whats best method for buffing in slip

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J

J

sounds like a dumb question, but i just got done seeing a "cleaning service" using an electric buffer/waxer hanging over the side of a dock. how stupid can you be using electric tools at dockside. got me thinking though, since i dont plan on hauling out my boat again until i need to bottom paint, how do you maintain a good waxing job? mine is in need of a good rubbing compound application is there something you guys use other than by hand?, maybe a 30 ft'r is more than i can maintain myself.
 

Bob V

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Mar 13, 2008
235
Catalina 42mkII Lagoon Point
Make sure you have a GFI recepticle

and it won't kill you. You would have a hard time finding an electrical system on a dock that is not protected by a ground fault interupter. A gfi senses a ground fault (like when you and your tool fall in the water and the electricity trys to take a different path to ground) and it stops the flow of juice in less than a second. If you find a marina without GFI protection report them to State Labor and Industries in whatever state you live in. It won't be that way for long. You can also make it easier to wax closer to the water line by heeling your boat over with a large weight attached to the boom which is being held out by a preventer. A swamped dighy makes an excellent weight.
 
Sep 6, 2007
324
Catalina 320 Gulfport, Fl
I'm lucky...

We have a floating dock in he marina first come first serve to do things like buffing the hul. GFCI protection for the buffe, and as long as wou don't mind sitting, you can be at eye level with the hull.
 
May 17, 2004
2,110
Other Catalina 30 Tucson, AZ
Waxing

I've waxed a Catalina 30 a couple of ways. My slip was a double so the dock was only on one side. The dock side was easy (well, not that easy - it is a lot of work) as I just sat there and went at it. When I completed the dock side of the boat I had two choices. One was to turn the boat around or use the dingy. Most of the time I used the dingy. Dropping the buffer in the water was something I obviously wanted to avoid. The method I used was to attach a bungee cord to the buffer and the safety lines. That also took some of the weight off of the buffer, which gets real heavy near the end of the job. There is one other method - pay someone to do it which will involve, in my case, turning the boat around.
 
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