In another post you said
I took the old stripes off with a heat gun.
I filled the cracks with Evercoat All Purpose Filler Formula 27. This stuff cures in under an hour, sands well and last surprisingly well.
Then I sanded the hull. I went from 100 grit dry to 320 grit wet 400 wet then to 800 wet.
There is lots of gel coat on that baby you can sand plenty without worrying about it.
After sanding I polished it up and it looks like new.
After an unfortunate run-in with some rocks left my hull heavily scrached, I decided to try your method so I purchased the sandpapers you said you used. The attached file shows the hull after I got to the 400-grit (wet) level. At this point I dunno how it's going to turn out, but I'll do 800 and maybe polish it tomorrow. What'd you use to polish it? The darker spots are the original (pre-sanding) color; I was afraid to get too agressive with the sandpaper everywhere after I went all the way through the gelcoat in that one spot.
Guess it's going to look mottled but hopefully only up-close. Better than big ugly scratches! *sigh*
Also, note my over-zealous sanding about 2" ahead of the transom - there's some resin exposed there... still trying to decide how to cover that up.
Jim,
After you get done with the 800 grit (wet), use 3M Rubbing Compound on a machine buffer to get the remaining light scratches out (do the whole hull while you're at it).
Follow up with 3M Finesse-It II polishing compound on a machine buffer with a foam pad. This is what really brings back the gloss.
Use a good boat wax to preserve the finish.
I did this on my 32 year old 14 and it looks like it just popped out of the mold.
I would not recomend trying to sand out heavy scratches for the reasons you have discovered.
Thanks bro, I'll give it a shot. Sadly some of the scratches will still be there no matter what because I think in a few spots the rocks gouged all the way through the gelcoat, but I definately think it's going to look a *lot* better. 