chalky deck??

[lee5267]

I recently bought a 1985 H23 which needs a little care. The deck has some crazing and the deck/cockpit will both leave a nice chalky residue on you when you wipe the surface gel coat.

My plan is to wash it down well and wax an area heavily to see if this fixes the problem. Is this the best way to go or should I just paint it and be done with it. Also the boat is due a bottom job but since I will keep it on the trailer can I just take a scotch bright pad to the bottom paint to get the slime/black scum off the bottom.

Lee

 

[Steve Dion]

Lee:

If you are referring to the non-skid area I would recommend that you DO NOT wax it. You may think about trying a product like the Island Girl Pink and a good stiff brush to remove the oxidation. Once you do that you can seal it with some non-skid products.

 

[Barnacle Bill]

The oxidation is sun degredation of the gelcoat. Mequiars makes a product call Gel Wash (concentrated), where you can wash the gelcoat and then you can take a fiberglass rubbing compound (Mequiars product is HD Oxidation Remover) and buff it with a power buffer and then after you get a good shine, you can use a good wax (Mequairs #56 Pure Wax) to protect it so the sun chews on the wax instead of the gelcoat. Do not wax the nonskid as that will make it slippery. You can wash the nonskid (Starbright's non skid deck cleaner is a good product), but if you think it needs repainting, then the are a few color choices with Interlux Deck Paint, or you can use any type of paint and add a flattening agent to make it not slippery, which is what it will be if you paint it gloss.

 

[lee5267]

Steve what are you mentioning when you say non skid products? Are you talking paint or is there something else? My main concern is what to do with the non-skid so that it is somewhat protected and the gelcoat will not keep leaving the chalky residue on me and my clothes. If I wash it with a special or good soap will it simply wash the residue away and keep it good for a while before the UV gets to it again or will it continue to be chalky until I use compound to remove the top layer down to good gel coat?

 

[MrUnix]

If it is already painted, then that may be your only option. If it isn't painted, you can probably bring back the gelcoat finish with a little bit of effort and a good polisher like the Makita 9227C polisher. Maine Sail has a excellent write up on gelcoat restoration that will help you out there.

There is no need to paint the bottom if the boat is going to live on a trailer.. hitting it with a 3M scotchbrite pad should suffice. You may want to take it down a bit more however, depending on how it looks. Sometimes, the bottom paint is just there to cover up an ugly bottom, not just to keep stuff from growing.

Non-skid surfaces are a bit trickier.. you don't want to make them slick, so generally washing them down and using a good non-skid product will do. There are several out there that people seem to like. I have used woody-wax with good results. A quick search here will turn up lots of opinions on the various products out there and their effectiveness.

Cheers,
Brad