Remember the series of posts on getting youngsters involved in sailing? I found an old fiberglass snipe that I want to refurbish and sail with my grandson. It seems sound, but lots of chalking, surface residue, etc. of the hull and more particularly the deck. Can I just use a buffing compound on it like I would an old car, and then put a few coats of wax on it? I really don't want to get into one-step poly paints or new gelcoat, etc. Tom Monroe Carlyle Lake
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Rubbing Compound
I have an old fiberglass rowing dingy that came with our boat..it was very chalked..I used rubbing compond then a few coats of wax an it looks beautiful.
I have an old fiberglass rowing dingy that came with our boat..it was very chalked..I used rubbing compond then a few coats of wax an it looks beautiful.
Refinishing hull
Tom - First, I'd avoid the magic products, not because there is anything inherently wrong with them but because the long way has worked better for me and the boat you're working on is small enought to be managable. I haven't tried the Island Girl products but others swear by them - maybe the exception in magic products. My preference in refinishing products is for the 3M line. There are others probably equally good. The first thing to do is a serious wash job. If there is any grit on the boat, rubbing it will scratch the surface badly. I'd do this project twice - once on the hull with the boat inverted and once on the decks with the boat up-right. Once the boat is pristine in terms of dirt, I would start with 3M super heavy duty rubbing compound. Keep the working area small and don't let the compound set because it will become a bear to get off. Go over the whole thing, then rinse the boat and then wash it with a good soap. Quality soaps are important because they don't leave residue. You will probably need to compound a second time but be careful on the second pass. Remember that this is a destructive process and you can go through the gelcoat, especially on corners. After the rubbing compound, round two, wash the boat again. These intermediate washes should only take a few minutes because the boat is already clean. Now hit it with 3M polishing compound. The purposes here are different. The rubbing compound restored the color. Now you're restoring shine. Polish is destructive also, but hard to overdo because it is so fine. Wash the boat again. Now you wax. Having come this far, I'd use hard paste wax. They're a hassel to apply and even harder to buff out but worth the effort. On a small boat like this its worth it. On a bigger boat its debatable. My boat would cry if she heard me recommending you do this process - my boat is rigged to the 9's but I don't worry much about perfection in the cosmetic department. Finally, 3m has a spray product that goes over it all. Comes in a pump-sprayer like Windex. Works wonderfully. On the deck, I'd stop after the compound. You don't want the shine because for the most part shine = slick. Send us pictures and enjoy your grandson. I live and sail in Maine because of my grandfather's influence. He was a merchant sailor during WWII and sailed Liberty ships from Portland Harbor. His sea stories and a trip around the bay on a ferry with him as a child were the basis of my dream in life - live in Maine, sail the bay. He's passed on now, but I still wear his signet ring on a chain around my neck. I don't go to sea without it. Justin - O'day Owners' Web
Tom - First, I'd avoid the magic products, not because there is anything inherently wrong with them but because the long way has worked better for me and the boat you're working on is small enought to be managable. I haven't tried the Island Girl products but others swear by them - maybe the exception in magic products. My preference in refinishing products is for the 3M line. There are others probably equally good. The first thing to do is a serious wash job. If there is any grit on the boat, rubbing it will scratch the surface badly. I'd do this project twice - once on the hull with the boat inverted and once on the decks with the boat up-right. Once the boat is pristine in terms of dirt, I would start with 3M super heavy duty rubbing compound. Keep the working area small and don't let the compound set because it will become a bear to get off. Go over the whole thing, then rinse the boat and then wash it with a good soap. Quality soaps are important because they don't leave residue. You will probably need to compound a second time but be careful on the second pass. Remember that this is a destructive process and you can go through the gelcoat, especially on corners. After the rubbing compound, round two, wash the boat again. These intermediate washes should only take a few minutes because the boat is already clean. Now hit it with 3M polishing compound. The