Marine Maxx Ceramic Coating
While boat manufacturers focus on making it easier to operate a boat, through our BoattestLEASING sister company, we discovered a product that makes it easier to maintain one, too. Marine Maxx is a ceramic coating spray that lives up to its spray-on, wipe-off billing. It saves us time when maintaining our vessels and that’s something any boatowner can appreciate.
Gunwales In
Bill Stewart is an entrepreneur with clients in the automotive detailing and other industries and one of them was making a product for use in car maintenance. He had been looking for a ceramic coating to use for detailing recreational boats and he had the supplier “tweak” the level of the active ingredient — SiO2 (silica dioxide) — to make the product more effective for protecting boats.
About 18 months ago, he named it Marine Maxx and started promoting the spray, hitting the boat-show circuit. Our colleagues at BoattestLEASING started using it and saves our crew time and hassle to keep our fleet looking good.
The one thing that Stewart wanted to ensure that people understand is that Marine Maxx does not prevent growth of barnacles and other organisms on a hull bottom. It will not replace anti-fouling coatings. “We say gunwales in,” said Stewart. He recommends using it on interior surfaces including upholstery and even stainless steel. It’s not applicable to glass windshields.
Wax-On, Wax-Off
Depending on the environment, Marine Maxx can last up to a year between applications. On the west coast of Florida, Stewart said a coating lasts about eight months on his boat. Similar to car wax, when the water doesn’t bead up as easily on the boat, grab the spray bottle and re-apply.
It’s a spray-on, wipe off process that doesn’t require excess physical effort. Once the spray has been applied, wipe the surface with the first rag to evenly spread it out. Let it dry and wipe with the second cloth. To stretch the 16-ounce bottle, Stewart says that once the first cloth is saturated with Marine Maxx, that’s the time to wipe down the stainless-steel hardware. For nonskid decking, start in the bow and spray while walking backwards. Don’t wipe down the deck. Just let it dry.
A 16-ounce bottle retails for $40 and one will take care of a 28’ (8.53 m) center-console, according to Stewart. He’s trying to find a retailer to carry Marine Maxx, and for now, boaters can go to marinemaxxceramiccoating.com to place an order.
