weeks in the water in Fowey it was easy to wash off the millions of tiny barnacles that get hold there. It looked shiny too.

[Mollers]

Originally Posted by Nos4r2

I did wax the 5.4 hull.
I can't say it made much difference to fouling rates and it wasn't any faster.

However after 2 weeks in the water in Fowey it was easy to wash off the millions of tiny barnacles that get hold there. It looked shiny too.

You're normally good after 2 weeks Nos. 4 weeks and the blighters really start to get hold. Our SR lives in the Helford river during the summer months. The Helford is barnacle heaven, they grow like hell in there.

[Nos4r2]

Originally Posted by Mollers

You're normally good after 2 weeks Nos. 4 weeks and the blighters really start to get hold. Our SR lives in the Helford river during the summer months. The Helford is barnacle heaven, they grow like hell in there.

They do up in Mixtow as well.Even after 2 weeks my little Redcrest was plastered with them and they were a bitch to remove.It was noticeably easier to wash them off the SR when it was waxed compared to previous visits.

However, given long enough for them to actually grab on properly I suspect it'd make no difference. Like, after a week more it wouldnt have made any odds,

[panosna]

Be aware that a high polished - glossy hull does not improve the performance of the boat in terms of speed. I know that it sounds strange, but hydrodynamics do not always work as we think...!

[Jeff]

Originally Posted by panosna

Be aware that a high polished - glossy hull does not improve the performance of the boat in terms of speed. I know that it sounds strange, but hydrodynamics do not always work as we think...!

I keep the hull waxed to keep it /make it easier to clean as opposed to anything else ,,,,,, it also slows down the critter growth for the 3 weeks it sits in the water on Paxos. Still need to clean them off every 4 days after a dive though to prevent the 'weed' getting a real hold.

Clean and shiny looks good too !

Now, if I wanted speed I'd take a ball pien hammer and bash a few dimples into the gelcoat lol

[willk]

Originally Posted by Jeff

bash a few dimples into the gelcoat lol

Well "spotted"!

[HughN]

I believe that the application of Rain-X to the hull will make any boat unstoppable.