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303 Preservative on Composite Canoes

Does 303 "work"? I have to ask "for what"?

If the question is whether it works to prevent UV damage to a composite hull's gel coat or skin coat, that would require an extended, multi-year comparison against a control hull that doesn't get the treatment. I've never done such an empirical test and don't recall anyone else who has.

I have occasionally put 303 on some composite hulls after my infrequent thorough cleaning of them. It seems to add a slightly increased shine to older composite hulls, but not as much as an application of Penetrol.

Maybe it's because I've applied too much 303 on those occasions, but I've found that it dissolves and runs off the hull. I know this because I've more than once put a newly 303-ed hull on my vehicle roof and then experienced rain. The rain caused the 303 to run off the hull and drip onto my windshield and roof. This made me wonder whether the stuff would actually pollute the waters I paddled.

In any event, I've never continuously used it because I don't want to spend the money or time, and hence can't honestly or empirically state whether it does any significant anti-UV "work" in the short or long runs.
 
I don't use 303 anymore. Mainly because I don't like putting chemical residues into the water any more than I have to. Plus, I wasn't convinced that it was that affective unless you kept a fairly fresh coat of it on the hull. Instead, I bought fitted canoe covers for two of my older canoes that I want to protect from the sun. It's the travel to and from our paddling destinations that expose the canoe hull to the worst of the UV radiation. I don't bother with the covers for short trips to local water but they're nice for longer day trips and multi-day excursions. I find that there's less wind noise with the covers on. Not sure why unless it's like an owl feathers effect.
 
there are a ton of UV- protectant products for composites out there other than 303, I personally like NuFinish, a polymerized wax that's durable and far less impactful on the environment because it doesn't wash off eventually, it also provides that protection for 2-3 years
 
This is kind of a tough one because it is safe for your composite boats, neoprene or latex gaskets on your dry suit. It’s non petroleum based so there won’t be any trails left behind in the water or have any short/long term effects on aquatic life. Which makes me feel a little better about using it even though it’s not entirely “pure”. If you read the safety sheets of other auto/boat waxes and polishes they do a lot of talking about “harmful if swallowed, keep away from drains and surface water, procedure for skin contact, no smoking, keep away from source ignition, petroleum based”

We do what we think is right and use products from reputable names, but even their safety data sheets show flaw. It’s difficult to Not add to our problems, but we try.

So what’s the right answer? Use a UV protectant or always store indoors when not in use? I don’t have a garage, but I’m also an advocate for this Earth.
 
I personally like NuFinish, a polymerized wax that's durable and far less impactful on the environment because it doesn't wash off eventually, it also provides that protection for 2-3 years
It says "Don't use on vinyl" on the bottle. I guess that makes it not suitable for Royalex canoes. Correct?
 
I attended a lecture by an ecotoxicologist a few years back and was shocked at how little testing of toxicity it takes to get products approved. Usually it involves seeing how many fish/tadpoles in a tank die in a fairly short amount of time. No attention paid to long-term survival and exposure, birth defects, cancer rates, etc. And often active ingrediants are tested but other ingredients, like surfactants, aren't, even tho they can be even more problematic. Witness the emerging recognition of just how bad PFOAs and PFAS's are, despite our having used them in abundance for decades on cookware, outdoors gear, and all sorts of other things.

As a new owner of some composite boats I'm wrestling with this. I bought 303 at Northstar's recommendation. But what exactly is the stuff?
 
Well, it's mostly water, which is why it tends to disperse and leave a little slick behind the boat. Some of the minor ingredients are 'proprietary' but the MSDS sheet does list some environmental issues. I had a bit of a discussion with the folks at Hornbeck a while back who on the one hand recommend the stuff, and on the other hand portray a company committed to keeping the NYS Adirondack environment pristine. Pity we can't ask the Brookies if it bothers their eyes when swimming in our wake.
 

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Well, it's mostly water, which is why it tends to disperse and leave a little slick behind the boat.

Yes, the SDS says it's between 75% and 100% water. No wonder it runs off my car-topped hull onto my windshield in the rain. Sounds more like a highly hyped scam the more I think about it. Maybe it provides some UV protection for the few days it would stay on a canoe hull.
 
I think that it does add UV protection, but maybe not as much as they claim. I do, however, think that the oils penetrate really well into roto boats or the gaskets on dry wear. I’m sure there’s alternatives, but the gaskets are where I really see 303 it work
 
Thanks @M Clemens for looking up the MSDS. A few choice exerpts:

"Environmental precautions
• Avoid run off to waterways and sewers
Section 12 Ecological Information
Toxicity; Persistence and degradability; Bioaccumulative potential; Mobility in Soil; Other adverse effects:
• Non mandatory section information about this substance not complied for this
reason"


There is also a seemingly nasty section on toxicology, mostly on rats and rabbits, but that's probably the case for a lot of chemicals we all use on the regular, and I don't know if the listed concentrations are anywhere what one might release in the environmental when paddling a 303'd canoe. I'm not going to check, either, pending responses to the below.

The unknowns, and the recommended Environmental precautions, give me serious pause about spreading this on my boat and then paddling my favorite wetlands (which are usually my favorites because of abundant wildlife), especially given the notes above about watching it stream off boats. I would want a pretty compelling reason to use the stuff at this point.

Noting @ErktheRed 's last comment just above, does anyone here have even a solid anecdote (never mind 'hard evidence') that this stuff provides worthwhile UV protection for hulls of any material, when the hull is stored indoors when not in use or transit?
 
does anyone here have even a solid anecdote (never mind 'hard evidence') that this stuff provides worthwhile UV protection for hulls of any material, when the hull is stored indoors when not in use or transit?

I have the sense, which I believe to be common sense, that the exterior hull of canoe that is stored indoors when not in use or in transit will not be exposed to UV for very long. Hence, even if 303 provides some UV protection, I wouldn't bother with it for such an indoor canoe. Where a UV protectant might make sense is to apply it during the off-season to a canoe stored outdoors exposed to the sun.

It also might make sense for something like a car dashboard, which is exposed to the sun but not rain. It also might help preserve the suppleness of the thin rubber cuffs on dry suits, though I'm not sure that has anything to do with UV.
 
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