Compressed air system for Auckland marine spraying specialists

Boating has always been a popular pastime for many of us here in New Zealand – a chance to get out and explore more of our own backyard while catching a fish or two while we’re at it! Warmer weather across the country and more Kiwis staying local due to restrictions on overseas travel has seen demand for boats soar. Trade Me reported a 14 percent increase in the number of boats sold purely by auction in December, compared to those sold in the same time of 2019.

With more people investing in boats across the country, there’s also growing demand for specialist services and skilled teams that will take care of and maintain these impressive vessels. Gloss Boats Marine Spraying is just one of the specialist companies available that provide repair and maintenance services for boats.

The team at Gloss Boats are currently working on a new facility, due to open in March of this year. We were privileged to be approached by Gloss Boats to carry out and supply the compressed air needs required for this new facility. Read on to learn more about this project, and the compressed air system we are supplying.

Currently, Gloss Boats Marine Spraying is based in Westhaven – the heart of Auckland’s maritime district. They specialise in the maintenance, repair and recoating of marine hulls and interior surfaces. Highly regarded in the industry by their customers, they work on a range of different projects from full repaints and antifouling, to paint touch-ups and blister repair work. They’re also specialists in the application of Propspeed – a coating that is used to keep propellers running at peak efficiency underwater.

Their highly-skilled team currently operates all activities and repairs out of their shed based at Pier21.

While their current location at Pier21 has served Gloss Boats well, they needed an area that would also allow them to work on bigger projects, without the additional costs and efforts of removing equipment often seen on top of larger boats like aerials and satellite domes. They also saw the new facility as a chance to separate the staff amenities as well as the office from the workshop. This will allow customers easier access when visiting while also providing staff with a separate area that’s quiet where they can relax and enjoy their break times.

To meet their growing needs, Gloss Boats is opening a new shed facility at Tamaki Marine Park, Auckland’s new marine precinct development.

A mockup of Gloss Boats' new shed facility. Image source: Marine Media

With an already long-standing relationship with the team at Tamaki Marine Park, Gloss Boats are excited to be involved in the new marine development and can’t wait to start work in their new shed!

The new shed is very well specced and will be 30 metres long, 20 metres wide, with a door height of 10.5 metres. The shed will also be fitted with a new semi-downdraught, heated spray booth with a high volume extraction system across the back wall. The booth will be attached to a tint-mix room with its own extraction system (extraction units built and installed by Egmont Air).

Any spray booth system will also need an efficient compressed air system in place to run operations which is why we’ve also come on board with this project to supply Gloss Boats with their compressed air requirements. The new paint facility will not only feature a brand new 11kW 15-60 CFM air compressor, but a dryer and Alu Air piping, all to be installed by our in-house team of specialist compressed air technicians.

Air compressor and dryer supplied for Gloss Boats.

Along with the new shed at Tamaki Marine Parade, Gloss Boats will still continue to have a presence at Pier21 – in future, it will carry out antifouling and Propspeed applications, as well as small touch-ups. And then once the new shed is finished, larger jobs like repaints will go to Tamaki Marine Park.

While the new shed is still a work in progress, due to be completed in March 2022, the end result will no doubt provide Gloss Boats with a state-of-the-art facility to complete their paint repair and maintenance services.

Early modelling of their compressed air usage with the new compressor system in place has shown us that they should see significant energy savings, having moved to an efficient PneuTech Vixen compressor. And with Alu Air piping being installed throughout the shed, they will have a superior air piping system that’s not only super efficient, but long-lasting and corrosion-resistant.

We’re looking forward to seeing the finished product! For a sneak-peak of the new shed, you can take a look at some progress shots below.

Progress shots of the new shed being built.