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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

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Fiberglass Care

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amc93t
Deckhand

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1 Posts

Initially Posted - 06/02/2002 : 12:55:57

I have now owned my 84 C25 for about a year and am now starting more tinkering in addition to sailing. One thing I notice when cleaning the hull and deck is the white runoff from fiberglass (dirt or oxidation I'm not sure). How can I treat my boat to slow this white precipitation and possibly help maintain it's surface appearance.

Thanks,
AMC93 on Giddy-Up

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Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 06/02/2002 : 20:00:28

Welcome, amc...

There're lots of possibilities that depend somewhat on the severety. If you get a lot of white powder on your finger when you simply run it across the fiberglass, you should start with a fine grade of rubbing compound, and then move on to the next series of possibilities--where I'll mention two that have worked best for me:

- 3M Fiberglass Restorer-Wax is one of the best--a fine abrasive that goes on like car-cleaner-wax, with some rubbing, and then wipes off to a shine. I advise a power tool to do the rubbing--there's a lot of it!

- Polygo, a liquid coating that is applied in multiple thin coats (I just did 6) with a chamois-type applicator you can put on a pole like a sponge mop. Keep applying until it doesn't look streaky. Each side of the boat takes maybe an hour, and the result I just got is spectacular! It looks like a new Catalina with a coat of wax. Others have said it holds up very well--we'll see. Don't put it on over heavy oxidation--the kit comes with its own cleaner concentrate and scrubber to take off old wax and mild oxidation. If you have a colored hull, Polyglow may be a questionable option--it'll put a shine on whatever faded, streaked colors (or marks) you have. <img src=icon_smile_shock.gif border=0 align=middle>

Watch what you use on your non-skid areas--cleaners can be a bear to get out of the grooves, and some things will make it too slippery.

Good luck!

Dave Bristle - 1985 C-25 #5032 SR-FK-Dinette "Passage" in SW CT

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Dave Seely
1st Mate

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46 Posts

Response Posted - 06/03/2002 : 13:05:19

I don't know how bad you gelcoat is but mine was very badly oxidized. I started with the white rubbing compound ( fine) but it had no effect. I then tried the red rubbing compound which is much courser but it wasn't much better, infact the gelcoat was so porous that I couldn't get the red color off no matter how much I scrubbed. The next thing I tried was the green 3M abrasive pads. They removed the oxidization but I had to go back and compound out the scratches from the green pads. I found a grey 3M pad that was less agressive than the green and as Goldielocks said " it was juuuust right". It still requires that you compound out small scratched but it is less work than compounding behind the green pads. On the nonskid areas I used the pad first then the course compound with a stiff brisle brush. Good luck, I'm still working on mine, started almost a year ago.

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joshuaheard
Deckhand

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USA
22 Posts

Response Posted - 06/03/2002 : 19:06:31

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote><font size=1 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>
Watch what you use on your non-skid areas--cleaners can be a bear to get out of the grooves, and some things will make it too slippery.
<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size=2 id=quote>

I use a dry deck brush removed from the handle to get dried rubbing compound and wax from the rough non-skid areas.

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Douglas
Master Marine Consultant

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1595 Posts

Response Posted - 06/03/2002 : 19:36:02

BonAmie and 400 then 600 grit wet/dry sandpaper wet.Follow with 3M fiberglass restorer/wax.

Doug&Ruth
Wind Lass
Tacoma Wa.

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gfrazzle
Deckhand

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11 Posts

Response Posted - 06/05/2002 : 02:48:19

I just finished the hull on my boat which had been neglected for longer than I care to admit. I started with a palm sander and 600 grit sandpaper, followed by a buffer with 3M super duty rubbing compound. The hull looks new again.
I just use Softscrub/ cleaner on the topsides/ deck- it gets chalky again quickly in the California sun anyway and wax just makes it slippery.

Flyaway Hull# 1743

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OJ
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4382 Posts

Response Posted - 06/05/2002 : 09:12:18

AMC93,
See my recent and longwinded post under the "Gelocoat Restoration" thread. I also only use Soft Scrub with a Scotch Brite pad on the deck and cabin.

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The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.