Re: Just bought a 1985 Sea Ray that needs lots of work
I have had good luck with removing bottom fouling by first letting it dry/ die and spraying it with a pressure washer.
It is best to start cleaning using mild cleaners first then move to more powerful cleaners until you get a good result. A strong acid may damage the fiberglass and may not be necessary. Star Bright hull cleaner is a pretty strong cleaner and I have had good luck with it.
Once the gelcoat starts to oxidize it is difficult to bring back the shine. Sanding and buffing with very fine grit paper and rubbing compound can bring back the shine. But after all that work the gelcoat may still fade a get chalky. You could go with paint, but that is allot of work as well. We recently used a product called Poly-Glow to restore the finish on a friend's boat and it worked great. Her boat had very few blemishes to begin with and oxidation was the main problem. Poly-glow is a coating, not a wax. It is easy to use but the boat has to be very clean before you put it on. After it is applied it says it will last up to 6 months. We'll see, so far its only been on for a couple of weeks and it still looks good. Do a search they have video of how to use it.
