Wrap It Up
Last night I dreamed I was trapped in a Tupperware box, woke up in a cold sweat, swimming in a fuzzy white haze. I felt like yesterday’s Caesar salad. (Although I was still crisp and fresh in the morning, Tupperware really does work.) Rarely do I identify with leftovers, even on a subconscious level, but there’s a reason for it this time. While researching this column for the last couple weeks, I’ve been reading, writing, and living in a world of plastic: Vinyl, to be more specific; the kind that comes in a roll with stickum on the back and does a nice job of rejuvenating topsides. Vinyl wrapping has been an alternative to paint for more than two decades but is today becoming more popular. Why? What’s wrong with paint?
Nothing, but vinyl is sometimes cheaper and quicker, and is being chosen by more and more yacht owners as a replacement for linear polyurethane and other traditional finishes for hulls, decks, interiors, and even cabin furniture. I’ll come clean right up front: I’m not totally comfortable with this. I’m an old-fashioned guy who worked on a boatyard paint crew, back when paint came in oneapplied with a brush. (I used to think this made me a Luddite, but recently I’ve been corrected: I’m actually a Neo-Luddite. Google it.) Maybe I’m all wet too, as wet as foul-weather gear in hurricane season. Fiberglass boats are really fiberglass-reinforced plastic; they’re skinned with gelcoat, another plastic; and linear polyurethane paint is, yep, plastic. So, with all this hardcore plasticity going on, what’s the difference if the boat’s also covered with stretchy, colorful vinyl? And even “plastic” itself is such a vague term, isn’t it? What’s my problem? Maybe I need to get out more.
