Severe Sun Wax

I tried 3 or 4 Kinds of wax last summer and could not get lasting performance greater than a month or so for any of them on the horizontal dark colored gelcoat baking in the sun. I used Rejex, a couple 3M products and starbrite with teflon. Any Florida or Gulf coast users that leave their boats in the hot sun have any suggestions for those surfaces? My vertical ones have been fine - the hull itself for example.

Corey
Washington, DC

Try Colonite Fleet wax. I have used it on my plane and boat with favorable outcome. Clean the oxidation off first. I use prism polish for that, but any good boat compound should do the job.

Corey:

I recently watched a professional detailing a sailboat hull that was extremely oxidized. During my observation and discussion with him I noticed he wet sanded the hull by hand. When I questioned him about this he stated that wet sanding was faster and more thorough then compounding....his words. The finished product was very nice so I thought maybe this would be an option for our colored brows on our Ranger Tugs?

I've attached a link to a recent, as in March 18th, from practical sailor that walks thru the process.

http://www.practical-sailor.com/blog/Th ... 381-1.html

Have any Tugnutters attempted this approach on your brows or otherwise? What say you about this approach?

Jim F

I definitely will need to take off the oxidation caused by the sun and winter weather. Wet sanding sounds a little scary but I guess not much more so than a heavy compound.

That is one of my complaints about Rangers. They are great boats, love my R27. But, the dark blue, and probably the red, really oxidizes easily. Maybe Ranger needs to review how much and what type of gel coat it uses? I live in the NE and on previous boats, I never had as much oxidation. All my previous boats were not blue, but they were older. So, I am not a professional, maybe just by being blue makes a big difference. But, my 2012 dark blue hull, needs to be compounded every year. I use 3M cleaner/polish. It's a very lite compound and the vertical surfaces will be good for the season. That's in the NE, Florida is a different animal.

I have posted this before. Check Prism Polish and you will find a phone number for the owner, It is the greatest and easiest to use. Paper towels do most of the work and it lasts at least a year depending on the sun conditions. Nita and I use it all the time and those who we have recommended it to love it.
Bob

I use a product called Aqua Blue 200 with a Shurhold Dual action buffer to remove any oxidation or to just clean the surface. The buffer has Velcro attached round foam pads. I wet the buffing pad then squeeze the water out of it and dab on a couple spots of the Aqua Blue 200 and polish the surface. A little messy but then I just wash the surface with just water then dry or let dry. Then I apply Turtle wax or one of the Colonite liquid wax products. I remove that by hand using a towel. Only doing small areas at a time. Then I use a microfiber bonnet and the dual action buffer to polish it up. Areas with direct sun beating down on them will require more attention no matter what I have used. You can try that pure Carnauba wax maybe that will hold up better. Any wax products with built in cleaner do not hold up as long in my experience. That's why is use the Aqua Blue 200 to get the surface clean and then the waxing part is easy. Just don't get carried away trying to do big areas.
D.D.

In another earlier life I was a sculptor that worked with various materials including cast resins. The process of smoothing and taking out scratches is best explored by example of the biggest industrial user. No one does it faster and better than autobody shops. This is the best source of information regarding fiberglass, paints and finishes. Jitterbug sanders, (air operated sanders used with water, usually 1/3 third sheet sanders) and DA's (dual action sanders) will make short work of the oxidation that is on our boats, but of course will not get into every nook and cranny. A jitterbug sander is much safer as it is slower in material removal. You need to start with a grit that is not faster (coarser) than necessary to take a minimum off the surface, then work your way up the grits to final polishing. My guess would be around 1000 grit to start but you should ask at a body shop or supply shop.

Yes I have done this with my boat as I have the tools. I am taking scratches out of the hull from the bumpers as I do every year. So far I haven't bothered with the horizontal trim, (boating is supposed to be fun). Yes, the burgundy is really bad.

As far as I know, there is no UV blocker that will stop this oxidation. If there is, we never found it in years of finishing cabinets, (another earlier life).

I would be happier if the pieces of trim were designed to be removable, (they almost are). I would be taking them off and shooting them with paint to match other trim rather than doing all the sanding and buffing every year.

