Polishing your boat.

Polishing and maintaining your boat’s surface

In a previous article for the Mainsheet, I mentioned how I once heard a boat broker talking about ‘lucky’ and ‘unlucky’ boats. He was referring to the contrasting ways different owners maintain their boats. I spend most days in and about various marinas and can report that sadly, and I think unnecessarily, there are still more unlucky boats than lucky ones. Neglecting the maintenance of your boat has obvious aesthetic consequences but it also seriously undermines her resale value. The owners of ‘lucky’ boats have long understood that routine preventative maintenance, including monthly wash downs and regular polishing, is the most cost effective solution to maintaining their boat year round.
In this article, I will concentrate on the importance of having the surface of your boat well
polished. Those of you who have recently used your boats would have found them covered
in black sooty streaks down the cabin sides and hull. You would have also discovered that trying to wash those streaks off was near impossible, especially on boats that are not well polished, as the contaminants have been able to enter the pours of the surface and become ingrained!

As usual there are many theories being discussed around the marina as to what causes these streaks. Interestingly, for the last few years they have tended to be worst at the same time of year – around September/October. It could be a simple coincidence, however one theory is the possibility of coal dust from the Port of Brisbane (as recently referred to in the Courier-Mail), carried on the first of the summer Northerlies. I tend to think the soot is a combination of all the fall-out – aviation fuel, coal dust and just general grime and dust carried in the air.
In comparison to the boats I look after on the city reaches of the Brisbane River for example, we are pretty lucky here at RQYS. The boats on the river get filthy in a matter of a couple of weeks and the build up in the gutters around hatches is very like grease in consistency! This fall-out builds up during periods of dry weather, and then when it finally rains, the fall-out soaks in and sticks to the surfaces that are not polished!

Those owners cleaning their boats themselves get frustrated that they can’t wash the streaks off and sometimes resort to using a heavy detergent like a truck wash. This in most cases will remove the worst of the streaks, but of course it also removes any last traces of protective polish that might have been on the surface – and so, the situation gets worst for next time around.

So having a well polished boat goes a long way in helping avoid those stubborn sooty streaks!

 

Tips on polishing your boat.

 

We polish boats everyday, and I can tell you it is hard work and a skill that takes many years to perfect that professional finish. Not to mention the expense of setting up with the right equipment and using the right products. However, there are still plenty of owners who are keen to have a go themselves, and moving around the marina I occasionally see someone going about it all the wrong way. Painfully rubbing away at the surface by hand leaving a patchy, swirly satin finish and getting so overwhelmed with the project they usually give up and call us! So for those who still want to have a go themselves I thought a few tips on how to polish properly might be helpful.

1. You are going to need plenty of time. To give you an example, we are professionals and an average 40 foot flybridge cruiser can take two of us, up to three days to complete. So for a first timer, you might want to allow a week.
2. Having the correct equipment will not only help save time but also produce a better finish. However, like most things, practise makes perfect. so don’t expect a perfect finish first time around. You’ll need a quality electric buffing machine with a variable speed. A common mistake I see is people buying the wrong type of machine. Polishing a boat is a massive undertaking, and those flimsy light weight machines they sell in popular car accessory outlets aren’t up to the task. You will also need a few double sided wool buffing pads (not those single sided draw string or hook and loop ones that come with the machine!), a quality extension lead and safety switch box, a stack of cheese cloth polishing rags, personal protection equipment for hands, eyes, ears and mouth and of course good sun protection!
3. What polish to buy can be a difficult choice. For us professionals, there are a handful of brands we stick to, and experience over years has helped us learn which product is best for the particular job at hand. Some of the products we use are available to the public through chandleries. Basically, you need to start with a cutting compound paste to remove the oxidizing on the surface of the gelcoat or paint. The compound works like a super fine sand paper and cuts the surface. As it buffs, it breaks down the small cutting practicals smaller and smaller to eventually polish the surface back to a high gloss finish.
4. You then need a compatible sealer polish to apply to the newly buffed surface. The sealer helps protect the surface from UV damage, salt and of course sooty fallout by sealing off the microscopic pours of surface. Sealer polishes are usually applied by hand and either hand buffed to finish or again you could use the machine buffer if applicable.
5. The process is to firstly wash the boat down thoroughly with a strong biodegradable detergent if being washed on your berth. When on the hardstand we sometimes use an acid wash to remove old polish and containments.
6. Then apply polish cutting compound to a small area at a time and buff out to a gloss finish. Start at the top and then the bow, and work your way aft. Watch out for fittings which can cause your machine to buck wildly if hit. Another danger is wrapping the power lead up in the buffing wheel. You will invariably break the lead exposing the wires and this is why you must invest in a safety switch box. Always be safety conscious, especially when working at heights such as on the hard top (a harness is must), a bucking machine could throw you off balance. If working over water, hang on tight to your machine – I have managed to give a couple of expensive buffing machines a float test – they don’t float!
7. As mentioned earlier, once the buffing is completed you have to seal off the fresh new surface. This process fills the microscopic pours preventing contaminants like the sooty fall-out becoming ingrained. The sealer polish or what people often just refer to as waxing is also what protects the surface from the harmful UV rays and salt exposure which all aid in causing oxidization of the surface. I often use an acrylic polymer sealer.
8. Once you have completed polishing all the big open surfaces you will need to detail around the tight spots where the wool buff couldn’t fit. This is a tedious job best done by hand rubbing, but don’t expect the same high gloss finish achieved by the machine.

Maintaining the polished surface

Now that you have successfully polished your boat, it is now a matter of maintaining the surface with routine washing and monthly polish top ups. We find regular washing with a
wash-n-wax type detergent an important factor in maintaining the surface. Don’t use strong detergents as they will remove the sealer polish. Keeping the soot and grime off certainly helps eliminate the worst of the fall-out from gaining a foot hold and becoming ingrained into the surface. Of course, after washing and chamoising it is important to follow with an application of more surface sealer polish. We find at least monthly will help maintain the high gloss and prolong the need to cut the surface again for at least 12 months if not longer.

At the risk of stating the obvious, the marine industry seems to attract more than its fair share of opportunists and ‘snake oil’ salesman, in part due to the misguided belief that all boat owners are flushed with cash. The area of polishing boats is a classic example where they are looking to capitalise on the desire of every owner to find a miracle cure to avoid polishing their boats as often. I’m sorry to burst the bubble, but in my opinion I am yet to see a product that can protect a boat’s surface for longer than your traditional polishing methods as discussed above.

 

Owning a well presented boat not only enhances your joy of ownership, it is also a reflection of the owner’s ability to keep her well maintained.  We should all strive to own ‘lucky’ boats!

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