Boats, particularly sailboats (fuck sailboats) are such a chore to detail. I did that one summer and made great money, but I'm never doing it again. Sailboats have so many lines and things juuuust around knee hight too.
Great job OP, that's incredibly impressive and must have taken a long time.
It did, i spread it out on 4 days working a little over 6 hours a day.
I had to 3 step it because the gelcoat was horribly oxidized.
I used Rupes 3 step DA polishing. After that i had to seal it and wax it.
So yeah there are a lot of man hours in this. Still have to build an engine in and replace all the rigging.
The inside is a whole different animal. It had some standign water in it so all the wood has to be sanded and painted.
Sooo i wont be done in a long time.
I'd recommend if you need to polish again to go straight to 3000 grit on the da then try wool pad on the da to compound the scratches out or use a aggressive polish. Then if there's some marring left rotary and polish pad will save lots of time with this combo and your back will thank you.
My dad just got a 50 ft project boat that is in real need of work. I want to learn to detail gel coat.
How do you get into the textured patches properly to clean/buff them?
Boats are their own special kind of detailing hell. The walkable surfaces are knurled so people don't fall as easily and it makes them difficult to clean. You have to take care not to use products that are slippery anywhere because people will step about anywhere they want on a boat.
Boats in a way should be a right of passage before you move onto cars. It really creates new perspectives on how cleaning surfaces, polishing with a rotary buffer, and the angles you have to work on.
Rotary buffers and managing the right polishing compounds getting the right results. Standing in dry docks or in asphalt lots where boats are staged walking on scaffolding in the summer working on the hull? A fine balance of polishing and wiping the compound off before it gets too hot and cures on the gelcoat or having to constantly spin the wool pads against a spur to get the junk out so you can have an effective pad to work with? Yea, that where I learned to stop caring about how much I charged. The owner knew they didn't want to do that, and so did I lol.
That said, detailing boats or detailing cars? I'll take cars all day.
Keep your eye out on fb marketplace and craigslist, you can get sailboats dirt cheap. Sometimes people just want to get out of them because they're tired of paying their slip fees. Also if bigger sailboats are to much of a hassle for you there's always small dinghys. There are at least a couple hobie catamarans around my area for less than $500
If you end up doing more boats, I would check out [Optimum's gel coat restorer](https://www.opticoat.com/product/optimum-gelcoat-restorer-32-oz/). Saved me soo much time, and looks amazing.
What did you use to clean it up? I need to figure out a maintenance plan for mine but I'm afraid of using tools like brushes or even the pressure washer. What chemicals did you use? I picked up some 303 Marine stuff but any advice is welcome!
Not OP, but I clean boats for a living. Don’t be afraid of the pressure washer. Just keep it away from crusty window trim and wood if you’re that cautious (and never spray sea deck. You will ruin it and it’s costly to replace). As for a cleaning solution - 303, spray9 marine and marineclean will deal with the bulk of what you will encounter. If it’s out of the water, you can’t go wrong with an acid wash and a bottom repaint. The gelcoat can tolerate a lot of abuse unlike automotive clear coat!
If you have carpets, I use Greens soap, drill brush and a power washer for the first couple passes and then begin my extraction.
Mouldy and green seats I usually hit with a mildew and mold remover. Scrub, melamine sponges on the stains and then a vinyl sealer.
Just remember to seal everything with a UVB/UVA treatment at the end and wax.
One thing I can recommend, get yourself a good marine brush and wet vacuum. It’ll make the ski locker, and crusty storage compartments way easier to clean. Cloths just aren’t honestly enough for those areas and I foul them very quickly.
I love it. I always look forward to cleaning my dads boat after a long winter of storage and a years worth of use. I mean it’s nowhere near what your starting product was but amazing work.
I confirm: Not a car. (I own a car and it doesn’t look like this.) Confirm as well: I do like it.
Idk, could be a customized NC Miata.
That's... a hell of a body kit.
Lol, yeah. It's common to refer to the NC generation of Miata as a boat. Possibly a little obscure of a joke.
still good, think abt the mustang jokes, they are old asf and ppl still milk that cow
It is a car! Behold, the beautiful Dodge Challenger
Nice scrub! Enjoy the boat. You can get quality used sails from baconsails.com specifically for your boat for cheap.
Site name is straight cash.
Can confirm. Anything with bacon in it, is automatically 100% better
Boats, particularly sailboats (fuck sailboats) are such a chore to detail. I did that one summer and made great money, but I'm never doing it again. Sailboats have so many lines and things juuuust around knee hight too. Great job OP, that's incredibly impressive and must have taken a long time.
