[C320-list] Boot Stripe

[Gus Macdonald]

Ted and Jeff, thank you for your respective responses.  Yes Ted I did mean the wider stripe close to the water line.  And yes I do haul every year.  Great information and advice. I can now see my way forward a refurbished boot stripe.

Thanks

> On Sep 24, 2019, at 9:31 AM, Jeff Hare <Catalina at thehares.com> wrote:
> 
> Gus, 
> 
> It is gelcoat sprayed into the mold before the white (which is sprayed over the top of the blue and makes up the rest of the sides).  We've seen this "problem" a lot on some other catalinas in our yard.  In fact, we started having this problem only a couple years after we bought the boat.
> 
> For the most part you can solve this over time yourself, if you're one of the people who hauls out for winter every year.  We use Collinite 920 cleaner every year on the boot stripe then apply ProPolish from Shurhold (which is a polymer not a wax).  We used to use Collinite FleetWax, which is great stuff, but attracts dirt like any wax does.
> 
> Over a few years, you'll see the color come back and stay.  A C380 next to us in the yard remarked at how our bootstripe was blue and his always looked faded and chalky.  He started this approach and within a couple years, his looked 100% better and was quite happy with it.  So, it's a maintenance item.
> 
> For what it's worth (my opinion), I just do the whole hull by hand.  Takes me 1 day a year, ~4hrs before lunch to go around the boat with 920 wipe on, wipe off.  Then one more round, wipe on, wipe off ProPolish.  The collinite leaves the gelcoat clean.  The ProPolish fills the micro-voids in the surface of the gelcoat that hold dirt.  It works so well, we never let ourselves get behind on this spring project.
> 
> Here are the two side by side.  I think his was a 2003, ours is a 2001.
> 
> https://c320.org/mediagallery/media.php?s=20190924132723784
> 
> -Jeff Hare
> #809 Woodbine II
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: C320-list <c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com> On Behalf Of Gus Macdonald
> Sent: Tuesday, September 24, 2019 8:13 AM
> To: Catalina Assoc <c320-list at lists.catalina320.com>
> Subject: [C320-list] Boot Stripe
> 
> The boot stripe on my boat is faded in part and I want to rectify this.  I have tried using a cleaner/polish without success.  I therefore was considering using an buffing compound in the hope that the stripe is gelcoat and molded into the hull during laying up the hull.  Can anyone comment on this approach?
> 
> If this did not work I was planning to repaint the stripe with Interlux Brightside polyurethane paint. Has anyone used this product for this purpose or is there a better alternative.  I was hoping to paint rather than resort to spraying. 
> 
> Assuming use of the Brightside product, there appear to be 4 that might be the match for the original colour, namely Ocean Blue—Sapphire Blue—Dark Blue—Flag Blue.  Can anyone advise which is the best match.
> 
> Thank you for anticipated responses.
> 
> Gus Henderson
> Hull 999
> Georgian Bay
>