Refinished Pearl

Kajaker är lite speciella. Till skillnad från båtar tillbringar de mesta tiden på land – inte sällan inomhus. I motsats till de flesta båtar går de så att säga på grund flera gånger om dagen. Detta i kombination med den transatlantiska vana att skydda sig mot lagsökning genom att gardera sig mot det mesta, gör det svårt att läsa sig till vad som funkar eller inte.

Det har varit optimistiska tongångar från kemiföretagen när det gäller vattenbaserade färger i mer än två decennier nu, men uppenbarligen har de en bit kvar. De flesta kajakbyggare som provar går tillbaka till lösningsmedelsbaserade färgsystem trots nackdelarna med lukt och hälsovådlighet, medan flera småbåtsvarv redovisar goda resultat.

OK. Rune found it sad to have to redo a beautifully applied finish so soon, but applauded the open report, to the benefit of other builders. He notes that both System Three and International Perfection comes with a disclaimer – not recommended for continuous use under the waterline! So trial and error seems to be the way to find out. And he is very satisfied with Perfection – positively surpriced after close encounters with rocks and stones, with no serious damage, hardly worth a touch-up work.

I answered that kayak usage is a bit different from what marine paints is designed for: spend most of their time ashore – often under roof - and when in water they run aground at least a couple of times every day. This coupled to the transatlantic habit of disclaimers for everything that has the slightest potential for a lawsuit, makes it hard to learn from the manufacturers texts what might work or not. And that the optimistic reports from manufacturers on waterbased paint systems doesn´t quite come true for our trade yet – most kayak builders return reluctantly to the two pot smelly and toxic stuff after trying, while some small boat yards report good results.