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The damage is done...

Michiman

Michiman

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Well, took the boat out of the water for the first time since early May and was disappointed (but not surprised) by the condition of my toons. Each weekend I dutifully cleaned all three pontoons, top to bottom, inside and out. 


There was some algae build-up since the last time I cleaned them over Labor Day, which I expected. What I didn't expect is that they would look like they were ten years old. Definite water line, and fairly extensive oxidation/staining above.  


I purchased the boat brand new off the lot this spring with no opportunity to Sharkhide it. Big mistake in my opinion. 


I asked the dealer how much to powerwash and they said it would basically be a waste of time. They suggest an acid wash to get it clean, but that will remove whatever shine remains. They also recommended using a Vantage 3M film (grey or black) that would cover the sides of the outside toons from just below the waterline to the top. $1500. Yikes!


I know there are those on this forum that are on both sides of the Sharkhide fence, but after paying all that money for this boat, I wish it still looked like it was only four months old. 
 
Actually the acid wash makes them pretty bright, just not shiny.
 
Enjoy the pontoon and forget the dull pontoons. Before shark hide, every pontoon looked like yours. I cleaned mine every year, never had shark hide. I just ordered a new 24sfx and did not get shark hide. I don't believe it is worth the money. 
 
$1500 sounds pretty steep.  My buddy has an Excursion that he bought brand new in 2011.  He contemplated but never put Sharkhide on.  Well, even though his boat  sits on a trailer when not used the tubes looked pretty bad.  Our water out here in the desert is very, very hard.  He took it to a local place here in town.  They cleaned his tubes up to almost new condition and applied several coats of SH.  $400 total.
 
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It all comes down to looks and personal preference. I'm more of a sleeper kind of guy so I like having a boat that doesn't really stand out until I'm hauling butt.
 
lakeliving said:
It all comes down to looks and personal preference. I'm more of a sleeper kind of guy so I like having a boat that doesn't really stand out until I'm hauling butt.
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That's Sempers' moto too! Hehe ;)
 
Got pics Michiman?!? 


These tubes have 3 coats of Sharkhide applied and you can still see the waterline and how crappy it looks below it. We've kept our boat in the water from April to October the past 2 years./monthly_2016_08/large.image.jpeg.3f6e3f5248f490058cd8ea579542ec0c.jpeg/monthly_2016_08/large.image.jpeg.3377392ec25f092995c28a65cbe97f2e.jpeg


I've had them acid washed when we lived in Virginia and it came out really nice. But I found out that Sharkhide has to be removed before doing so. Ask me how I know.......
 
BigKahuna said:
Got pics Michiman?!? 


These tubes have 3 coats of Sharkhide applied and you can still see the waterline and how crappy it looks below it. We've kept our boat in the water from April to October the past 2 years./monthly_2016_08/large.image.jpeg.3f6e3f5248f490058cd8ea579542ec0c.jpeg/monthly_2016_08/large.image.jpeg.3377392ec25f092995c28a65cbe97f2e.jpeg


I've had them acid washed when we lived in Virginia and it came out really nice. But I found out that Sharkhide has to be removed before doing so. Ask me how I know.......
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BigKahuna, unfortunately I did not get pictures (didn't have a phone with me) but it looks at least as bad as yours (sorry) from the waterline down. Above, your's looks much better.


So, I was told an acid wash would clean everything up but it would change the "look". So, once a person does that, is it something that should be done each year or only when you want to get them "clean" looking again (albeit no shine)?
 
When we lived in Virginia we kept our boat on the trailer in the Marina yard. We just hooked up, put the boat in the water, spent all day out there then put it back on the trailer. Towel dried the toons ready for another day. It was so easy to keep them clean! After a few years they were starting to get dirty so we had them acid washed and I applied Sharkhide. Really easy to keep clean! Now that we keep our boat in the water from April-October this is when we started having the problems that you saw in the pictures. 


To answer your question........Acid washing does change the look of your toons. It looks like a milky white at first but it eventually turns back into an aluminum patina again. Go online and Google acid washing aluminum pontoons. All kinds of videos pop up and you'll see for yourself. There are a lot of products out there that you can use to do it yourself but I just had the marina do it. They use a much stronger solution and they put it on a lift that picks your boat up on the sides so they have full access to the underside of all 3 tubes.......
 
BigKahuna said:
When we lived in Virginia we kept our boat on the trailer in the Marina yard. We just hooked up, put the boat in the water, spent all day out there then put it back on the trailer. Towel dried the toons ready for another day. It was so easy to keep them clean! After a few years they were starting to get dirty so we had them acid washed and I applied Sharkhide. Really easy to keep clean! Now that we keep our boat in the water from April-October this is when we started having the problems that you saw in the pictures. 


