Rubbing Compound and Polish/Wax Suggestions

[Guest]

I have recently purchased a 1980 DS, and I am in the process of cleaning her up for the season. I've read much about rubbing compound to smooth scratches and using polish/wax to protect, but I'm not sure what brands to use. Could anyone make some suggestions on products that have worked well for them. Thank you.

David Eberbach (DavidEberbach-at-aol.com)

[Guest]

David, I did not notice any reply to your question so I will jump in. I think you are referring to the deck but possibly to sprucing up the deck and bottom. I can only speak on basics. First, Identify that the surface your dealing with is jell coat or paint and find a simple rubbing coumpound that works easly for you. Go to a marine store and ask for recommendations there since they should have a product that you can work with. Second, I suggest that you DO NOT put any polish on your deck nor the bottom. Why? The first time you step on the newly polished deck with moisture on your deck shoes your going for the big fall, no contest!!! After you rub it out and it need cleaning, use a light household spray cleaner. If you put polish on the bottom of your boat (gel coat or paint) your going to reduce the performance a great deal. After the bottom is rubbed out, again all you need is a household spray cleaner, ie. Simple Green, or a glass cleaner like Windex. The idea is to clean all grime or oil from the hull and not add anything to it. I use a extremely fine grit wet sand paper or soft sponge sander in the area of 500 grit. The real racers use 1500 to 2500 grit to "polish" their bottom. I do mine each time I lift the boat from the water, generally one to three times a week. I am sure that your boat will look great. Sincerely, Victor


victor nigro (neronigro-at-aol.com)

[Peter McMinn]

Victor, interesting that you say polish on the bottom reduces performance. I use the high-grit "polish", but my boat has had the same treatment with different frequency over it's 44-year life-span. The result is thinning gelcoat in spots, which is ugly. Thinking of using light layers of automotive spraypaint, wetsanding between coats, then a good buff of marine FG polish. But if this last step will slow me down, I don't want to do it. I assumed the slicker the surface, the least risistence throught the water. How does polish affect performance? I'd like lots of perspectives, if possible.

[Peter McMinn]

Sorry, David. Didn't mean to hijack your question. I would say be careful not to create divits or depressions in the gelcoat by "rubbing" too enthusiastically. For scratches that go deeper than the gelcoat, you will need to build up a base in the scratch with some thickened epoxy resin. Then use a product like Marine Tex, a gelcoat filler, to fill the remaining depth (cheaper version available at Home Depot). Tinting is available to make it match your hull color. This is a very workable product. Sand the excess with grit increasing from 400, but again, take care not to sand too much in one place!