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Comments
I use Presta products and a Makita Rotary Buffer and 3m pads. Specifically:
- Makita 9227C
- 3M 05711
- 3M 05725
- 3M 05713
- Presta Gel Coat Compound - PST138501
- Presta Ultra Cutting Creme - PST131901
- Presta Ultra Polish - PST-133501
- Presta Fast Wax - PST-134101
The Makita is 10+ years old now, and still running like new. I've done 20 boats with it now easily, including paid customer work. The Presta Ultra-Cut overlaps what the Gel Coat Compound does, but with a less abrasive starting point. The end point is the same. It's an either-or thing, don't use both. End of season and the boat looks good? Ultra-Cut. Just bought the boat and it's been neglected? Try the Gel Coat Compound, if that doesn't cut it fast enough then wet-sand it first. The Presta Ultra Polish is amazing - it could give a mirror shine to a brick on it's own. And the Presta Fast Wax - I warm it a bit and buff it in with a foam pad, then polish it up with a soft wool polishing pad.I have an assortment of wet sandpaper 6" disks, 800-1000-1200-1500-2000 and used my Ridgid DA Orbital Sander, and a pump-style lawn prayer with 1:10 Dawn dish soap and hot water. Pick a 4'x4' section when wet sanding with a power sander, wet it really well with the soapy water, and move the sander fast. The intent is to just cut the oxidation off the surface while minimizing the gelcoat removed, it shouldn't take more than 2 fast light passes with 800 grit. Do the whole side with 800, then switch to 1000, 1200, 1500, 2000, keeping the work area really wet and soapy.
Once I had wet sanded all the black I got a soft-bristled brush and carefully washed/rinsed the entire boat down with some more 1:10 Dawn/Hot Water, then rinsed that with the garden hose. I used a squeegee to dry the surface so I could see what areas might need more attention. I hope to avoid repeating any of this down the road by properly maintaining the wax, so this time I went over every square inch of black gel coat to make sure it was good, and hand-corrected each swirl/scratch/blemish that the Gel Coat compound couldn't handle. I had a little black gel coat with me in a cheap hand-pump sprayer and used that in 1-2 areas to fill in deep scrapes, then sped the curing with a heat gun.
For compounding, cutting, polishing, and waxing I use BBQ sauce bottles. I have a blue painters tape label on each one with the name in sharpie, and I have them ordered by height. The bottle with the Gel Coat Compound has the blue tape wrapped around at the top, the Cutting Compound is wrapped around one tape-width lower, the Polish is one tape-width lower than that, and the wax one tape-width lower than that. Some of the fluids are nearly identical in color, and as you're walking around tired you don't want to grab the wrong one.
Next step: using the Presta Gel Coat Compound with a wool compounding pad. Ideally you do this in 2-3' squares, rinsing the wool pad after each section (spray it with your Dawn/Hot water mix, then scratch through it with your fingers, then rinse clean with a garden hose and spin it with the buffer at 2k RPM to get most of the water out.
You apply just the right amount of compound and water (spray bottle of clean water, no Dawn) so that you get light, consistent coverage, then you buff this into the gel coat until it's gone.
If you have the right ratios the third or 4th pass will result in clean, shiny gel coat without compound. If you have too much compound it'll build up in spots and leave a map of islands, if it's too wet it'll fling compound everywhere and not adequately remove scratches/blemishes.
Run the buffer at 600-1000 RPM to work this in, then spray the pad once and increase the speed to 1500-2000 RPM and work it again. Spray the pad once more and increase the speed 2500-3000 RPM and work it again. If you're smart you'll start on a flat surface to get this right. I foolishly started on the bow and burned my shoulders and glutes up trying to buff out the overapplication of compound. I should've just hit it with the hose and started over. Repeat until completed, I'll overlap slightly each spot to prevent over-removal of the gel coat and missing a spot.
Once that's done get the soft-bristle brush and dawn and rinse the boat down again, then flush with clean water. Squeegee dry and check for touch up. I label each spot with blue painters tape, drink a beer, then get the Gel Coat Compound ready.
Once you've got the whole hull looking good with compound, it's time to make it shine with polish. I use the Presta Polish with a foam polish pad. I get the pad damp with clean water, then draw a polish X on it. Then I apply two lines of polish on the hull and start the buffer at 1500 RPM, flat on the hull. I work that in until I have a uniform coverage again, then I lightly spray the hull with clean water and speed up the buffer to 2500-3000 RPM and edge the surface. This really brings out the shine. I clean the polish pad less frequently - polishing doesn't remove a lot of material. Once that's done I'll wash the boat one more time: Dawn and hot water with the soft-bristle brush, then rinse with fresh water.
Waxing: some folks insist on applying wax by hand. Not me. I warm the wax a little by submerging it in hot water, then apply it with a microfiber bonnet. Shake the wax well each application to get the carnauba flakes in suspension. Apply it directly to the surface in a line, then work across that slowly at 600-1000 RPM. Work that into the surface really well from a few directions (make small circles with the buffer). I'll make 2-3 passes on each surface to make sure I've got a consistent layer of wax. Once the wax is applied, let it set to try a few minutes (doesn't take long) then buff it to a shine. I'll do this with either a microfiber bonnet (flat surfaces) or a clean dry 3m wool polishing pad (for complex surfaces). Then I go over the whole boat with a microfiber hand towel checking for spots I missed. That's it!
No, wait, it's not... Reapply the wax. Give it 2-3 good coats and it'll last most of the season. Reapply every 3-4 months - just a quick wash and wax. Some of it can be done while on the water - I bring my buffer and fluids and run the genny a bit. And put the boat away cleaned/waxed in the fall so you don't have to deal with this whole mess in the spring.
If the boat is maintained (washed and waxed thoroughly when it needs it) there's almost never a reason to compound the gel coat - the wax will protect it and sacrifice itself over time, and you'll protect the boat by cleaning the surface and re-applying wax.
That's it!
Dude you've got it goin on. I don't know how you could have that beer belly, after all that.
2018 Cherokee 39RL Land Yacht (Sorry...)
2007 300 EC, 350 Mags, B3's, Table Rock Lake, MO
Almost done!