Will Repelin protect against UV when the boat is upside down

Skipper June 23, 2009 Ask The Skipper

Bob Connors asked:

I’m interested in your Repelin product as an alternative to painting my PVC Zodiac inflatable. I have a couple of questions regarding this product.

First how much Speed Clean, Poly Guard, and Repelin would be required to complete an 11 foot inflatable. I’m assuming that I would use the Speed Clean and Poly Guard on both the top sides and bottom and the Repelin on the bottom only.

Second does the Repelin have resistance to UV? The Inflatable spends approximately 25% of its time in the water (salt) and 75% stored upside down on a storage rack exposed to the elements.

I’m excited about your products and look forward to your response.

Answer:

For your convenience, I’ve highlighted the hyperlinks. Click on the hyperlink to get more information about the selected product.

One bottle of Speed Clean, Poly Guard and Repelin should be sufficient for your boat, unless it’s in bad shape, then you will need more.

Repelin has a minimum quantity of UV, sufficient to protect the coating but not the substrate. Poly Guard, which is applied to the tube and to soft bottoms does provide adequate UV protection. Repelin should be applied over Poly Guard, so it will give you the protection against UV on the tube. If your boat is a RIB, the Repelin is applied directly to the fiberglass or painted aluminum hull. It will seal the pores and protect against Osmosis but will not give you much protection against UV.

Repelin is an expensive product to produce and because most RIB owners either leave their boats in the water or keep them on davits, with minimum exposure of the fiberglass to direct UV, it was decided to minimize the UV protection in order to keep the price down.

Because of your question, we realize that other boaters may use their inflatables in a similar manner. We have had discussions with our technical department and they will be examining the feasibility and cost of increasing the UV protection.

Thanks for your question,
Captain Aurora