Painting Blades

The surface finish on new Croker blades is a white gelcoat. Unpainted and unmarked blades leave your oars vulnerable to theft, so we recommend that you paint your club colors or personal design very soon after you receive them. If your preferred color or design happens to be plain white, we suggest you visibly mark some area on the oars to distinguish your ownership.

To paint your oars, you will need to first rough up the white gelcoat surface. A few thorough passes with 120 grit sandpaper will do the trick. Do not try to sand off the white. You need only scuff it to hold the primer coat. Be sure to reach all the contours, edges and corners of the blade surface.

We distinctly recommend you use a primer before applying your top color. There are wide selections of primers and paints at most marine stores. Any formulation that would be appropriate for a fiberglass/gelcoat boat hull will be similarly appropriate for Croker blades.

Apply all coats sparingly thin, and allow each coat to dry for 24 hours. This is usually the recommendation of the paint manufacturer, but so many people ignore it. It is better to make conservative passes, and take your time, than to create glops and runs in a rush to finish. Yes, you will likely nick the paint job in a more than few areas in the first outings after all your efforts, but that is quite different than having entire sections peel off because you did not prep the surface or take the full drying time.