Enjoy a ride with a yacht


Boat Wax-Shine On

It has been our experience that nothing soradiation from the sun which will oxidize
much insures the beauty and longevity of aand  dull  your  boats  finish.
fiberglass boat than the continual
maintenance of a good coat of high qualityInteresting  Carnauba  Facts
wax. In this article we will explore the
preparation, methods, and best practices for- Pure Carnauba in its natural state is
the long term maintenance of your boats gelharder  than  concrete.
coat  through  the  use  of  wax.
- Typical retail waxes contain 3% to 5%
The  ProblemCarnauba  by  volume.
Gel-coat, the exterior finish on fiberglass- Less then 5% of retail Carnauba waxes
boats, is a porous mix of polyester resinscontain Brazilian No.1 Carnauba, the finest
and pigments that must be sealed from theof  all  waxes.
damaging effects of salt, dirt, weather, and
ultra-violet (UV)  radiation.- The greater the concentration of Carnauba,
the greater the level of protection and the
The primary purpose of gel-coat is to protecthigher  the  quality  of  shine.
the underlying core from water, air and
sunlight, which in combination will quicklyHow  Does  It  Work?
loosen the chemical bond and render the
structure useless. Neglect this gel-coat,- 3 things are needed in order for the
and it becomes more porous, resins oxidizechemical reaction which causes oxidation to
and what remains is a faded, dull finishoccur.
prone to absorbing water into the laminate
and  destroying  it.1. -  Oxygen
In addition to the above functional2. -  Heat
definition we also need to say a few words
about the beauty factor, the shine of a newly3. -  UV  Radiation
polished and waxed boat. In a great example
of form following function, gel-coat keptEliminate one or more of these and you slow
clean and shiny, with a good coat of wax,the  process.
will perform it's primary function pretty
much in direct proportion to the way it- A protective layer of Carnauba wax keeps
looks.airborne contaminants from reaching the
gel-coat  and  starting  a chemical reaction.
The  Players
- This wax layer diffuses (refracts) both UV
Now that we've named the problem, what areand infrared radiation from the sun. Without
the choices for solving it? The simplestit the radiation is absorbed by the pigment
solution would, of course be to keep the boatin the gel coat causing it to over heat, and
away from sun, water, and oxygen. I saidtrigger the chemical reaction that will dry
simple,  not  practical.out,  dull  and  oxidize  the  surface.
All of the "New", "Easy On-Easy Off", "Modern- A waxed boat will have a lower surface
Chemical Miracle", products may look greattemperature than an unwaxed one. The darker
on TV (we've tried them all too ;-) but inthe  color,  the  greater  the  difference
the real world of salt water, sun, fishing,
spills, and air pollution, they simply don'tUsing a high quality paste wax applied over a
hold up compared to the simple, natural, Godclean polished surface will give you 3 to 4
made it, "Tree of Life", Brazilian No.1months of protection here on the Emerald
Carnauba  wax.Coast. This doesn't mean the wax is gone in
this time but the appearance and protection
Unlike the modern marvels of chemicalwill begin to fade rapidly. (based on our own
engineering, Carnauba comes from a tree, theexperience, independent testing, and the
Copernica Cerifera palm tree, to be specific.reports  of  most  of  our  clients)
The color and quality of the wax are
governed by the age of the leaves and careFor more information on the properties of
used in processing of this hard, brittle,different waxes, please see Wax Comparison
lustrous wax. It runs from a golden yellowTable
in color to nearly white and has an
unmistakable but pleasant "tree" smell to it.Tying  It  All  Together
Due to the fact that carnauba is a naturalBy keeping the wax protective layer up, (3-4
plant by-product, it will not react with gelwaxings per year) your boat will always look
coat or painted surfaces. The Carnauba Waxgood and you shouldn't need any hard yearly
acts as a protective barrier providing acompounding to keep it that way. This will
very hard film over your boats surface thatsave you money right now and add years to the
protect against sun and weather damage,time before the boat will need to be painted.
airborne contaminates, such as acid rain,
spills, fish remains, salt and birdOn the boats that we've maintained for
droppings,  etc.several years we usually give it a thorough
going over with a very fine compound in the
Carnauba even swells and closes its poresspring just to give it that "bright" look.
tighter when exposed to water. In addition,This removes only a very thin layer of
Carnauba dramatically reduces gel coatoxidized pigment to give the wax a solid base
oxidation by diffusing the UV and infraredto adhere to.



1 A B C D E F G 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140