Hi gang. My 84 Hobie 16 developed some unsightly stains on its' white hulls this summer. Before I bought it from the previous owner it sat outside for a few years. The hulls become pretty dull. The lakes I was on this year were tea colored and left a fair bit of discoloration below the water line. In a previous thread I believe Damon used some fine water-sand paper to buff up the hulls. I tried this in a small spot. It worked pretty well but the water that dripped off was very chalky white. Will this harm the fiberglass?
I know in the Hobie catalogue they sell "Starbright" fiberglass color restorer and sealer. Has anyone tried this stuff ? Any other suggestions ?
Many thanks.



edited by: melber96, Oct 20, 2008 - 10:32 PM

Bar Keepers Friend - and some elbow grease will remove most stains and is fiberglass friendly.

Good Luck



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Gordon
Nacra 5.5SL
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lots of choices to do... wet sand will work but also removes gelcote... over time you can only sand so much off.

FSR (fiberglass stain remover) is a great product to use... avail at west marine and even the old Hobie catalogs sold it for about $10.00

many people use snow bol toilet cleaner (hydrochloric acid)

i have even sanded, then waxed.... didn't last that long

i think the best is oxalic acid... then seal with 303... then carnuba wax cleans like new (almost) and last longest without staining .... the acid removes most stains (as will the fsr) but opens the pores of the gelcote... 303 seals it and blocks UV, and the carnuba helps stop pollutants from the water to rebuild.

I tested this our a few months ago by using oxalic acid (a product made to clean fiberglass) ... then 303 and doin a small area with carnuba wax. the carnuba area has held up very well.

PS i sail in the gulf, about 10 days a month... every month

I've used a buffer with the polishing compound from Turtle Wax on a few of my boats, and they came out looking almost new. Since doing this, I've heard you aren't supposed to use car wax on your hulls though... so I don't know.

I used wax once!! When I filpped my cat, it made it hard to stand on to right it.... I painted most of my cats (one more to paint). I don't use anything anymore~ no stains

--
~ Vietnam Vet 69-71~ 17 Hobie w/big jib, ~18 Hobie mag,~DN Ice sailor,
and other toys.......
~~ I live in NY state on the north shore of Oneida lake in
Bernhards Bay. ~~~~~~
--

The boat will have the following layers: fiberglass > gelcoat > oxidized wax and/or clearcoat. The stains are from material that has seeped through breaks in the surface layer. The "white chalky stuff" is old oxidized wax. Your goal is to 1.) surface clean 2.)strip all of that old stuff off down to the gelcoat 3.) clean out foreign matter 4.) re-seal. I would do the following...

1. Wash the boat and use a dilluted bleach mix to get rid of any mold/mildew.
2. If it's REALLY bad as you describe, use West On/Off which is a muratic acid. Do it at a self carwash place. Wear rubber gloves and a paper filter mask. The stuff is noxious and dangerous - and stinks like hell! It will kill grass and plantlife. You pour it into a cheap Tupperware and brush it on with a paint brush. DO NOT GET IT ON ANY STAINLESS STEEL! Work top of the hulls down. Let it sit for 10 minutes and then hose it off, top-down very liberally. At first, use a light spray so that you don't blast it all over the place. When you think you've hosed it all off, hose it all down again! And hose down the trailer too. Make sure to get it all off and down the drain. It will corrode steel, especially stainless steel. Once dilluted and down the drain, it becomes harmless so don't fret that you're poisoning the environment.

While it seems like scary stuff, and it is - it'll burn if it gets on your skin, it is acid. It's not going to harm the fiberglass or the gelcoat. But everything else will get taken off. You'll wind up with dull, but smooth and clean hulls with the original color of the glass. The Tupperware, brush, gloves, etc. all get put into a garbage bag and dumped. This is a one-time use stuff.
3. Wash the boat off one more time with simple soap and water.

