boat polish and other seasonal maintenance

H

harpo

Member
Summer season's over, and the winter season won't really get started for another month. So in the meantime the boat is at home in the backyard -- time for me to sort out all those niggling little rigging and other issues I lived with through much of the summer (because the boat was stored in a marina with no good access to a chandlery).

First order of business is to wash and polish. Washing's easy -- soap's soap, right? -- but the local West Marine has several kinds of polish.

Anybody have a brand preference? Certainly polish isn't gonna fix any boatspeed problems for me, but the wrong one might *cause* a problem, I suppose.

And ... what other tasks do you do to your boat this time of year?

Will
 
I have been using softsrub, a ptfe tephlon polish West has it others. Most top sailors
advice a light wet sand.
 
Do you guys use rubbing compound? I used some from West Marine (I think) and it worked pretty good from what I could see.

Is this bad for the hull?
 
EddieDingle said:
Do you guys use rubbing compound? I used some from West Marine (I think) and it worked pretty good from what I could see.

Is this bad for the hull?
Click to expand...


Doubt it, a fine cutting compound will remove a VERY thin layer of gel coat (a little like sanding on a much smaller scale) and will take scratches etc with it if there not too deep.

Personally, a very light wet sanding over the area of the hull thats most in contact with the water is the best job. A little difficult to clean if it gets really but this traps a layer of water between the hull and the water your sailing on, have a look at a windsurf board next time your at a boat show or marine store, you'll see a very fine matt finish on the board, and their designed to see excess of 40knots!
 
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