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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

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Poliglow results and question about scum removal

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TakeFive
Master Marine Consultant

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2272 Posts

Initially Posted - 07/17/2011 : 20:47:12

I picked up some Poliglow at last year's Annapolis Boat Show based on positive reviews that I had seen here and in Practical Sailor. Take Five is still new enough that Poliglow is unnecessary (I use Collinite Fleetwax on its hull), but the rest of my "fleet"

needed some sprucing up. I just applied the Poliglow this weekend, and both of the other boats look fantastic. Since they sit under cover on trailers for 50 weeks a year, I hope the stuff will hold up pretty well. Practical Sailor has certainly raved about how it has done in their testing, which is a much tougher environment than I have.

Soon we head up to the Lake Wallenpaupack, where we dump both boats in the water for 2 weeks. The Trophy will stay in a slip and will end up with a yellow scum line by the time we're done. What do you guys suggest for removing the scum line? For the past 20 years I have removed it with StarBrite hull cleaner (oxalic acid), but the Poliglow instructions say not to use it.

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Rick S., Swarthmore, PA
PO of Take Five, 1998 Catalina 250WK #348 (relocated to Baltimore's Inner Harbor)
New owner of 2001 Catalina 34MkII #1535 Breakin' Away (at Rock Hall Landing Marina)

Edited by - TakeFive on 07/18/2011 05:33:48

Stinkpotter
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Djibouti
9081 Posts

Response Posted - 07/18/2011 : 06:35:30

You might (I only mean might) be pleasantly surprised by how easily the scum wipes off the shiny finish--perhaps with a little detergent, which shouldn't affect the Poly Glow.

Just don't slide off that Phantom!

Edited by - Stinkpotter on 07/18/2011 06:37:57

Voyager
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5377 Posts

Response Posted - 07/19/2011 : 19:13:58

What a beaut! I love it. I still keep my 13 foot Zuma daysailor for trips to the lake, but it doesn't look anything like your boat.

If plain old soap does not work, you could use some KETCHUP to remove scum stains.

Get a bottle of Heinz or DelMonte and put it into a paint roller pan. You can thin it slightly with water to make it run a little (not too much).

Make sure to apply it uniformly with a paint roller from the chine up under the gunwales. Let it set for 10 minutes, then rinse. You will be absolutely delighted.

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Stinkpotter
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Djibouti
9081 Posts

Response Posted - 07/19/2011 : 19:26:43

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Voyager
 If plain old soap does not work, you could use some KETCHUP to remove scum stains...<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">...because tomatoes contain oxalic acid.

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TakeFive
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Response Posted - 07/19/2011 : 20:37:36

Dave - I hope you're right about stains wiping off easily. Maybe sealing up the pores will keep the stains from biting into the finish. That's the way it seemed to be when the boat was new - but at that time it was staying in the water for much less than 2 weeks, so there was less time for a stain to form. I'll try wiping down the water line every few days to see if it comes off.

I've had the boats out uncovered for a couple days to allow the finish to harden in the sun, and had a few stains from leaves and birds, and they did wipe off much more easily than before. This is a good sign.

By the way, I've slipped off the Phantom before, right after I waxed it. The boat will dump you in a split second if you make any mistake that lands you on the lee side. I briefly considered restoring her with the usual sand/compound/polish/wax routine, but it was more work than I wanted to do, and I thought it would be way too slippery. So I just did a wet sand to get the color completely uniform, then Poliprep and Poliglow. The Poliglow seems to be a softer urethane which isn't as slippery as wax or as brittle as pure acrylic. That softness is why some (including you?) have referred to it as a "dirt magnet" for topside use on larger boats. But since the Phantom is so small that you'd never stand on the deck, I am hoping that dirt will not get ground in like it would in a cockpit or on a cabin top.

Bruce - I only saw a Zuma once. It was brand new in a boat store in Honesdale, PA. It's a really cool design and looks like it would be much more comfortable for two people. But my wife and I have lost over 40 pounds (combined) so our bottoms should fit into the Phantom cockpit quite nicely this summer.

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Voyager
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Response Posted - 07/22/2011 : 22:00:33

I've had my Zuma since '97 and love it for sailing off the beach. She goes together in about 10 minutes and gets around the buoys pretty neatly. The cockpit is very comfortable and you can fit two.
I love it in solid winds as she'll plane surfing down a wave. She points well, but is remarkable on a broad reach. Due to her agility on all points of sail, I call her Spinner

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TakeFive
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Response Posted - 08/04/2011 : 08:45:30

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Stinkpotter
 You might (I only mean might) be pleasantly surprised by how easily the scum wipes off the shiny finish--perhaps with a little detergent, which shouldn't affect the Poly Glow.

