Once oxidation sets in which unfortunately it does with all gel coat finishes to bring back that new boat looking luster gets harder and harder. Unfortunately Fluid Motion did not use a high grade Gel coat and the thickness of the gel was not uniform. Old school build technics I guess! The Gel coat on the Fluid Motion boats has a bit to be desired. I guess with anything you take the good and bad with any manufactured product.
My steps of yearly hull and top side Fluff and buff. This was my procedure when I owned a blue hull Cutwater C26 2016 that I sold in 2021.
First step is to remove all water spots and stains. Rubber gloves and a couple spray bottles of Lime-away. I do a 2' wide section at a time from rum rail ti bottom paint line. Spray it let it soak and then wipe it until it appears all stains and water spots are removed. Rinse with water and dry. Look at the hull finish if the stains and water spots are gone move on to the next section. From the bow back to the helm area the hull on my Cutwater had the largest concentration of water spots. It would take a couple of applications of Lime-away to completely clean the hull so there were not spots and the gel was clean. When I had completed the hull cleaning process with the Lime-away step two was started.
Step two is using a good grade compound ( Not one does all cleaner wax) I use Wizards Turbo Cut. This will cut through the oxidation and removes any fine scratches from fenders or light dock rash. I again do a 2' section at a time. When I finish an area I wipe it down and confirm a uniform finish. Then move on to the next section. Use a rotary buffer for best results with this step. When the compound buffing is complete I use a polishing compound.
Third step is to polish the hull. I Marine 31 One step compound and polish. Repeat the the compound 2' section at a time. This can be applied with either a wool pad on a rotary buffer or a white foam pad on a random orbital. Polish a section and when the section is complete wipe it down with a soft cloth. You will really start to see the hull coming back now. Once this is completed.
Forth step. I use Marine 31 Carnauba wax and protectant. I apply this to the complete hull using a random orbital buffer with a black foam pad buff it in lightly and cover the complete hull with a thin layer of wax. When the complete hull is coated with wax go back to your wax application starting point and start to remove the wax with a clean new black foam pad. Again do 2' sections during removal of the wax and wipe the area down with a soft rag for inspection. This is when you will see that all this work paid off.
After all the wax is removed I use a over the counter spray on ceramic detailer wax. This will help shed the water spots from sticking over about a 3 month season. A reapplication of this every couple of months will keep all that work you did looking good. There are many of theses products on the market. I use Meguiars ceramic detailer for this. I used this product while I was doing the Loop last year. I did the full procedure described before leaving on the 14 month trip. Every 2 months I would spend an afternoon wiping another coat of the Meguiars on the top side and hull. Drop the dinghy and wipe the hull. The boat shined the whole time.
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This is a photo of my 2016 C26 Cutwater just before I sold it in June of 2021. The boat had over 10,000 miles over the road traveling and about 4000 miles under its keel with 650 hours of engine run time. It was used in salt and fresh water.
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The top sides looked the same as the hull. I did the top sides first then covered the top sides with plastic so I didn't get compound dust all over it.
It sounds like a lot of work. I did the complete C26 Top sides including the roof, non skid, cockpit and swim platform in two 8 hour days. The hull was less time consuming. It took me about 10 hours to do the hull start to shining finish. I was working the whole time no time for BS'ing!
