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 Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums
 General Sailing Forum
 Buffing out a scratch		  New Topic  Topic Locked
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Ben
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1234 Posts
Initially Posted - 03/25/2005 :  09:46:35  Show Profile
Hi folks,

Without going into details surrounding scratch incident , can anyone explain how to buff out a scratch in the gelcoat? The scratch, regrettably, is close to three quarters the length of the boat on the starboard side, about midway on the hull between the water line and rub rail. I'd really like to get my poor girl looking fine again, and that scar makes my gut hurt every time I see it. I have a buffer, but it's just a cheap car buffer my wife bought and never used. I'd like to do this without having to spend a lot of money.

Steve Milby was with me when the scratch incident occured. How embarrasing.

Anyway, thanks for any and all help.
Ben
Beneteau 361
Viking Kitty
Columbus, Ohio
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ClamBeach
Master Marine Consultant

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3072 Posts
Response Posted - 03/25/2005 :  09:58:53  Show Profile
I think your success at buffing it out will depend on how deep the scratch is. I'd try some DuPond 66 rubbing compound (or similar) on small section first (probably by hand) to see what sort of results you're going to get. If the scratch is deep you may have to put some gel-coat on and buff back to a level surface.

My experience with cheap buffers is not good. I bought one for $15 or so, thinking "What did I have to lose?". Answer: $15. Found that it was faster and less work to do it by hand.
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dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts
Response Posted - 03/25/2005 :  10:04:30  Show Profile
Ben,

Is it a scratch or a gouge?

A simple scratch, with no real depth, can probably be buffed out with some sort of compound, but anything more than that will have to be properly filled and finished.
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Ben
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1234 Posts
Response Posted - 03/25/2005 :  11:31:29  Show Profile
Thanks Dlucier & CB, the scratch really is just that. It's really not very deep at all. I'll see if I can find some DuPond 66 compound unless someone else has any other recommendations.

Thanks,
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dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts
Response Posted - 03/25/2005 :  12:11:37  Show Profile
Ben,

Depending on the scratch, you might want to start out with a less abrasive polishing compound first, and if that doesn't work, then move up to a more aggressive rubbing compound.
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John Mason
Admiral

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USA
687 Posts
Response Posted - 03/25/2005 :  12:39:48  Show Profile
Definitely start with less abrasive and move to coarser abrasives if necessary.

Of course, after saying that, I contradict myself by saying that I have used 1200 grit wet/dry sandpaper (must use it very wet) and it does a great job on scratches and stains and leaves the gelcoat with a nice shine. Too much of that, though, and I won't have gelcoat.
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Frank Hopper
Past Commodore

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Pitcairn Island
6776 Posts
Response Posted - 03/25/2005 :  15:45:36  Show Profile  Visit Frank Hopper's Homepage
Just remember that there are two ways to deal with a scratch.
One is you grind down the surrounding surface with a rubbing compound until the surfaces are even; material is lost forever.
Two is to fill the scratch with something until it rises to the level of the surrounding surface. Paste wax with no rubbing compound might do that.
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Leon Sisson
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1893 Posts
Response Posted - 03/25/2005 :  17:09:13  Show Profile  Visit Leon Sisson's Homepage
I'm with Frank Hopper on this. There's only a few thousandths of an inch of gelcoat on your boat. Do you really want to remove it all the way to the bottom of this scratch? I'd polish it a tiny bit, wax it, and wait a year or two to see if I could learn to live with it.

If it's wide and deep, you might try filling it with factory tinted gelcoat from Catalina Yachts. If they only sell it by the quart or something huge like that, consider splitting an order with other Catalina owners who can use the same tint.

-- Leon Sisson
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Steve Milby
Past Commodore

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USA
5908 Posts
Response Posted - 03/26/2005 :  07:35:47  Show Profile
You don't need to be embarrassed about that incident, Ben. Your boat got caught by a strong gust of wind across the beam just as you pulled out of your slip, and before the boat had enough way to resist it. Most of us would have had the same problem, if it had been our boats.

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">...that scar makes my gut hurt every time I see it. <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">I agree with Leon's approach. Polish it lightly and forget about it. Almost every boat has scuffs and scrapes, but you only notice the ones on your own boat. I bought my boat new, and, the very next day I put a couple gouges in the rubber rub rail and scuffed its aluminum holder. I cursed myself then, but haven't noticed that "damage" in years.
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Derek Crawford
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3323 Posts
Response Posted - 03/26/2005 :  10:21:35  Show Profile
And if anyone notices it, blame it on the DPO...!
Derek
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dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts
Response Posted - 03/26/2005 :  12:35:09  Show Profile
As suggested, you might be better off just waxing over the scratch and moving on, because sometimes it is difficult to get that perfect repair.

Being no master of gelcoat repair myself, I have a tendency to let the scratches fall where they may and as I walk around the boatyard and look at the handywork of others, I get the feeling that most people should do the same. I've seen a lot of amateur (and professional!) cosmetic repairs that look worse than the original problem.
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Ben
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1234 Posts
Response Posted - 03/28/2005 :  07:51:10  Show Profile
Thanks ya'll for your opinions and advise. I suppose I'll simply clean it up real good and leave it. That's okay though, it just means I've scratched () one thing off my to-do list before I can lauch.
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