Island Girl

[Rick D]

FYI: just brought a whole bunch of island girl cleaning and finishing products from this site for my 12 year old Hunter 40.5 including the non-skid product. I used a single-part marine cleaner-wax on my prior 32 for nine years but used Nu-Glass on its non-skid with good results. That boat spent an early nine months of its life in a repo yard next to a chemical storage and the time did not help the gelcoat which needed to be kept waxed and filled. This boat has been waxed yearly since new, so it's in good shape but I don't like the idea of continually using cutter on the surface, thus the Island Girl. I'll post the results when done and later, after a year to let you know how it held up. Rick D.

 

[KorculaChris]

I used Vertglas

I used Vertglas, a similar product, three seasons ago. So far I am very impressed. The keys to success are careful prep and cleaning following directions to the letter, then careful application of the suggested number of coats putting in on very thinly, almost dry. Reports of yellowing after three years seem to be caused by people applying it too heavily. I am about to put on this year's two coats, about 45 minutes of easy work (weather permitting!).Splash day in two weeks.

 

[Chief]

I have used Island Girl on two different boats. The first was an older O'Day 23 that had not been maintained. I purchased the product and followed the instructions and the results were amazing. There happened to be a similar boat in the yard and he paid to have them use traditional compound and wax. The other owner would stand in front of my boat and shake his head. He was upset he had paid the yard, and even more amazed how great my boat looked compared to his. The O'Day was a white hull with a blue boot. My second boat was a Catalina 89, blue hull. Again, the previous owner did not take good care of the boat. I tried Island Girl in a small area, and the results were not very good. I then ordered some Poliglow and tried that product with similar results. I then paid to have the boat compounded and waxed. The results were not great, but slightly better than either Island Girl or Poliglow. I then shifted back to Island Girl and although I need to have the boat painted, it was still better then traditional compound and wax. Regarding the non-slip I tried Woody Wax last year and was pretty happy with the results.

 

[Tom Monroe]

non-skid

Last year, I cleaned my non-skid well with Island Girl Pink and a stiff bristle brush, and then put two coats of acrylic floor polish on it. Best results I've ever had. Meguiars flagship wax on the rest. This spring, a light wash and one new coat of each and it looks pretty good. All this on an 86 C27 that was not abused but not top drawer maintained either.The island girl deep oxydation stuff seems to me to work best on white gelcoat that's been poorly maintained or not at all. Tom

 

[Steve Dion]

I have seen Rick's boat....

I have seen Rick's boat. It is not a candidate for anything like Vertglas or Polyglow. I know where he is coming from. Just want to clean her up and keep her looking good for the next few years until he purchases that Hunter 49.Island Girl is a good product for a boat that just need a polishing job. I am in the same "boat" with mine. I have started on the cabin & cockpit and will attempt to apply some wax this weekend.Only time will tell but my experience using I.G. products has been good. It's best attribute is the protection of the gelcoat. Once you get it cleaned and conditioned you can use the I.G. sealers or any other commercial wax like Collinite, Mequires etc.