: Speaking of coatings i discovered a great tough and slippery
: coating that slides over rocks better than anything I have
: tried. It's what the airboaters are using to slide over dry-land
: with - checkout-- www.airboatcoatings.com

How timely. I recently got this unsolicited e-mail. I wonder if it's the same guy...

I happened upon your site and read your piece on "the abrasion test" and the recent follow-up article. -good stuff. However, I could have predicted the outcomes. We here at Plastic Maritime Corp have been in the coating business for many decades now and have a strong grasp with what works in relation to marine. We are the manufacturers of Wearlon Coatings. www.wearloncorp.com Wearlon is a water-epoxy-silicone based coating engineered to provide superior water-drag, and friction-reducing properties. Wearlon is touted by University of Buffalo, and Batalle Labs-US Navy to be the best water-drag resistant coating and by the Florida Institue of Technolgy to be the top performing permanent & non-leaching anti-foul/algae coating. It adheres tenaciously to just about everything.
Hydro-plane boat racers use it - including two champions. Airboaters use it for abrasion resistance and slickness - www.airboatcoatings.com
Many canoers and kayakers go to our airboating website to order our Wearlon Wetlander coating and finding great results with performance. Yes, you are right in pointing out the negatives of a water-based epoxy (UV issues and surface finish not having a car-finish appearance) However, a little pigment loading on the lighter colors does well against UV, and when sprayed - goes on very smooth and glossy. It's passes the smooth test for hydroplaners. Airboaters like to point how easy Wearlon is to apply and touch up when needed.
-Jeff Smith