purposes here are different. The rubbing compound restored the color. Now you're restoring shine. Polish is destructive also, but hard to overdo because it is so fine. Wash the boat again. Now you wax. Having come this far, I'd use hard paste wax. They're a hassel to apply and even harder to buff out but worth the effort. On a small boat like this its worth it. On a bigger boat its debatable. My boat would cry if she heard me recommending you do this process - my boat is rigged to the 9's but I don't worry much about perfection in the cosmetic department. Finally, 3m has a spray product that goes over it all. Comes in a pump-sprayer like Windex. Works wonderfully. On the deck, I'd stop after the compound. You don't want the shine because for the most part shine = slick. Send us pictures and enjoy your grandson. I live and sail in Maine because of my grandfather's influence. He was a merchant sailor during WWII and sailed Liberty ships from Portland Harbor. His sea stories and a trip around the bay on a ferry with him as a child were the basis of my dream in life - live in Maine, sail the bay. He's passed on now, but I still wear his signet ring on a chain around my neck. I don't go to sea without it. Justin - O'day Owners' Web
I like Justin's way
While it seems elaborate from the description, Justin's methodology is actually quite simple and straight forward. However, I would also put polish and wax on the topsides for protection, as the rubbing compound probably will not do a good job of that alone. I must also admit that I like Justin's method because Justin is probably not far away from where my grandfather, of whom I have fond memories, is buried. For Justin's reference, it is the same place that General Chamberlain is buried. I often wonder if pennies are still placed onto Chamberlain's stone.
While it seems elaborate from the description, Justin's methodology is actually quite simple and straight forward. However, I would also put polish and wax on the topsides for protection, as the rubbing compound probably will not do a good job of that alone. I must also admit that I like Justin's method because Justin is probably not far away from where my grandfather, of whom I have fond memories, is buried. For Justin's reference, it is the same place that General Chamberlain is buried. I often wonder if pennies are still placed onto Chamberlain's stone.
Another Option
Here is a response concerning Island Girl to refurbish a gel coat finish. I have not tried it myself, but would be inclined to try it on your project. Good luck, and post your results. I also put in the link to the thread. Jim Willis added some helpful comments of his own. Rick D. "Just finished doing my complete deck and cockpit with Island Girl products, came out great!! It's an 1987 boat, it's had about 3 or 4 owners, new to me last year. When I got it the boat had been sitting for a while in the boat yard, the previous owners had bought a new boat and thus neglected my to be pride and joy. Needless to say, it was dirty. The previous owners used softscrub on it, they told me. Not wanting to use softscrub for environmental reasons, and also I've learned softscrub is bad for you gelcoat, I used several earth friendly products to no avail. I finally broke down and used a little soft scrub, then some wax the local marina recomended. The wax left a yellow film, the nonskid areas really yellowed up. By then I had had it, decided to leave it until this year. Well the bottom paint had priority this year, so I just got around to doing the deck and cockpit areas with the Island Girl products, what a difference. First off, the Sea Glow really lifts the dirt out of the gelcoat, you could see the difference as you worked. Secondly, you wipe the dirty Sea Glow off with paper towels, so no rinsing of toxic cleaners into the water!!!, so you use a few paper towels. The Simply Brilliant wax makes the gelcoat look new and it's as easy as wiping on with a paper towel!!! I got the nonskid kit for the noskid areas. Ok, that you need to rinse, because the cleaner is IG pink, not seaglow. Not wanting to rinse into the water; after I scubed nonskid areas with IG pink, I was able spunge up most of it with a big spunge and wring into a bucket of water. After wiping with clean water and spunging up, the final hose rinse put very little over the decks into the water. I know, the Island Girl products are more bio safe that most other cleaners, but, still I try not to pollute when ever I can. The IG pink cleaned the noskid areas wounderfully, with very little elbow grease. Next, the noskid sealer went on as easy as just spunging it on. Came out great. Just finished up putting the final coat of Simply Brilliant on the smooth gelcoat areas of the deck and cockpit, looks real nice. Thanks Jim for some great products. I highly recomend them. Jim, heres a product I need, maybe you can work on this next, or maybe you have it! There are a few areas on my gelgoat on deck that are pitted, probably because the previous owners used caustic cleaners. Anyway, luckily it's only a few isolated areas. If the pits were small, of course the seaglow and SB filled them nicely, but if they were big and deap, not much could be done. I need a filler of sorts to go under the SB wax. Sort of a "makeup foundation" for those areas. Matching colors would be a probelm, so it would need to reflect the color of the surrounding gelcoat. Then you SB wax over and it's good for a year." IMPORTANT! HunterOwners.com does not verify opinions
