Going to be time to clean up my boat soon. Havn't seen much except some waxes and cleaners to use. Not really wanting to plunk down a bunch of money on new stuff (it's not THAT nice a boat). It's an older boat (1989) and the previous owner didn't do much other than just keep it clean.

What stuff would also work on gel-coat? I'm assuming it's gelcoat.
It's a 19' Fish n' Ski with off white, heavy metal flek blue and heavy metal flek silver. Would Automotive selant hurt it, help it, or be useless. Questions like that.

Most of you will have an idea of what I have avail.

#6, #7, #9, #16, #26, Nattys red, NXT 2.0

Just wasn't sure since I've never used anything but megs consumer line marine wax on it and it's starting to look the worse for wear. And knew that gelcoat was a whole other animal than car paint. Thought some of you boat owners and/or RV owners might have some helpful advice.

Not a lot of pictures of it but here's a couple.






.

 

two suggestions...


1) Buy a new boat
2) find a lake other than lake merideth...


lol just messin with ya man!

 

A 4 wheeler is way up on the list before new boat.

Bout ready to sell the s.o.b. with Merideth drying up and costs of fortune to haule it 100+ miles to the next boatable lake. Love going to the lake but getting awfully expensive to haul it anywhere it can be enjoyed. Scared to even get it up to speed on Merideth.

 

Use meguiars boat/rv wax on it. They have a higher line too but I prefer the blue bottle, not the black one. The more expensive one seems to leave streak marks and I have never been happy with that. If you have a lot of hard water spots wash the boat with a 50/50 mix of water and vinegar to remove the hard water. You may need to have the boat buffed out first if its too bad. Not sure what you use on the vinyl seats but the best I have found is Spray Nine. You should be able to find it at a marina or some walmarts sell it.

I have been doing fiberglass and gelcoat repair for about 5-6 years now for a marina at the Lake of the Ozarks. Just recently left and moved back home to KS and starting up my own business doing on site work here. If there is any other questions you have on cosmetic work for the boat (I don't touch outboards ) let me know. I'd be glad to give you some pointers. bhensley1980@sbcglobal.net or customlooksmarine@sbcglobal.net

Brandon

 

I figure within the next 5 years it could be gettin bone dry, its looking really poor. IDK about greenbelt, id suspect the same. I dont think enouigh water will come to save them in the near future....it does look bleak..

 

I talked to a friend that lives down south that works for the state fish hatchery. Said that they were told "Until further notice no new fish stocking will take place at lake meredith."
Can still launch at the marina but it's pretty bad when the put a "permenant" sign up that says "4 wheel drive recomended"

It'd fill up if Amarillo, Plainview, and Lubbock would start getting at least some of their water somewhere else.

Took this picture last week of the marina ramp. Can see the normal pool level on the spillway pillar.

 

http://www.jamestowndistributors.com...ne=1&page=GRID


if the link doesn't work just go to the dot com and look left, you'll find the click on.

 

JGG, you'll want to pick up a Meguiar's Oxidation removal kit.

Here's my thread on when I detailed my Tahiti in May. The Meg's waxes used are the ones that come in the Oxidation kit. I've tried using the car products on the gel coat before (#7, 26, Gold Class, etc) and none of them can come close to the stuff made for fiberglass.

 

Having owned more than a few boats in my lifetime (and working at a marina), maybe I can offer some assistance here too. Zaairman is right in that Meg's offers some great stuff for boats. The one thing I might offer is that generally speaking working on gelcoat is easier than working on paint when removing oxidation. The big difference? With gel, you've got lots of material (thickness) to work with. That said, you can get pretty aggressive and not have a problem with burning through.

On the flip side, gelcoat has a down side. Once it starts to oxidize, you're all done. Oh yea, you can rub it and bring it back, but the oxidation will keep coming back. The only thing that will truly "cure" the problem is to re-gelcoat the surface or paint it. Hope that helps.

 

That's what I'm afraid of. I have some places towards the bow that sat in the sun for years and oxidized pretty badly. doubt I'll ever be able to make that part look good again. Least it was like that when I got it so I can always say it wasn't my fault. lol

 

JGG,

Yea, sorry to be the bearer of sad tidings, but that's the truth. The manager at the marina doesn't like me telling folks that because our gelcoat guy makes some pretty decent money buffing boats out that are as far gone as yours sounds like it is. They look great for a few weeks, then start chalking right up again. Like you said though - blame it on the previous owner!

 

I almost forgot. There is hope for any of you reading this and thinking that gelcoat doesn't hold up in the sunlight. Here's a recent picture of my 1992 Progression. Note the reflection of the water in the hull sides. The boat has 100% original gelcoat and has never been rubbed out. Yes, I keep it fully covered, but it sits in my driveway from April through October. What have I use to protect it? Zaino.

 

I use Meguiar's #67 One Step Compound. It has plenty of cut and finishes down fantastic. It's very easy to use. Follow that with some Meguiar's Flagship Wax and your set.

Tic

 

I know this isn't the best pic ever, but this is what the bow of my boat looked like when I first got it...



The oxidation keeps coming back, but the polish helps slow it GREATLY. I only use the oxidation remover at the beginning of the season, then just polish and wax after that.

 

The heavily oxidized areas can be wet sanded out and buffed and will hold if done right. When buffing out use 3M rubbing compounds. Start with the heavy grit. finessit II, hand glaze then wax. I am a fiberglass/gel tech and will tell you it can be done and will hold if done right. It takes more that a quick buff, which will not hold more than a few weeks. The easy jobs I would let my crew work on but the ones like yours I would do myself as it can be a pain but I do get it done. As much as I like the extra cash a full job will bring in, when I get jobs like this and fix them with out a re-spray my customers notice and always come back to me for their work. Like I said above, if you have any questions you can email me and I can help walk you through it if your up to the task.

bhensley1980@sbcglobal.net or customlooksmarine@sbcglobal.net