When the sky is clear, the water is blue, and the sea is mostly empty, there are few things as beautiful as a vibrant colored boat ready to be taken out from the marina. Unfortunately, your boat doesn’t qualify. The good news is that even if your boat has faded in color over the years, there are still things you can do as an owner to spruce up its look and make your boat look every bit as good as it runs. And even though you’re up against Father Time, you can still restore a boat to full luster by focusing on the best restore-ready materials and treating them with the right
care.
First Things First: Wash and Clean
Check out the array of cleaners available at BoatLife.com to see what’s been missing on your boat. Clean the bilge, clean the aluminum, and clear your fiberglass of stains. Then you can step back and take a look at how much color your boat has really lost over the years.
Getting the Most Out of Your Fiberglass
Don’t make the mistake of assuming a general cleaner is enough for your fiberglass. Boating Magazine recommends a heavy cutting compound in order to clean off oxidation stains and restore fiberglass to its previous luster. They also recommend cleaning with a foam pad, and then finishing everything off by buffing the fiberglass with a power buffer. (Sometimes, the only way to get hard-set stains from fiberglass is with a power buffer).
Keeping Your Colors Bright
Perhaps the most important addition to your boating routine will be wax. LifeWax is great for general boat use while Graphix Wax is especially aimed for boats with custom graphics. This wax won’t only offer your boat’s fiberglass some protection from the sun’s powerful rays, but will help keep your hull free of debris, giving it an extra coat to keep dirt, grease, and other typical boat villains at bay.