Here is a response concerning Island Girl to refurbish a gel coat finish. I have not tried it myself, but would be inclined to try it on your project. Good luck, and post your results. I also put in the link to the thread. Jim Willis added some helpful comments of his own. Rick D. "Just finished doing my complete deck and cockpit with Island Girl products, came out great!! It's an 1987 boat, it's had about 3 or 4 owners, new to me last year. When I got it the boat had been sitting for a while in the boat yard, the previous owners had bought a new boat and thus neglected my to be pride and joy. Needless to say, it was dirty. The previous owners used softscrub on it, they told me. Not wanting to use softscrub for environmental reasons, and also I've learned softscrub is bad for you gelcoat, I used several earth friendly products to no avail. I finally broke down and used a little soft scrub, then some wax the local marina recomended. The wax left a yellow film, the nonskid areas really yellowed up. By then I had had it, decided to leave it until this year. Well the bottom paint had priority this year, so I just got around to doing the deck and cockpit areas with the Island Girl products, what a difference. First off, the Sea Glow really lifts the dirt out of the gelcoat, you could see the difference as you worked. Secondly, you wipe the dirty Sea Glow off with paper towels, so no rinsing of toxic cleaners into the water!!!, so you use a few paper towels. The Simply Brilliant wax makes the gelcoat look new and it's as easy as wiping on with a paper towel!!! I got the nonskid kit for the noskid areas. Ok, that you need to rinse, because the cleaner is IG pink, not seaglow. Not wanting to rinse into the water; after I scubed nonskid areas with IG pink, I was able spunge up most of it with a big spunge and wring into a bucket of water. After wiping with clean water and spunging up, the final hose rinse put very little over the decks into the water. I know, the Island Girl products are more bio safe that most other cleaners, but, still I try not to pollute when ever I can. The IG pink cleaned the noskid areas wounderfully, with very little elbow grease. Next, the noskid sealer went on as easy as just spunging it on. Came out great. Just finished up putting the final coat of Simply Brilliant on the smooth gelcoat areas of the deck and cockpit, looks real nice. Thanks Jim for some great products. I highly recomend them. Jim, heres a product I need, maybe you can work on this next, or maybe you have it! There are a few areas on my gelgoat on deck that are pitted, probably because the previous owners used caustic cleaners. Anyway, luckily it's only a few isolated areas. If the pits were small, of course the seaglow and SB filled them nicely, but if they were big and deap, not much could be done. I need a filler of sorts to go under the SB wax. Sort of a "makeup foundation" for those areas. Matching colors would be a probelm, so it would need to reflect the color of the surrounding gelcoat. Then you SB wax over and it's good for a year." IMPORTANT! HunterOwners.com does not verify opinions
Wet sand with 800 or 1000 grip abrasive paper (you can buy a couple of sheets from an auto body shop) then compound and sand with marine quality products. Jay Tracy
Pine Grove
B- I could almost place a penny myself out my office window. Pine Grove Cemetary is about 300 yards from where I sit. Any yes, they still place coins on Chamberlain's grave. Your grandfather is in good company - or maybe its Chamberlain who has the good company? Jusitn - O'day Owners' Web
B- I could almost place a penny myself out my office window. Pine Grove Cemetary is about 300 yards from where I sit. Any yes, they still place coins on Chamberlain's grave. Your grandfather is in good company - or maybe its Chamberlain who has the good company? Jusitn - O'day Owners' Web
I vote for Island Girl
I've had good luck with Island Girl products. Check out the Gel Coat and Plastics Forum on this website.
I've had good luck with Island Girl products. Check out the Gel Coat and Plastics Forum on this website.
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