Splashed

[bdevlin5983]

Ok, so I splashed the boat this weekend, as the weather in MD was beautiful for the past 4-5 days.

I spent all day Thursday & Friday de-winterizing her, which including washing, cleaning/oiling the teak, etc. I also polished the hull with 3M Finesse It II, which worked great as always. This year, I used RejeX on the hull, which worked great, and after the second coat Friday midday, the hull looked like it was brand new, which I am pretty happy with on a 24 year old boat. We will see how the RejeX holds up, especially with the "slime line" right above the bottom paint.

As for the topside smooth fiberglass, that did not work so well. The gel coat is pretty rough from all those years of sun abuse, as well as numeruos compoundings/polishings. By rough, I mean that the luster is definitely gone, and I cannot get it back with buffing/polishing. Also, wax goes on, but will NOT come off... What are my options, if any?

I also replaced all the helmstation side carpeting with a really nice dark navy blue from Cabelas, which looks awesome (need to get some pics...). The tear out was easy, the install pretty easy, as I used 3M 88 spray adhesive and some silicone to help with the corner areas...

Last but not least, I have to plug the E-Tec yet again. Motor sat all winter, no maintenance, as this is only its third season and I havent hit 300 hours yet. I turned the key, and without even a full crank she was running like she had just been running an hour ago. I continue to be thrilled with the performance of this motor.

If anyone has any ideas for my upper gel coat, I would be mucho appreciative... Even if I need to get a professional boat detailer to come in and work some majic with it, that would be fine, I just need a name...

regards,

Bren

 

[Moxsea]

Bren, what did you mean exactly when you said the wax will not come off? I grew up painting and polishing cars. I generally will take a small area try a 12 inch square on the hull and apply a very small amount of wax. Let dry completely to a haze. Using a clean fresh rag buff the area in a small circular manner with VERY LITTLE pressure until the resistance goes away. You cannot over buff even if you work the area for a full minute. Once the rag gets wet or too dirty replace with a fresh one. This is a patience type project and if any wax is not buffed out completely it will never look or feel right. keep at it. - Jack

 

[bdevlin5983]

Bren, what did you mean exactly when you said the wax will not come off? I grew up painting and polishing cars. I generally will take a small area try a 12 inch square on the hull and apply a very small amount of wax. Let dry completely to a haze. Using a clean fresh rag buff the area in a small circular manner with VERY LITTLE pressure until the resistance goes away. You cannot over buff even if you work the area for a full minute. Once the rag gets wet or too dirty replace with a fresh one. This is a patience type project and if any wax is not buffed out completely it will never look or feel right. keep at it. - Jack

I mean the gelcoat seems to absorb the wax, so there is no residue to get off... Also, the streaks of wax that appear as you put iot on in a circular motion seem to stay... I have tried working with small areas, but to no avail... Its very hard to explain, but it is definitely something I have no clue how to overcome.

Thanks,

Bren