As a broker, selling a boat often involves helping a new owner manage repairs, upgrades, or customizations to the boat after the purchase is made. As a result, I try to keep in touch with a multitude of contractors and service companies so that I'm up to date on what the options are for tweaking a boat to suit a particular owner's needs. I recently had the opportunity to get an up-close look at a really unique process for enhancing the look and durability of a boat: using Line-X protective coating.
Line-X is widely known for their pickup truck bed and commercial applications, but our local Line-X dealer has been developing new processes and techniques specifically for marine use. Some of the most common uses are coating decks, gunwales, fishboxes, and bilges, but they've even started doing more unique projects like motor cowlings, trolling motors, leaning posts and t-tops, and fuel tanks. The guys from Line-X recently did a 36 Yellowfin for us, and I wanted to show off their results:
First we hauled the boat at the yard next to our office in Tampa and the guys got ready to go!
The process starts with masking off the entire boat, and removing all hardware from the areas where the coating is going to be applied. Proper preparation of the decks before hand is very important for getting proper adhesion when the coating is sprayed later.
After the prep work was done, they did the inside of the forward fish-boxes first:
Then special attention is taken to make sure hatches are properly coated, and that they still have the proper clearance to open and close after the coating is applied:
Here are a few photos of the guys in action:
The finished product really looks nice, the cockpit sole and interior bulkheads were done, along with the inside of the forward fishboxes and helm footrest:
Using Line-X to protect the boat has enormous benefits to typical gelcoat nonskid. First, it's much easier to keep clean, with most dirt and debris (including fish blood) coming right off with a water hose. It's also incredibly durable, with dings and stress cracks becoming virtually nonexistent. If it's applied to a deck that has stress cracking already, they won't show up again through the Line-X once it's applied. While being a firm coating, Line-X is also flexible enough to keep from cracking under the stresses of this type of application.
They have also started coating pipe-work like t-tops and towers, bow rails, grab rails, and leaning posts. The Line-X is just as durable in this application, and in many ways better than the powder coat that's being used by a lot of dealers and manufacturers. It's tougher in most cases and can be repaired if it does happen to chip or ding over time.
You have your choice of almost any color from Line-X, and they can even computer-match existing colors from other parts of the boat (like hull or canvas colors). The aggressiveness of the nonskid can be varied depending on your application, in our case we used a medium roughness for the decks:
They spray two coats of whatever color you choose, along with a top clear coat. Thickness is between 1/16" and 1/8" which is slightly thinner than the typical truck-bed application, which they do in order to reduce the weight a little while still maintaining a very durable protective coating.
The project was finished last week, and the boat is now back in the water and ready to go fishing! For more information about the project, or how to get in touch with the guys at Line-X, give us a call - 727-422-3914
Line-X is widely known for their pickup truck bed and commercial applications, but our local Line-X dealer has been developing new processes and techniques specifically for marine use. Some of the most common uses are coating decks, gunwales, fishboxes, and bilges, but they've even started doing more unique projects like motor cowlings, trolling motors, leaning posts and t-tops, and fuel tanks. The guys from Line-X recently did a 36 Yellowfin for us, and I wanted to show off their results:
First we hauled the boat at the yard next to our office in Tampa and the guys got ready to go!
 |
| 36 YELLOWFIN HAULED - TAMPA, FL |
The process starts with masking off the entire boat, and removing all hardware from the areas where the coating is going to be applied. Proper preparation of the decks before hand is very important for getting proper adhesion when the coating is sprayed later.
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| PREPARATION / MASKING FOR LINE-X; 36 YELLOWFIN |
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| PREPARATION / MASKING FOR LINE-X; 36 YELLOWFIN |
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| PREPARATION / MASKING FOR LINE-X; 36 YELLOWFIN |
After the prep work was done, they did the inside of the forward fish-boxes first:
 |
| PHOTO COURTESY OF LINE-X; FORWARD FISH BOXES - 36 YELLOWFIN |
Then special attention is taken to make sure hatches are properly coated, and that they still have the proper clearance to open and close after the coating is applied:
 |
| PHOTO COURTESY OF LINE-X; COCKPIT - 36 YELLOWFIN |
Here are a few photos of the guys in action:
 |
| PHOTO COURTESY OF LINE-X; 36 YELLOWFIN |
 |
| PHOTO COURTESY OF LINE-X; 36 YELLOWFIN |
The finished product really looks nice, the cockpit sole and interior bulkheads were done, along with the inside of the forward fishboxes and helm footrest:
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| FORWARD COCKPIT; 36 YELLOWFIN |
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| DECKS AND HELM FOOTREST; 36 YELLOWFIN |
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| COCKPIT SOLE; 36 YELLOWFIN |
Using Line-X to protect the boat has enormous benefits to typical gelcoat nonskid. First, it's much easier to keep clean, with most dirt and debris (including fish blood) coming right off with a water hose. It's also incredibly durable, with dings and stress cracks becoming virtually nonexistent. If it's applied to a deck that has stress cracking already, they won't show up again through the Line-X once it's applied. While being a firm coating, Line-X is also flexible enough to keep from cracking under the stresses of this type of application.
They have also started coating pipe-work like t-tops and towers, bow rails, grab rails, and leaning posts. The Line-X is just as durable in this application, and in many ways better than the powder coat that's being used by a lot of dealers and manufacturers. It's tougher in most cases and can be repaired if it does happen to chip or ding over time.
You have your choice of almost any color from Line-X, and they can even computer-match existing colors from other parts of the boat (like hull or canvas colors). The aggressiveness of the nonskid can be varied depending on your application, in our case we used a medium roughness for the decks:
 |
| LINE-X DECK TEXTURE DETAIL; 36 YELLOWFIN |
They spray two coats of whatever color you choose, along with a top clear coat. Thickness is between 1/16" and 1/8" which is slightly thinner than the typical truck-bed application, which they do in order to reduce the weight a little while still maintaining a very durable protective coating.
 |
| LINE-X DECK THICKNESS DETAIL; 36 YELLOWFIN |
The project was finished last week, and the boat is now back in the water and ready to go fishing! For more information about the project, or how to get in touch with the guys at Line-X, give us a call - 727-422-3914