Just don't slide off that Phantom!
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
I'll give a final report at the end of our 2 weeks on the water, but so far the Trophy's scum line has wiped off completely and easily with a sponge. It hasn't been that way since the boat was new. And the Phantom's deck has not been any more slippery than before.

Both boats look better than new, and after finally solving a longstanding (3 year) air leak in the fuel system, the Trophy finally has all of its power back at full throttle. With the motor purring and our newly trimmed down bodies, we've been waterskiing every day behind this little 50hp motor. :-)

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TakeFive
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Response Posted - 08/18/2011 : 20:41:19

We've been back from vacation almost a week, and still unable to strip down the boats and cover them for storage because everything's so wet! When will these thunderstorms stop?

I promised a few comments on how the Poliglow held up under 2 weeks of daily use on the lake. Its performance was spectacular on the hull of the Trophy motorboat. The scum line from the lake water simply wiped off with a sponge, leaving absolutely no trace of a stain. I missed coating a couple spots around the transom U bolts and depth transducer, and those bare spots stained heavily, so I'll hit them with oxalic acid and touch up the Poliglow there.

The results for the Phantom were satisfactory but not perfect. The term "dirt magnet" is appropriate for horizontal deck surfaces that come into contact with skin. On the parts of the deck and cockpit that came into contact with our skin, our body oil and/or sunscreen caused the Poliglow to soften, allowing oils to penetrate, discolor the finish, and ultimately wear off leaving bare fiberglass around the top edges of the cockpit. The discolored Poliglow removed easily with a little solvent on a rag, and I expect I'll be able to touch up those spots with fresh Poliglow before I cover the boat, but only if I can get a few hours without downpours and hail that we've had this week. The rest of the deck looks great, and stains from bird droppings and leaves wipe off easily, which was not true before I did the Poliglow.

Overall I'm very satisfied with the results with both boats.

As for the vacation, we had the best sailing weather ever. Good breezes virtually every day, and actually a little too cool on the lake a couple of days to be comfortable with the wet ride that the Phantom provides. Because of the breezes it was very choppy for waterskiing, but we took the Trophy out every morning around 7 or 8 and were able to find a protected cove for smooth waterskiing. I can't wait to go back next year (our 29th year on the lake!).

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Stinkpotter
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Djibouti
9081 Posts

Response Posted - 08/18/2011 : 21:03:17

Glad the overall assessment is positive... I've never used PG on a deck, but nonetheless am a little surprised by the effect of skin. Maybe you're acidic.

Edited by - Stinkpotter on 08/18/2011 21:03:38

OLarryR
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3466 Posts

Response Posted - 08/19/2011 : 03:48:41

Rick,

Agree with your assessment.

I have been using Poliglow for almost 6 years now. I used to apply 2 coats to the hull sides every 6 months after the numerous initial coatings that are necessary when first applying it. But thru the years, I have found that 2 coats applied annually held up fine as long as I used Black Streak Cleaner at the locations of the deck runoffs (due to urban rain contaminants). Applying it annually, I will generally give the boat a good soap scrub, use black streak cleaner where applicable and then have very few areas that I may use oxidation cleaner or poliprep to remove stubborn stains, etc.

I did not like the appearance of poliglow in the cockpit and so after removing it, I will generally apply Mequire's or another brand of pure liquid wax every couple of months and that seems to do the trick without having to do a massive oxidation cleaning effort. Since the cockpit is a lot easier to work on (ergonimacally) compare to the hull sides (I keep my boat in the water all year-round), I find the pure wax works well and easy enough to just use it as long as I periodically wash the boat and maintain a periodic waxing schedule.

On the deck non-skid surfaces, I occasionally use the Boat US/West Marine/Starbrite Non-skid cleaner. I bought approximately 6 bottles of the stuff at costs between $1-$2 vs normally sold for ..$15 ? at a time when the old Boat US Store at the Boat US Hqtrs was getting rid of old stock. I think they may have already been managed by West Marine but they still carried the Boat US store name until...they closed the store a few years ago.

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Voyager
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Response Posted - 08/20/2011 : 19:03:39

I agree, I only used poliglow on the hull, but not in the cockpit, on the nonskid or the cabintop. Am concerned about wear and slips. Deck cleaner with PTFE is excellent for these areas.

For Poliglow hull areas with wear, its always best to apply poliprep directly to the area and feather the area in outward strokes. Afterward, clean the area with a dry rag then reapply a few coats of poliglow, again, feathering the application.

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TakeFive
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Response Posted - 08/20/2011 : 20:11:40

FYI, I did not find the Polyglow to be at all slippery. Actually it was soft enough that it my bathing suit kind of grabbed it, so it was less slippery than bare fiberglas. However, this same softness (and apparent sensitivity to sunscreen oils) caused it to wear pretty severely.

For the touch-up today, I used the feathering approach using both Poliprep and Poliglow.

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