XSV.
Actually, keeping the shine on a dark boat is very easy. First, have it buffed out with a high speed buffer. Orbital buffers do not knock down enough of the gelcoat to get rid of all the oxidation. when it is buffed, start with a Heavy duty compound, then a light duty compound, then leveling compound or glaze, then polish. More than likely this is your problem, all the oxidation was not removed and/or very common, an automotive product was used. Gel coat needs to breath and needs a special product for it, that does not mean if there is a Corvette on the bottle, it is for boats. Yes, vettes are glass, but they are painted, not a gelled finish. Once you have the base done, a quick, good coat of polish once a month is all it needs. I could do that little diplomat in 10-15 minutes. I recommend you have the boat buffed out by pro's who do boats, not cars. Car detailers, mostly only have car products. I can't over emphasize how important marine products are, if you use car products, it will cause the gel to fade very fast or if you go and have the thing buffed out and do not put a good coat of polish on, it will fade very fast because you brought out the raw gel and did not protect it. Do not clear it, very expensive and most place do not completely disassemble it completely to do the job right, let alone find out what materials C-mate used to make sure the clear is compatible with the boat. I live and Die by a product called Race Glaze. I have tried hundred of products and get the best results from them. I do alot of boat restoration for my business and people are always amzed what can be fixed rather than repainted. For some reason the overall gel coat knowledge has stayed in the Southern US. For the most part, I have lived around different parts of the country, and even boat dealers in the North are pretty clueless. I saw on the forum and I had a dealer tell me once to use pledge. What a joke! Any question, you can always e-mail me at
fischerbill@msn.com and I will be more than happy to help. By the way, the gel on that Diplomat I had and it was completely origonal. The winter before, it was very faded and looked like a classic repaint, but I wet sanded it and re polished it and actually, the pics that were posted was after a long summer on the beaches and needed to be rebuffed. It had a much better finish in June.
Anyone can e-mail me with questions and if anylives close to me, I will be happy to help or I am always available for hire to get a boat shining good again.
I have accumulated a lot of research into pricing (US dollars) and if anyone wnat to know a good price to pay, I averaged alot of different place to come up with this, 17.50 per foot and that includes, buffing, polishing the hull and deck, shampooing the interior, polishing glass on the interior, protecting the upholstry (not armor all) and waxing the trailer. By the way, never use an armor all type product on your interior. You will ruin it.
Bill
