Gel Coat Restoration on Sea Ray

[Tripp Halbert]

I am trying to restore my faded gelcoat and basically get my boat to a point where it will resist the water scum in the river. I tried a couple of cleaners to get the yellow stains off but with no luck i turned to wetsanding using 1000 grit which worked just fine. One i got everything clean and white again, i compunded the gel coat as best i could with 3M compound and a makita grinder at 1500rpms. i was happy with the amount of gloss i got out of that and figured i need not go further with something such as finesse-it. My question now is, where should i go from here.

Do i really need a polisher? Will waxing this twice or three times now be fine? Will it last at least a year? Does the yellowing typically come back?

 

[Woodonglass]

If you take her out and wash and buff her after every outing, I'd expect her to stay looking fairly nice for several seasons. If she's left in the marina for the whole entire season, I know of nothing that will last.

 

[Tripp Halbert]

Haha yea you never know about them marina guys! But by buffing you mean like clean it, and wipe it down with a rag (buffing) it with cleaner?

 

[Woodonglass]

I mean if she's a trailered boat and you take her home and wash her down and buff her off with a cloth and or an electric buffer every now and then you can expect her to stay looking nice for a while. If she stays in the water at the dock in a Marina, then you'll prolly have to repeat the cleaning and waxing and buffing every season.

 

[NHGuy]

There's a gel acid wash that will clean up your hull, I have been doing it each fall because I had a slip the last few years. Stuff is called MaryKate On & Off. I cover my trailer with plastic drop cloths, paint the goop on with gloved hands outdoors while wearing long sleeves and safety glasses. Rinse & go. Make sure to keep it out of the vegetable garden and your grass. If you are environmentally responsible you could put down some baking soda to neutralize the acid. Turns my light brown hull white again in about an hour of work.
I feel your pain. I'm in the middle of trying to recover the gray stained dark maroon sides of my new-to-me old boat. I bought an air driven wet sander and went to town with 320, 800, 1000, 1500, Meguiars 205 Ultra Cut, Meguiars 105 Polish, and finally Meguiars Carnauba wax. One side took me all afternoon on my day off, the other has been an hour after work each of the last 4 days. Side 2 only needs polish and wax tomorrow, then Sunday maiden voyage. Dark colors are a pain, but they are nice when shiny.