Wetlander Coating for the Jetjon

[bnt5]

Well I bit the bullet and went with a high dollar bottom coating for the jetjon. I sanded the old factory paint off the hull and sealed all rivets with 5200 and let her sit for 6 days. I received my package in the mail today from wetlander so needless to say I was under the boat sanding out the bare aluminum and wiping it down with acetone. I mixed up 75% of my quart and applied it with a standard johnny roller (hotdog roller to you painting novices :wink: ). Everything went smoothly, the product fisheyed which was to be expected but seemed to settle out during the curing stage, I had enough product to coat everything with primer once and a light quick second coat, not easy laying on a roller cart under a boat painting 8 inches above your face but I was satisfied. Once mixed Wetlander has the consistency of a heavy waterbourne paint with the slight drag of an oil base, if you can paint a wall you can paint with this stuff. It was dry to the touch in 20 minutes and the pot cures out in 1 hour. I realize this is just the primer coat, but MAN is it SLICK! It feels like a teflon coating with no friction on fingertips, very cool. I will update when I put on the topcoat this weekend, apparently Wetlander needs 5 days for cure before use, so I guess I will be staring at the boat all week watching paint dry...

 

[Lil' Blue Rude]

Been thinking about stripping the bottom of my boat and putting some wetlanders on it. Always looking for that last mph. lol Be careful when unloding from the trailers, heard stories of them sliding off at the ramp after coating the bottoms.

 

[bnt5]

Thankfully I've never been part of that group of fisherman that unhooks the boat before backing down the ramp, I think the issue I will have is actually getting the boat to stay on the trailer when driving onto it from the water, my guess is that the boat will just slide back off...that's going to create a conundrum.

 

[Capt1972]

Thankfully I've never been part of that group of fisherman that unhooks the boat before backing down the ramp, I think the issue I will have is actually getting the boat to stay on the trailer when driving onto it from the water, my guess is that the boat will just slide back off...that's going to create a conundrum.

Just leave it in gear.

 

[bnt5]

Put the final 2 coats on last night and I must say it looks great. I checked it this morning and the coating is nice and even and slicker than a greased monkey (not sure how slippery monkeys are, but suffice it to say the boat hull is very, very slick). I am taking it out this weekend and will gps my speed to see if I go faster and how well I sealed up the hull.

 

[hotshotinn]

i looked that stuff over too and will look forward to your report.

 

[River ski]

Did the same thing this weekend . Turned out great !!!

 

[bnt5]

Looks great river ski, I wish I had a way to lift the hull up without blocks but I did not create any places to attach straps to, so now I have for small spots that I have to sand, prime and topcoat once the boat is on the trailer. Kind of a pain but I think this coating will be worth it! Let us know any speed or handling differences you notice.

 

[River ski]

Will do bnt5 , I figured I would try it on my small Jon first to see how I like it before I put it on my G3 1860 ccj . Bobcat worked great for my 16 Jon but I don't think it will lift my 1860 !
Hope the stuff works as good as I think it will but time will tell

 

[Jim]

:beer:

 

[amk]

Your definetly going to have strap it down to your trailer good

 

[amk]

Bnt I had gator glide which I assume is pretty similar my boat did exactly that if you have a buddy with you it's not bad you pull up and they hook it up but if you don't it can be tricky. I had a tiller with it so I couldn't leave it in gear.

 

[hotshotinn]

i wondering how fast it go compaired to without the paint?

 

[bnt5]

I took the boat out this weekend for the first time with Wetlander on the bottom. I loaded it on the trailer off the blocks it was on with ease, the last 3 feet I just winched the boat onto the runners and it slid so easy, what used to take two hands to turn the winch I could do with 3 fingers. I also strapped the boat better on both sides at the aft end to minimize side to side sliding on the trailer.

I got to the ramp and waited until the boat was about 5 ft from water to remove transom straps, backed the boat into the water and backward winched the boat off the trailer, I had to hang onto the front of the boat in order to remove winch strap, once it was off, the boat just slid backwards into the water and floated off on its own...major improvement from before. I had three adult guys in boat and full fishing gear, each guy weighed about 225 lbs so I was kinda nervous about my speed test. Before the bottom coating I was clocking in around 28-29 mph with just myself, tackle bag and rods. With the three adults I was hitting 31.7 on a smooth lake, and almost 35 mph with just myself on a choppy, windy lake!! I am estimating a 5-6 mph speed increase just from Wetlander. It also seemed like I had way less cavitation in chop after bottom coating, however this will have to be further tested but so far so good, I am very happy with results.

 

[Capt1972]

thanks, you just cost me more money! #-o

 

[Lil' Blue Rude]

thanks, you just cost me more money! #-o

Me too! Time to flip the boat. :mrgreen:

 

[duckfish]

=D> Holy crap that's amazing!

I'm gonna have to seriously consider this. I was reading up on it a couple nights ago. Did you strip to bare aluminum before putting it on? Use the 2L or 3L?

 

[bnt5]

Its either I throw money at my boat or at my wife, and we all know the boat won't go buy shoes.... :LOL2:

I did strip boat to bare aluminum and used the 2L system.

 

[Capt1972]

Its either I throw money at my boat or at my wife, and we all know the boat won't go buy shoes.... :LOL2:

I did strip boat to bare aluminum and used the 2L system.

Well thats better! $200 instead of $300 :roll:

 

[bnt5]

Total cost with shipping was $250. I think the reason it worked so well on my boat was how rough the bottom was compared to how smooth it became after prep work and painting. Like I said before, initially I am thrilled with product I am interested to see how well it wears in the seasons to come.