Thus far pretty discouraging. I am glad our cars and trucks do not oxidize as quickly. I do have a small variable speed orbital sander for autos but still haven't found the right compound yet. It seems very destructive to do this every couple months.

corey

I just completed buffing out a heavily oxidized blue hull and blue window eyebrows. I purchased a Dewalt 9 inch polisher, a foam compound pad, and a foam polishing pad. I used Wizards Turbo Cut with the compound pad, 3M Finesse It II with the polishing pad and finished with Honda Glare sealant. I have used the Honda Glare sealant for airplanes, cars and motorcycles for many years. Since this boat is outside most of it's life, it will be the "acid test" on how well the Honda Glare sealant works.

Rick

Rick:

Would you be kind enough to report back to us in 4 months to let everyone know how your brows look on your Ranger Tug? It would be very helpful for everyone to know if what you've done holds up any better then any other option. Lets hope it does.

Jim F

I 2nd the recommendation on Collinite Boat Wax.....does a great job and holds up well.

Phil

As a final comment for me- On the hull I was using synthetic waxes and had poor results for water spotting. Surprisingly I found that waxes that have a high content of carnauba wax offered the best protection for water spotting (The boat is in the ocean in Oregon from April-October, inside other times). The oxidation from UV exposure has always been a problem and entirely eludes me regards the horizontally exposed burgundy trim. I too would like to hear how the product Rick mentioned performs.

I will report back on how the Glare product works. The boat will be outside from Mid April till November. It will spend most of this summer between Lake Superior and Lake Pepin (Mississippi River) Not exactly Florida or the Bahamas! But it will be exposed to the sun the whole time.
Rick

When I ordered my boat the first thing I asked about was making the eyebrows on my boat white. I got a funny look from Jeff as he asked why would I want to do that. My response was the colored matched brows can be a real pain as I battled them on my previous boat which was a C-dory. I ended not doing it & have regretted it ever since. Well guess what now the new Rangers that are being ordered in south Fl are coming with white eyebrows. They may not look quite as flashy but definitely alot easier to maintain. I don't think there is a wax made that can keep a dark colored gel coat from oxidizing.Yes the white will do it also but not be nearly as noticeable. I like my boat to look like new all the time. I have seen a few Tugs with some age on them that have bit the bullet & awl gripped the darker surfaces. This is something most will do in time. No that's not a permanent fix either but seems to hold up better in the hotter regions. the colored gel coat is probably my biggest complaint on these tugs. If I were to order another boat which I probably will in a few years I will have a lot of head scratching to do as far as color choices. I was looking around our marina last weekend at all the other boats & noticed that most boats are all white with a colored stripe including Nordic Tugs. I feel this is done for a reason! Don't get me wrong I love my boat but feel a few small changes could be made to minimize upkeep drastically.

after waxing use a soap that does not remove wax

Here is one review
of several soaps

http://www.practical-sailor.com/issues/ ... 953-1.html

I have most often used Dawn dishwashing soap when washing our vehicles and boats... it advertises as "gets the grease off"... and I have been pleased with the results. We recently bought a motorhome with full body paint; in the owners manual, it recommended using baby shampoo to wash the exterior. I haven't tried it, yet, but we did pick up a bottle at the store. No comment from the young lady who rang it up. 😉

I made it a practice to wax our boats twice a year. The dark blue brow on the C-Dory needed it more often in the latitude 26 sun. Every couple years I would compound, then wax. It takes some regular elbow grease to keep 'em pretty... they aren't like automotive paint with several clear coats.

Jim

The lighter colors sold mostly in the South do much better. We had Fighting Lady Yellow on our 27. It still oxides, but is hardly noticeable.

Two years ago I was recommended 2 products to try to remove oxidization and keep the glow, especially on the upper blue colors of my Ranger 25. I quit testing different compounds to keep the boat sparkling once I started using PRISM METAL POLISH / FIBERGLASS DEOXIDIZER followed up by MIRAGE SEALANT & PROTECTANT. I always apply the PRISM with a brown paper towel as the towel adds just enough abrasiveness to help remove the oxidization. NOTE: PRISM goes a long way so use it sparingly. Before the PRISM dries I wipe the residue off with a plain white paper towel. Even with the worst oxidization I have never had to go over the same area more than twice. I then apply MIRAGE SEALANT & PROTECTANT immediately and it lasts longer than any wax that I have used.

Ok I ordered some Prism polish and some sealant. We shall see.....