Boat Building Forum

Find advice on all aspects of building your own kayak, canoe or any lightweight boats

Re: Other: Sanding the bottom
By:Malcolm Schweizer
Date: 4/15/2011, 7:24 am
In Response To: Re: Other: Sanding the bottom (Bill Hamm)

: It does work, though I've always wet sanded with 320 to get the
: effect. I wonder about it's use on a kayak/canoe though, what it
: does is make a thicker boundry layer of water "stuck"
: to the hull, I wonder if the added water "stuck" to
: the hull effectively increases the weight of the boat, just have
: no idea how much it would add. Been done for years on racing
: sailboats, part of the effect is the mental effect on your
: competitors, if they think it works on your boat, it does.
: Always helps to do a bit of final sanding right in front of
: everyone just before you launch ;)

: Bill H.

HAHA! You are so right about the mental effect. When I was racing in the Rolex we would always put on a big show of getting the boat prepped- hauling out and putting a big cover over the keel. We'd start rumors that the boat had some new-fangled keel doomahicky thingie that was going to make the boat faster. I caught a guy on race day swimming under the boat trying to get a peek. It was all a farce. We really just were sanding the bottom and tightening up the keel bolts. (because it leaked!) Yachties can be quite obnoxious and I find great pleasure in screwing with them.

The water adhering to the hull would be neutrally buoyant and would therefore not add any weight.

Messages In This Thread

Other: Sanding the bottom
Malcolm Schweizer -- 4/14/2011, 10:59 pm
Re: Other: Sanding the bottom
StephenHJ -- 4/15/2011, 2:13 am
Re: Other: Sanding the bottom
Malcolm Schweizer -- 4/15/2011, 5:04 am
Re: Other: Sanding the bottom
Bill Hamm -- 4/15/2011, 6:14 am
Re: Other: Sanding the bottom
Malcolm Schweizer -- 4/15/2011, 7:24 am
Re: Other: Sanding the bottom
Bill Hamm -- 4/15/2011, 7:37 am
Re: Other: Sanding the bottom
Mike Savage -- 4/15/2011, 12:59 pm
Re: Other: Sanding the bottom
Dave Houser -- 4/15/2011, 3:13 pm
Re: Other: Sanding the bottom
Bill Hamm -- 4/17/2011, 1:16 am
Re: Other: Sanding the bottom
ancient kayaker -- 4/17/2011, 9:28 pm
Re: Other: Sanding the bottom
Robert N Pruden -- 4/18/2011, 9:01 pm