To answer your question........Acid washing does change the look of your toons. It looks like a milky white at first but it eventually turns back into an aluminum patina again. Go online and Google acid washing aluminum pontoons. All kinds of videos pop up and you'll see for yourself. There are a lot of products out there that you can use to do it yourself but I just had the marina do it. They use a much stronger solution and they put it on a lift that picks your boat up on the sides so they have full access to the underside of all 3 tubes.......
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Thanks for the response. I'll check it out this evening.
 
Hello Michiman,


It is possible to undo the damage.  My boat was in the water for two Wisconsin seasons, and after some quality time with a buffer and aluminum polish, I can't even tell where the old scummy water line used to be.  I skipped the acid wash entirely and when straight to buffing.  I was averaging about one foot of 'toon in 30 minutes.  It's not horrible if you knock out a few feet a day and keep chipping away at it in the off season.

Toons3.jpg
 
Looks good Ken! 
 
Benny&theJets said:
Hello Michiman,


It is possible to undo the damage.  My boat was in the water for two Wisconsin seasons, and after some quality time with a buffer and aluminum polish, I can't even tell where the old scummy water line used to be.  I skipped the acid wash entirely and when straight to buffing.  I was averaging about one foot of 'toon in 30 minutes.  It's not horrible if you knock out a few feet a day and keep chipping away at it in the off season.


View attachment 1564
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I love the shine, Great job!!
 
Benny&theJets said:
Hello Michiman,


It is possible to undo the damage.  My boat was in the water for two Wisconsin seasons, and after some quality time with a buffer and aluminum polish, I can't even tell where the old scummy water line used to be.  I skipped the acid wash entirely and when straight to buffing.  I was averaging about one foot of 'toon in 30 minutes.  It's not horrible if you knock out a few feet a day and keep chipping away at it in the off season.


View attachment 1564
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Wow! Just. Wow! My problem is that the boat goes directly from dealer storage to water storage. If I had a place of my own to store it and if that place were also close to my home, I'd tackle the project much like you did. 


Getting this Benny has been a paradigm shift for me. I went from a bowrider that fit in my garage and was never outside unless we were in it, and where I was able to wax and detail almost every inch of it, to a situation where I can't touch it in storage and can only detail above the water line.


That said, I'll learn to cope with an acid wash. Going with a toon was my wife's idea and I can say that it was a terrific one! Love my Benny even if it can't be as shiny as I'd like it.
 
myv10 said:
Enjoy the pontoon and forget the dull pontoons. Before shark hide, every pontoon looked like yours. I cleaned mine every year, never had shark hide. I just ordered a new 24sfx and did not get shark hide. I don't believe it is worth the money. 
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That's the way I feel about the shiny toons. It's just something else to keep up. Enjoy it while keeping it clean enough for the speed you desire. 
 
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Benny&theJets said:
Hello Michiman,


It is possible to undo the damage.  My boat was in the water for two Wisconsin seasons, and after some quality time with a buffer and aluminum polish, I can't even tell where the old scummy water line used to be.  I skipped the acid wash entirely and when straight to buffing.  I was averaging about one foot of 'toon in 30 minutes.  It's not horrible if you knock out a few feet a day and keep chipping away at it in the off season.


View attachment 1564
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Did you SharkHide this afterwards?
 
I did not apply sharkhide.  I used Marine 31 pontoon and aluminum sealant instead.  It's basically glorified car wax, from what I can tell.  We shall see.
 
Benny&theJets said:
Hello Michiman,


It is possible to undo the damage.  My boat was in the water for two Wisconsin seasons, and after some quality time with a buffer and aluminum polish, I can't even tell where the old scummy water line used to be.  I skipped the acid wash entirely and when straight to buffing.  I was averaging about one foot of 'toon in 30 minutes.  It's not horrible if you knock out a few feet a day and keep chipping away at it in the off season.


View attachment 1564
Click to expand...

The toons look awesome...... but where did you get that dolly wheel assy.? That looks like a pretty slick set up!!
 
Thanks, adkboater.  I built the dollies in my shop.  I wanted to be able to store the boat inside right at the lake house, but in order to fit inside the building it needed to come off the trailer.  I contemplated sawing the tongue off the trailer, but I just didn't have the heart.  Now the trailer has to spend the rest of it's life living outside under a tarp in exchange for not having it's tongue amputated.
 
You need to put a number to them, I'm sure you could get a short production run going!! :)  
 
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