Questions about Gel-Coat on a Boat

aim4squirrels

aim4squirrels

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Hey Mike and fellow Geeks,

I have a couple questions about gel-coat on a boat as I have never worked on it before.

My father-in-law has a nice little Four-Winns ski boat that he has owned for the last 20 or so years. He keeps it in pretty immaculate condition and babies it as I do my car. There are two spots on the rear of the boat (to both sides of the motor where swimmers or skiers step over get back into the boat) that the gel coat has oxidized on (white and cloudy), and it bugs him a bit, but there's nothing to cover that particular area so it is exposed to the elements all the time.

I'm not looking to correct an entire boat, but does a Flex 3401 have enough grunt to correct these areas? What pads would you use to accomplish this? Foamed wool? Yellow heavy cutting?

Compound recommendations? I have some Uber Compound on hand...

And lastly, what would be the best coating to really seal this up after its fixed? I wouldn't be able to visit this particular boat every few months to correct, probably only once every 2 years or so, so I need something to really lock it in. If one doesn't exist, I could give him a timeline to reapply something else and I'd wager he'd follow it to a "T".
 
Okay, that could be done easily enough. Is there an applicator for hand application that you prefer for something like this?

What would you then recommend to protect it?

I ask because I'm not sure if any of the various coatings on the market that we use on car paint would bond with gel coat.
 
I've removed oxidation from a boat using a yellow cutting pad and M105. The gel-coat polish wasn't cutting it as good as the M105. I sealed everything with a gel-coat sealant by Marine 31.

Edit; I did all that using a PC7424 and a GG6, got it out in about 6 passes.
 
Once you buff it out wax it like you would anything else. Any Collinite wax would work great

Is this surface porous?
 
Flash Gordon said:
Once you buff it out wax it like you would anything else. Any Collinite wax would work great

Is this surface porous?
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That I do not know. The boat is in New England, I'm in Texas. We've flown there many years for vacation in the summer and it wouldn't be a big deal to throw the Flex in the luggage with a couple pads and compound, but an inspection wouldn't be possible other than by picture.

The boat's in cold storage at the marina right now. The time to do it would be when he pulls it from the marina and takes it back to the cottage to prep for the summer.
 
aim4squirrels said:
That I do not know. The boat is in New England, I'm in Texas. We've flown there many years for vacation in the summer and it wouldn't be a big deal to throw the Flex in the luggage with a couple pads and compound, but an inspection wouldn't be possible other than by picture.

The boat's in cold storage at the marina right now. The time to do it would be when he pulls it from the marina and takes it back to the cottage to prep for the summer.
Click to expand...

If I were you I forget I even owned a buffer. Just show up and hang-out! Let some local do the job
 
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