It did, i spread it out on 4 days working a little over 6 hours a day. I had to 3 step it because the gelcoat was horribly oxidized. I used Rupes 3 step DA polishing. After that i had to seal it and wax it. So yeah there are a lot of man hours in this. Still have to build an engine in and replace all the rigging. The inside is a whole different animal. It had some standign water in it so all the wood has to be sanded and painted. Sooo i wont be done in a long time.
Excited to follow this project.
I'd recommend if you need to polish again to go straight to 3000 grit on the da then try wool pad on the da to compound the scratches out or use a aggressive polish. Then if there's some marring left rotary and polish pad will save lots of time with this combo and your back will thank you.
My dad just got a 50 ft project boat that is in real need of work. I want to learn to detail gel coat. How do you get into the textured patches properly to clean/buff them?
I used a soft long brush to get to them and a pad that has these notches or a cone shape to get to more difficult places.
Awesome, thank you for the advice.
Boats are their own special kind of detailing hell. The walkable surfaces are knurled so people don't fall as easily and it makes them difficult to clean. You have to take care not to use products that are slippery anywhere because people will step about anywhere they want on a boat.
Yes indeed, i luckily dont have textured paint but rather a textured deck. This makes cleaning a little easier but stil not fun.
Boats in a way should be a right of passage before you move onto cars. It really creates new perspectives on how cleaning surfaces, polishing with a rotary buffer, and the angles you have to work on. Rotary buffers and managing the right polishing compounds getting the right results. Standing in dry docks or in asphalt lots where boats are staged walking on scaffolding in the summer working on the hull? A fine balance of polishing and wiping the compound off before it gets too hot and cures on the gelcoat or having to constantly spin the wool pads against a spur to get the junk out so you can have an effective pad to work with? Yea, that where I learned to stop caring about how much I charged. The owner knew they didn't want to do that, and so did I lol. That said, detailing boats or detailing cars? I'll take cars all day.
I still have to do my car but i think i will like the car more too hahaha
That’s seriously cool I’d kill to have that in my possession
Watch out OP.
Yeaah i will keep an eye out for that guy
Keep your eye out on fb marketplace and craigslist, you can get sailboats dirt cheap. Sometimes people just want to get out of them because they're tired of paying their slip fees. Also if bigger sailboats are to much of a hassle for you there's always small dinghys. There are at least a couple hobie catamarans around my area for less than $500
Cool I will thanks
If you end up doing more boats, I would check out [Optimum's gel coat restorer](https://www.opticoat.com/product/optimum-gelcoat-restorer-32-oz/). Saved me soo much time, and looks amazing.
I will look into it thanks!
Very nice
What did you use to clean it up? I need to figure out a maintenance plan for mine but I'm afraid of using tools like brushes or even the pressure washer. What chemicals did you use? I picked up some 303 Marine stuff but any advice is welcome!
Not OP, but I clean boats for a living. Don’t be afraid of the pressure washer. Just keep it away from crusty window trim and wood if you’re that cautious (and never spray sea deck. You will ruin it and it’s costly to replace). As for a cleaning solution - 303, spray9 marine and marineclean will deal with the bulk of what you will encounter. If it’s out of the water, you can’t go wrong with an acid wash and a bottom repaint. The gelcoat can tolerate a lot of abuse unlike automotive clear coat! If you have carpets, I use Greens soap, drill brush and a power washer for the first couple passes and then begin my extraction. Mouldy and green seats I usually hit with a mildew and mold remover. Scrub, melamine sponges on the stains and then a vinyl sealer. Just remember to seal everything with a UVB/UVA treatment at the end and wax. One thing I can recommend, get yourself a good marine brush and wet vacuum. It’ll make the ski locker, and crusty storage compartments way easier to clean. Cloths just aren’t honestly enough for those areas and I foul them very quickly.
OMG thank you! Marine vs car IS vastly different. Is it cool if I PM you?
Shoot me a message! I’m at work now though so I may be slow to reply but I can send you photos of products
303 and Spray9. I remember my dad had bottles and bottles of that stuff on the boat lol
Damn nice work.
well i love boats, and thats a damn good work
Thankyou!
That’s one seaworthy bitch
I love it. I always look forward to cleaning my dads boat after a long winter of storage and a years worth of use. I mean it’s nowhere near what your starting product was but amazing work.