[C320-list] Making a 15-year-old boat shine

[Kevin]

Heh, heh...I'm really not masochistic. I just decided that this year I would try a modified version of a cleaning/polishing regimen that I found posted on Sailnet  while back: http://www.sailnet.com/forums/gear-maintenance/52772-tips-compound-polish-wax.html

Robert, I concur with the six hours per side during my compounding and initial polish stages (machine applied). It got MUCH faster when I got to the hand-applied glaze (I did the whole boat in 5 hours). And I've got to the say, the "show car" glaze is what really made the shine pop. It was amazing.

Why the wax after polish and glaze? The original poster (who claims 
experience as a detailer of high end cars) says that real carnauba wax 
is not for GETTING a shine but rather for PROTECTING a shine. I dunno. 
I'm an amateur, but he seemed to know what he was talking about and the 
photos of hulls he's done looked pretty convincing so I thought I'd try it and see.

It was a lot of work. I hope the shine will last a while and more importantly, that it will clean up easier later in the season. If so, maybe I'll do it again this way next year.

Thanks for the comments!

Kevin
S/V Cecilia Ann, #211
Deale, MD






________________________________
From: Robert Seastream <robert.seastream at comcast.net>
To: C320-List at Catalina320.com
Sent: Sat, April 3, 2010 10:23:44 PM
Subject: Re: [C320-list] Making a 15-year-old boat shine

Hmm...I just did my hull (six hours/side over two weekends) with 3M cleaner/polish.  It's really just a light rubbing compound far as I can tell...I never did believe one could 'clean n wax' anything in one step.  I still have to do the stern, cockpit, and deck smooth areas.  Dunno if I'm doing it exactly right to 3M specs, but darned if the oxidation 'haze' isn't gone, various 'dings' and mystery marks gone, and the hull shining.  Kevins' five step process is a bit masochistic to me (not sure why the wax after the glaze...they sound similar), but given the age of his hull, it's likely justified.  Looks new!  You go, Cap'n!

Bob Seastream
Intuition # 906


On Apr 3, 2010, at 8:25 PM, Paul Rickman wrote:

> You are just trying to make the rest of jealous, my cover comes off next week, launch is
> still 27 days away.
> 
> Affinity 657
> Bay Bridge Marina
> Chesapeake Bay
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ________________________________
> From: Kevin <onedrop7 at yahoo.com>
> To: C320-List at Catalina320.com
> Sent: Sat, April 3, 2010 8:00:31 PM
> Subject: [C320-list] Making a 15-year-old boat shine
> 
> I've been putting an inordinate amount of time in on the hull this spring, but my '95 (#211) is really starting to sparkle! The bottom three photos were taken today:
> 
> http://kevjot.com/boat/spring2010/
> 
> My steps:
> 
> 1.  Cleaner - On & Off
> 2.  Compound - 3M Marine Rubbing
> Compound (machine applied and buffed)
> 3.  Polish - 3M Finesse It II (machine applied, buffed by hand)
> 4.  Glaze - Meguiars #7 Show Car Glaze (applied and buffed by hand)
> 5.  Wax - Collinite Fleetwax #885 (not yet done, but will be applied and buffed by hand)
> 
> She goes back in the water on Tuesday.
> 
> Kevin
> S/V Cecilia Ann, #211
> Deale, MD