A Question, If You Please

[J. Rentch]

A quick question. Does anyone put any kind of lubricant on you kayak bottom to help with its movement through the water?

[FishMoken]

I use to wax my kayaks one time each year to help smooth the bottom but no longer do. After reading an article about performance gains for kayakers who wax there kayaks it is more or less a waste of time. The study said you are only gaining nano seconds when racing kayaks. No extra glide or performance was really gained by doing it so I just stopped. Plus I figured it was just one more chemical entering the waterways so there is that aspect as well.


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[bignose]

When my canoe was new, I used to rub in some Armorall as a UV surface protectant to the outside of the hull. My hull was ABS (Royalex) with a color coat, not solid plastic like most yaks.
My canoe was outside and exposed to sunlight all day. It eventually faded to the point where it didn't matter any longer.

I don't think that it made a huge difference in water resistance, but it did cut down on weeds and crud sticking to the hull.
Great point about putting chemicals into the water.........

[Mark]

Kind of a bit off topic but I've wondered if the normal scratches that accumulate on bottoms of our yaks increase water resistance. I imagine they do but perhaps imperceptibly to us.

Regarding applying a coating, I've been tempted by a bottle of Turtle Wax in my garage to try it on the hulls of my boats. I thought someone might mention car wax in this thread. Since they haven't indicated wax is beneficial I should probably keep it for use on my van.

[baitball]

Interesting topic. I hadn't really given it much thought, but now that the question is out there, I would volunteer surfboard wax as a possible alternative.

Having surfed a bit when a lived in California and Florida, I've used a lot of surfboard wax and tried many different brands.

Surfboard wax is some pretty resilient stuff, it's purposely made to stand up to the elements. Unlike car wax that intends to leave a slick film, surfboard wax's tacky composition is used to improve the surfer's traction on the surface of the board -- it helps the surfer's feet "grip" the board.

The wax adheres well to the surfboard - made out of fiberglass - and stands up to the constant beating of a surfer's feet/weight, wetsuit (he lays down on the board to paddle), sun exposure, and saltwater. However, the wax is impermeable to water and as such would not increase water resistance.

Perhaps a stick of surfboard wax could fill in those underbelly scratches/gouges Mark is referring to? This approach is certainly cheaper and less time consuming than braking out the plastic stock and welder to fill in those unsightly blemishes.

NOTE: Surfboard wax comes in two types, "Cold Water" and "Warm Water" wax.

[On the fly]

I used a specialty wax that a friend gave me to try. I will try to contact him for the name of the product. Anyway what I found is dirt, grim, etc did not adhear to the kayak and it was easy to spray off without scrubbing. You only put a really fine layer and it lasted quite a while. As far as going faster I think it made no real difference but cleaning it was much easier.

[J. Rentch]

Thanks for that note

[On the fly]

The name of the product is eelsnot. Link: http://eelsnot.com/. I think the sample was for boats but there is a board version. (I think it is only a smaller size). Anyway it seems to perform as advertised. I still have a little left I will get it to you John so you can try the product.
Harry

[baitball]

The name of the product is eelsnot. Link: http://eelsnot.com/. I think the sample was for boats but there is a board version. (I think it is only a smaller size). Anyway it seems to perform as advertised. I still have a little left I will get to you John so you can try the product.
Harry

Harry,

I checked out the eelsnot website and it looks like some pretty neat stuff. When you tried it on your yak, how long did it last?

[J.A. Veil]

There are various products that are designed for making exterior surfaces very smooth so that rain or other items do not stick easily. Before applying those products to the plastic hull of your kayak, read the fine print to make sure the product is compatible with plastic materials. For example, I had a bottle of Rain-X windshield treatment that makes glass surfaces very slick. I planned to apply it to the Lexan windshield on my center console. Fortunately, I read the instructions carefully and found that standard Rain-X should not be applied to plastic surfaces. Now Rain-X makes other plastic-friendly products too. I cannot recommend any specific product to improve the slickness of your hull. As others have suggested, I suspect that modifying the slickness of the hull would only incrementally change your speed.

[Mark]

The cleanliness factor is the main reason I would use any lubricant or wax on my kayak. I rinse my boats with fresh water after each trip. Sometimes I have to add elbow grease to the process to remove the grime.

[dasher]

I read this & was 100% sure this was a prank & was going to reply with 100% distilled water liberally applied reduces drag coefficient. I'm 100% sure there is nothing you should apply to your yak for this purpose. There isn't anything for motor boats, speed boats & not yaks.

[On the fly]

There are various products that are designed for making exterior surfaces very smooth so that rain or other items do not stick easily. Before applying those products to the plastic hull of your kayak, read the fine print to make sure the product is compatible with plastic materials. For example, I had a bottle of Rain-X windshield treatment that makes glass surfaces very slick. I planned to apply it to the Lexan windshield on my center console. Fortunately, I read the instructions carefully and found that standard Rain-X should not be applied to plastic surfaces. Now Rain-X makes other plastic-friendly products too. I cannot recommend any specific product to improve the slickness of your hull. As others have suggested, I suspect that modifying the slickness of the hull would only incrementally change your speed.

Good point .John, but this product is compatible with kayaks, boards, etc. I did put it on my yak and last most of the season and was easy to apply. The only time I could see it prematurely wearing off is if you drag it across sand, grass etc. a lot vs transport with cart. Like I said it seems it's best asset was limiting the dirt and scum as well as clean up time. It was free for me to try so I did and the results were as noted above.

[Jesserkirk]

Never heard of that before, I doubt it would last long and have any noticeable affect on speed. Also every time you drag your boat out it would scrape off.

[On the fly]

Never heard of that before, I doubt it would last long and have any noticeable affect on speed. Also every time you drag your boat out it would scrape off.

But it did last a while making my kayak easier to clean and I think that is the benefit not for the speed factor.