Blair, I would like to suggest those Magic Erasures. Honestly, I think they must have been developed especially for boaters. They are simply amazing! :)

Acetone on towel material.

Fenders (and your dock's white material): paint brush & roller cleaner.

Both available at ACE Hardware, NOT West Marine.

Wear rubber gloves, and when finished, wax the parts of the hull you cleaned.

Who said you couldn't use towels on the fenders and dock, too? :):):)

Almost all of our rags are old towels, not T shirts, 'cuz my wife says I wear T shirts til they disintegrate. The towel material, I find, is necessary for the acetone on the hull, not so much for the fenders.

Why not use compound and then wax it? If it's on top, you may find a cleaner/wax will easily clean it off.

If the gelcoat is scratched or damaged, the repair kits at West Marine work great. i've become quite accomplished at Gelcoat repair. :eek:

Ok, now that Blair has come out, I want to admit that I too have bounced of a few tie poles at my marina. One of them actually left some cracks in the gel coat above the rub rail. I already replaced the rub rail and aluminum extrusion in the spot but haven't taken care of the gel coat yet. I want to chip out all the broken parts, dremel the area nice and clean then patch with some gel coat patch and sand it all in nice and smooth. What gel patch material has anyone used with success in similar cases?
Thanks
Sam:(

[QUOTE=blair;18248]Stu,

I must have misunderstood.
I thought you said use paint brush and roller cleaner on rubber products.

Next question, can you recommend a good wax?[/QUOTE]

Acetone on the hull, paint brush stuff on the fenders and dock rubber edges. What happens with the dock edges is they don't actually cut into the gel coat, but rather leave dirt marks ON TOP of the gel coat, least that's been my experience.

Wax: Collinite paste wax (I forget the #, like 885 or 855, in a can, not a stand up bottle).

Are you aware of Maine Sail's great How to Wax Your Boat?

[url]http://forums.catalina.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?t=117266[/url]

I've repaired some pretty deep scratches on my hull and I've found out that the gel coat sold by West Marine is just about (luckily) identical white color to our hulls. This is the stuff in a small can, not the tube stuff. I find the tube stuff yellows over time.

If the scratch is deep enough I scrap the edges and use epoxy with a filler to below the top level, then brush on coats of the gel so its a bit higher. Then I sand it smooth with very fine paper (I think I used 400 then 600 wet paper), finishing with a cleaner wax, then polish.

I have used Majic Erasers on several things around home. They work so well I was conviced they must have some component in them that would slow the earths rotation or increase climate change.

Research finds no chemicals involved, it is melemine foam. Feels soft to touch but, it is very tough abrasive. Cleans like a fine sandpaper which is OK on the hull if you follow up with polish and wax. I used to use it to clean our porcilin enamal stove top at home as it took off burnt on splatter very well. After I learned of its abrasive nature I stopped as it leaves fine scratches that cause even more build up later. It is not recommended for glossy painted surfaces like your car as it will dull the finish.

You can get matching gel coat directly from Catalina. Just call the parts department.

[quote=dpower;18273]You can get matching gel coat directly from Catalina. Just call the parts department.[/quote]

I tried that a couple of years ago, they told me they didn't have any matching gelcoat for older boats. They directed me to a place in the PNW, I think it was called Spectrum, that was supposed to have all the right codes. They had nada. They sent me what they thought would be right, but it wasn't even close. If it's a small repair it doesn't matter much anyway.

We have covered this in several spots here. Color matched gelcoat just like paint on a car seldom matches. It will match if what you are repairing is brand new but, paint and gelcoat yellow and fade overtime. What would be a perftect match when new may stand out like a sore thumb on an older boat.

A custom match will need to be done to correct for age. My drivers licence says I have brown hair. What little I have has not been brown in a decade or two.

I did a repair to my gelcoat last summer, spent some time trying to find the right color combo. Grey hull, simple white and black make grey,true but no match. After much council from neighbors the secret to a better match was brown for a very close match. I just had a professional complete another simalar repair, their match was spot on. The repair can not be seen, experience trumps tenacity. Majic does not come in a can.

EVERCOAT Match'N'Patch from West Marina has worked great for me.
[url]http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?produ...

The white tends to match perfectly.

I have that kit too. The white does not match our boat, I got it close by adding black and brown, but I don't have enough artist eye to get it perfectly right. Again though, on a small patch it's irrelevent.

Bigger issue for me is the gelcoat in that kit will not cure over an epoxy such as Interlux Watertite, it just goes to rubber. In fact I have yet to find a gelcoat, and I've tried 4 different ones, that will cure over Interlux Watertite.

Guys,polyester resin(fiberglass resin,our boats,gel coat)will NOT cure over any epoxy resin.If the first coat is epoxy all subsequent resins must be epoxy.Epoxy resins DO bond well to polyester however..never the reverse.

Blair - I also used Acetone on a fender scuff left by a "Weak Cold Front" and some severe rocking at the dock. It worked well but the recommendation to rewax is wise! If you use rags - make sure they are white only as the dyes in some like the yellow micro fiber towels can stain things badly when used with the Acetone. I also use a product called "Bartenders Friend" to take off some stains and scuffs in my cockpit - usually left by suitcases or dragging the hose out to refill the tanks.

I looked at the link of Main Sails " How to Wax Your Boat" This is a great process if your boat is out of the water like the one shown on a trailer in this article. My boat lives in the water except for a haul and paint every few years. A wax job as detailed in Main Sails article is a bit impracticle in the water.

Every haulout I have the hull buffed and waxed. Between these haulouts I have been using West Marine's Pure Oceans liquid wax. I apply this with by pouring some on a soft bristle brush with a long extension handle on it. After it dries, I buff it off with a dry soft brush or deck scrub brush with a towel taped to it. If there is some residual wax left on the hull it comes off the next time I scrub down the hull with soap and water and that occures everytime I bring the boat back to the slip.

Bartenders Keeper is excellent for removing scuff marks from gelcoat. I have been using it for years. The active ingredient is oxalic acid (wood bleach at the hardware store). Great for cleaning the outdoor grill.

I haven’t polished and waxed a boat in 15 years, too much work. I use Poliglow. Basically it is Future Floor Polish, a clear acrylic paint with UV inhibitors in it. Supposedly Future Floor Polish will yellow eventually in the sun. I have experimented with it in the past with no yellowing, but I am sticking to Poliglow, why take chances. If you throw some water on your hull, that is the shine you will have when you are finished with Poliglow. Even over oxidation you will get a pretty good shine.

Poliglow kit comes with a cleaner. You want to get your hull as clean as possible the first time you use it because hull marks with be trapped under the Poliglow. It wipes on with a sponge. The first time you put on 3-4 coats. They go fast. Keep the coats thin to avoid drips. The Poliglow drys in 10 minutes or so. Subsequent seasons you can just add a couple coats. Your gelcoat will never be exposed to the environment. Poliglow down to your water line will significantly cut down on the slime trying to grow on your hull.

Poliglow was always a seasonal topic on the Catalina 30 list.

For rubber or vinyl based scuff marks, West Marine sells a fiberglass paint remover that works quite well- removes marks from my inflatable, shoes scuffs in the cockpit, fender smudges on the hull and aids in removing old permit stickers and other things that stick to fiberglass. It does not damage the gelcoat.