Now you're ready to re-seal. After 25 years, I have had the best luck with PoliGlow. http://www.poliglow-int.com/ This stuff is not a wax, it's a hard clearcoat that can easily be applied by hand. It's pricier ($65 for the kit) but that gives you about 3 applications and each one last about... TWO YEARS! I've only had to buy two kits in the past, what, 10 years? Simply follow the directions. Start with the PoliPrep and then apply the PoliGlow. You can apply it heavily, just be quick with the smooth, circular spreading it around because it begins to dry very quickly - within 60 seconds. You want to spread it out thin, thoroughly and in nice overlapping circles. It won't dry with any streaks like wax. You won't know the pattern you rubbed it on. The circular motion is just to make sure you covered everything. Again, multiple THIN coats are better than trying to shlopp it on once. Here are some pics of my last PoliGlow treatment that I did 2 years ago...


The boat with dirt washed off and ready to start the PoliPrep to strip it down to the gelcoat.


After the PoliPrep treatment. As you can see, PoliPrep does nothing to the graphics - but always test it first! Ready to re-seal with PoliGlow.


The finished product after two thin coats of PoliGlow. More thin coats 2-4 are better than one thick one. I have the boat up on 2x4's out of the hull cradles to get as much as possible.


This is not a wax that will dull and oxidize halfway through the season. It's a clearcoat like you find on new cars. A nice shine and one that lasts 2-3 years! When you want to bring it back to life, simply PoliPrep to strip it away and re-apply a couple of thin coats again. It took me about 3 hours to strip, clean and re-seal the hulls.

Hope this helps!

looks good...

That does look SHARP !!!! can it be used on painted boats ????? I was thinkin about 'Chrome paint, but it might be expensive..... I did have it in my favorites, then my puter bit the dust & lost everything. I'll have to do a Google again on it...

--
~ Vietnam Vet 69-71~ 17 Hobie w/big jib, ~18 Hobie mag,~DN Ice sailor,
and other toys.......
~~ I live in NY state on the north shore of Oneida lake in
Bernhards Bay. ~~~~~~
--

popeyez7

That does look SHARP !!!! can it be used on painted boats ????? I was thinkin about 'Chrome paint, but it might be expensive..... I did have it in my favorites, then my puter bit the dust & lost everything. I'll have to do a Google again on it...

Sure it can be used on painted boats! It's simply a hard acrylic sealer. Whatever color, graphics, cracks, dirt, etc. that's underneath gets trapped under a hard acrylic clear coat layer. So that why prepping by washing and PoliPrepping is very important.

But the results are rather nice. And the best part is that it's pretty maintenance free for 2 seasons.

Just a quick thank you to Doug for his post, I have been searching all/many forums for just this info. When I realized I would have to remove oxidization, I also realized that if I went with wet-sanding, I would be loosing some of my gel-coat, my hulls were heavily oxidized to the point of being almost white. I stumbled across this web post:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74sEyot5A_o

I could not get my hands on this HeavyCut by West Systems so I had to go with wet-sanding, the results were incredible, the restored gel-coat was vibrant blue. I wanted to seal it with a clearcoat and again came up with nothing so I used the old method of marine polish. Recently I noticed some discoloration on my hulls and knew immediately that the polish had not sealed the hulls. Now I know what to do, thanx once again Doug, the young may have the energy but nothing beats experience.





edited by: turbohobo, Oct 24, 2008 - 03:14 PM

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TurboHobo
H14T
H16
P18
G-Cat 5.0
P16
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turbohobo

Now I know what to do, thanx once again Doug, the young may have the energy but nothing beats experience.

OUCH! Dude... I'm not THAT old! Just because I've been sailing these things for 30 years doesn't make me an old fart. I started out young (10) and by the time I was 15 and the other boys were thinking stereos and saving for rusted Camaro Z28's, my best friend and I were going halves on our first $250 Hobie-16 to sail off Seaside at the Jersey shore. The main goal of course was to pick up girls. And you wanna know something? ... It worked!

Experience? Yes. Old? Not by a long shot!

Doug-p182-590

turbohobo

Now I know what to do, thanx once again Doug, the young may have the energy but nothing beats experience.

OUCH! Dude... I'm not THAT old! Just because I've been sailing these things for 30 years doesn't make me an old fart. I started out young (10) and by the time I was 15 and the other boys were thinking stereos and saving for rusted Camaro Z28's, my best friend and I were going halves on our first $250 Hobie-16 to sail off Seaside at the Jersey shore. The main goal of course was to pick up girls. And you wanna know something? ... It worked!

Experience? Yes. Old? Not by a long shot!

Haha...picking up chicks at Seaside, nice!!!