Yellow Water Stains

[ccustomrides]

Hello guys,
Well weather here in MI is not that good. Rain afrer rain and more rain with cold temps. My boat is ready to go just waiting on mother nature. I either have to work or weather is crap.
Anyway my shrink is cut and my boat is under my regular storage cover. Cover fits the boat pretty well. This is not a custom fit but a semi custom cover. In the bow area my cover pretty much sits flat on the surface of the boat or against the gel. There is nothing I can do about it. Its just how my cover fits the lines of my boat. On most regular summer days if it does rain I will wash the boat and let it sit in the sun. Few washes and few hours in the sun will bleach out the spots in most cases. Since its been day after day of rain I have lots of little yellow water stains in my bow area. I cant just wash the boat since the weather is crap and there is also no sun! So is there a product or anything else I can use to get rid of the old yellow spots. I did hear of soft scrub bleach or something. I just want to know what you guys use and what works. Surface is white/cream sea ray gel. Few spots only. One spot is from last fall. I guess I forgot or missed it and never washed it off. I just dont want to spray stuff on and find out the hard way. PS. My cover has no holes and never leaks. Problem is the few spots where the cover touches the boat surface and puddles in those areas. In end result it drips on my gel. Becomes a low spot in other words. Just in few spots and not the entire boat. I have low bow rails and it really has no way to drain the water off the bow. So it sits in the middle and causes the drip. I tried to strech the cover, etc but no luck. It rains a lot in MI during the spring but we been getting freaking crazy rain storms which just soak the cover.Thanks.

 

[BWT]

Re: Yellow Water Stains

I feel your weather woes! It's been crap in Northern Wisconsin as well. Well, I've never been too keen on using any kind of bleach on gelcoat. I know many boaters and charter companies do it all the time, but I think it shortens the life of the gelcoat color. For doing spot cleanings have you tried a mild rubbing compound? Meguiars makes a one step cleaner/wax (it's in their marine line) that can be applied by hand and works pretty well on light stains. Otherwise possibly a more aggressive compound like their oxidation remover? Sounds like if the gel is pulling in the stain, the gel might be a little oxidized (porous). Could probably use a buff, polish and wax to seal the surface. This may eliminate future issues all together. Certainly can't hurt to try!

As far as the cover issue, Have you tried making some kind of peak under the cover? Whether it's some kind of an upright pole, or on a larger boat a couple of planks screwed together to form an unside down T (like this _i_) running down the length of the foredeck. It wouldn't be much of a peak (depending on the width of the upright plank/piece of plywood), but if the cover is pulled tight, would be enough to shed to water.. Just a thought..

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Yellow Water Stains

Like BWT said, just brace up the cover so it doesn't sag and lay on the gel coat.

Its not uncommon for water to leach chemicals out of a cover (or anything) and have it stain whatever is under it, or it can be from the rainwater itself. Rain drops can collect pollution as they fall and the pollutants become even more concentrated in the puddles leaving a stain.

You can try the normal mild cleaning products and if those don't work well try a cleaner with Oxalic acid in it, it works well on rust and similar stains on fiberglass. Bleach can be used to clean the gel coat, just don't leave a strong bleach mix on the gel coat for an extended period of time. I typically mix it very strong with a touch of detergent and use a scrub brush and as soon as I'm done scrubbing I hose it off using a lot of water. Bleach can (may) affect the color if left on the surface for an extended period of time. Bleach may also attack the threads in your cushions, although I haven?t had a problem with this myself.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Yellow Water Stains

This Stuff Works GREAT on removing stains from GelCoat. It has Oxalic Acid in it soo..... make sure and wear latex gloves and a mask when using it and like ondarvr says, DON'T leave it on to long!!!!

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Yellow Water Stains

Funny..I brought up sno-bol to surface..

It only works on rust stains m8..

Those yellow things .. well you might have to buff or wetsand out ..

YD.