Proper boat polishing

[RonMan]

Hello All,
Glad I found this place. Ive learned a lot just by looking around.
I am the proud new owner of 1990 Four Winns Freedom. The boat is in absolutely awesome condition for its age. Heck, its as nice as some 2 and 3 year old boats I looked at.

Here's my question. The blue stripe around the sides is a bit faded. I dont have a pic yet but this is an exact replica http://i21.ebayimg.com/08/i/000/f7/23/416f_3.JPG The seller told me it is vinyl/or maybe a plastic (I dont remember) and all I have to do is Armor All it and it will polish right up. It was nice and shiny when I first looked at it. After the test run it was no longer shiny. Armor All shine does not hold up to the eliments. Just squirt some on your tires and run through a puddle. I dont see how this could possible be the way the manufacturer intended for you to shine the boat.

Does anyone know if this info is correct? And is this correct/best way to maintain its shine.

Thanks for any and all help.

 

[45Auto]

Re: Proper boat polishing

The blue on the side of your boat is probably gelcoat. If polishing and waxing (like Marine4003 describes here: http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=264841) doesn't make it shine then the gelcoat (usually 10-20 thousands of an inch thick) is oxidized all the way through. I had a 1996 Bayliner with a blue side panel like that. All you can do to make it shine is use something like Vertglas or Poliglow, which puts kind of a "clearcoat" on it and makes it shine, but from what I understand wears off every year or so then needs to be stripped and redone. Or you could have it painted with a marine paint, Imron, etc.

 

[RonMan]

Re: Proper boat polishing

Ill give the polish and wax a try. Ive been reading a lot about my options on here. I was just confused by the vinyl and Armor All thing. It seemed feasible to me that the blue could be a large pin stripe material but I just couldnt see Armor All being the recommended method of caring for the exterior. While it did shine when applied it quickly disappeared upon hitting the water. Duh

The boat is in such great shape I did not have a reason to doubt the previous owner however, I remained skeptical. It is not oxidized bad. It would be a stretch to even call it lightly oxidized. Just needs a little shine to match the quality of the interior.