Cabin Fever Chronicles – Getting Outdoors with Rod

I recently acquired my first fiberglass sea kayak – a used Tiderace “Extreme.” It’s one of the world’s most advanced rough water sea kayaks. Specifically designed for kayaking along the ocean surf zone! It’s LOTS OF FUN, if you know how to use it. I’ve used it in the surf and Holy Cow it catches waves with ease. What a ride!

It was used with a lot of scratches. I wanted to refresh its finish. Plus, I was a bit embarrassed by the huge “EXTREME” label up on the bow. It came with some fraying black deck lines and bungees. So, a project was born. “Project THUNDER DRAGON.” I would take this slightly abused “Extreme” and transform it into a fabulous dancing dragon! She came all red. That’s a great start. A Ferrari red, in fact. What goes with Ferrari red? Answer: YELLOW!

Start by removing black smudges with acetone…

So, how do you refresh a scratched all-red kayak with frayed black bungees? Remove those offending bungees.

Then use acetone to remove rubbery black smudges from the finish. Then get some Boat Guard. Boat Guard is like Liquid Gold for kayaks. Rub it on, even buff it on using a electric buffer, and it hides scratches, leaves a UPF 50 barrier, and leaves a super nice shine!

Boat Guard makes everything new.

Keeping the boat in the shade, I worked about 90 minutes on the entire hull.

One thing about working with Boat Guard is that, once you start, the results are so fantastic you cannot stop. This kayak went from dull, scratched-looking to fabulous in an hour and a half.

But I was not done. I removed the “Extreme” label from the bow, and substituted a dancing dragon! I felt that was much more the kayak’s true nature.

I replaced its deck lines with yellow bungee cords and yellow reflective perimeter lines.

Here she is, the end product. She is now known as the Thunder Dragon! And she turns heads everywhere she goes! I love it.