Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Hey all,

We just took delivery of our new Bennington 24, and it's beautiful. We did not have the factory sharkhide the pontoons, but the dealer says they will do it for $300 if we want it done. Is it really worth it? The boat sits in fairly clean fresh water for 5-6 months during boating season and our marina bottom washes it every year when it goes into storage. I can't really find any good info on when sharkhide should be used, or what the real purpose of it is. Any help would be great. Thanks!

I'm curious about this too. My new pontoon came with it from the factory, but trying to figure out what this sharkhide stuff is. Some people say it helps gunk from sticking to your toons, but some people say it doesn't work.

Sharkhide keeps the toons from oxidizing. Without it, they will tarnish pretty quickly, and go from a nice "mill" finish to a dull grey in no time.
When properly applied, it will last several years, and keep the toons looking new.
It is not a nonstick coating that will keep algae or scum from sticking to the toons, so regular cleaning is still a must.
I applied it 3 seasons ago on new toons, and they still look great, and on the places i did not apply it, (inside the toons, out of sight) are very dull and oxidized.
Do it! You will not regret it!

OK..... so I just had our boat done this summer. The boat was only about 8 or 9 months old, hung in a covered boat house. Never sat in the water for more than 6 hours at a time, and it looked like crap after that short amount of time just by oxidation. It was UGLY, tarnished dull gray with a little black streaking here and there. I didn't need to rinse the boat after use as I'm only in a very clean lake, but it was lifted after each use.

I decided to pay our marina where I purchased the boat to use an "acid wash" ( Toon Brite) on the toons and then put on Sharkhide. I had already purchased all the materials as I was going to do the work myself until I read the very fine print on the Toon Brite that stated not to use it over a lake or river as it may kill fish........ I didn't want to be the guy who killed everything in our cove. I would be cleaning it on our lift directly over the lake. I do NOT own a trailer so can't haul it out and do it away from the lake.

I took it to the marina....... also on the lake..... but they set it to the side..... likely 100 feet from the water and acid washed it, and then put on 2 coats (per my instructions) of Sharkhide.

The results were exactly as I had hoped for..... it is clean, uniform, but does have a slight white / silver color. I'm OK with that as it's not that crappy dull, uneven dark, and streaky oxidation any more.

After 3 or 4 months, it still looks like they had just done it. As I provided materials ( Toon Brite ... 2 quarts, and 3 quarts of SharkHide) which I got back a full unused one....... I only paid for labor, which totaled 2.5 hours. They had the boat for a week, as we were gone from the lake then anyways, and it it best to wait a bit between coats of Sharkhide.

If it were me...... I would put on the Sharkhide immediately, before using the boat or taking delivery. If it's too late, then the sooner the better and you can likely skip having to acid wash with Toon Brite or some other similar product.

Thanks guys. Will a standard bottom wash with acid based scum remover take the sharkhide off at the end of the season, thus forcing a second application before next season? Thanks.

Emsflyer84 wrote:Thanks guys. Will a standard bottom wash with acid based scum remover take the sharkhide off at the end of the season, thus forcing a second application before next season? Thanks.

YES...... anything with an acid base will..... as will leaving the boat in the water.... anything below the waterline will not retain the Sharkhide in short order. It is not a bottom protector, or paint.

After 3 years of the polishing, my pontoons were starting to dull. I started to strip and re-polish, but thought, I'll just try this first. I hit the pontoons with another coat of Sharkhide. Turned out as shiny as they were after the polishing. Saved hours of work. I didn't worry about the worn off area under the water line. But I was amazed. I'm not sure if I'm gonna polish the toons on the new one or not. I need to decide quickly because they will start rolling the aluminum shortly and I need to tell them to hold off the coating, if I do decide to polish. I think Manitou uses Toon Bright coating, yet. They did on my old 2007, anyway. I still have 3/4 of a can of Sharkhide left, from the original 2 I bought in 2008, when I did the Manitou, then the Premier, twice. And a buddies boat. A little goes a hell of a long way! Firm, firm believer in Sharkhide, especially after this last application. Its on my boat trailer, my Prowers trailer and my new S/S gas grill. Hell, I put some on our engraved rock with our wedding date we got when we were married! If its outside and needs protected, it gets Sharkhide!

(Clint- Am I ready to be on your pay roll, yet?)