Bill,
I'm with you removing and painting the faded gel is the way to go BUT! There may be some headaches involved with that. I looked at removing the brow on my C26 after three years. It was white so not as noticeable with fade as a color but it never looked good, always blotchy after a month in the Sun. It is a shame that a 5 to 12 year old boat requires refinishing. The boats built in the early days of Fluid Motion or Ranger Tugs were built with substandard resins and Gel products. Cheap products that looked good but had no longevity. They didn't skimp in the build process just the products used. They were a small company building pricy boats and needed to have a profit. That is what they are in business to do! So if you have a 2018 to 2008 or older Ranger/ Cutwater keep the buffer handy and plan on buffing or spend the money to get it painted. The good news is Fluid Motion (Ranger Tug, Cutwater) Are named as members of the American Boatbuilders Association now. So late model production boats will be built with better products because they have an objective to buy engines together, buy raw materials, manufactured products, equipment, and services together to reduce costs and leverage buying power. What that means is they are now able to use products that quality boats builders use. Examples: Chaparral, Robalo Boats, Correct Craft, Everglades Boats, Grady White, Blackfin, Parker Offshore, Regal Marine Industries, S2 Yachts, Tiara to name a few of the boat manufactures in this group.
Bill my advise try one more approach. Similar to Ralfs suggestion but no wet sanding. Why? Because you have probably done several tries at buffing and the gel is going to be thin. My suggestion is use Marine 31 products. I have had good luck using theses because they are aggressive but less likely to damage the surface. Marine 31 sells heavy cut compound. This does the same thing as wet sanding but reduces the chances of burning through. Once you have cleaned the gel with this there will be fine scratches, Use the gel coat final step polish to remove the fine scratches and polish the gel. This polish doesn't dry so there will be a slight haze when you have completed the buff. It keeps the gel lubricated for the final step. Use the Marine 31 Carnauba wax and sealant for a final step. After you are done, look at the finished product. If it looks good then you have the option of applying a ceramic coating to help preserve the shine or go on the cheap and use the Mequiars ceramic detailer. Spray on following instruction. I used this method. Apply this once a month on my boat (all gel coat) It takes me about 2 hours to do my complete 34' Mainship. We did the complete Loop last year and the boat shined like a new boat. I had folks ask me when did Mainship start building boats again. They thought my 20 year old boat was new. The finish on the Mainship is better than the finish on my Cutwater when it was new. 20 year old gel coat not fading or blotches after 14 months of cruising. It did get an application once a moth of the detailer. I was lucky to get 3 months when I owned the Cutwater. I like Marine 31 products. Give it a try . If it doesn't work do what most Ranger tug owners, do look at faded finish or paint.
Good Luck with getting shiny eyebrows ! 😀
