Help with protecting a black deck

[lance_randy]

Oh man, I already have these big ugly white scratches on the black deck of my shiny new boat :?

I was playing slalom gates under a wharf, and bashed the bow and stern pretty good on the mussel encrusted pylons. (or whatever those things are called)

I'm wondering if I can buff them out a bit with cut polish or something, or if there is some kind of little trick.

Also, what is the best thing to protect the deck from scratches, and UV rays? I'm thinking some kind of boat wax. I'd like the get the deck all waxed up, and buffed out so that it looks shiny and wet.

 

[sushiy]

Lance,
I have to say, all the scratches make the boat look sexier and tough than showroom shine, kind of like well worn jeans looks a lot better than creased and ironed one

 

[rider]

Yes you can polish the scratches out. I find wool pads work better on gelcoat than foam(automotive detailing is my background)
To protect the deck from scratches....Only thing that does work is the clear protective stick on film, like the stone-guard decals most cars/trucks have nowdays in front of the rear wheel wells and such. Waxing it won't do squat in long term if you actually use the boat.

 

[rider]

I meant you can polish them out if they're not too deep.

 

[reallife]

I call 'em....

Beauty Marks.

 

[lance_randy]

will wax protect the colour at least? I don't want the deck to fade out.

 

[rider]

Lance, the short answer is.....not really.... Depends on your definition of wax. Paint-sealer products,especially the Diamond-Kote stuff is very decent at staying on for a while and gives some degree of UV protection and stays shinier longer.Also depends on the application method.
But, long story short, learn to like it and live with it, it's inevitable.

 

[Mr Green]

Battle scars :twisted:

Took me a good hit upside the head from a friend to get over the first scratch on my bach...

 

[lance_randy]

Ok screw it. It's just going to be all 'Road Warrior' a little sooner than I thought. :?

 

[steele]

If the scratches are though the colored gellcoat into the glass underneath, then even buffing will not work. Like Sushiy says, each scratch tells a story, learn to love them. If you don't like the damage, a white boat is the way to go, or you can paint. Allgrip and other marine 2 part paints are the best, but are REALLY pricey and not as durable as the original finish.

 

[cattail]

The gel coat will oxidize with time giving it a light haze, They have a fiberglass restorer like polish that will remove that. Stored outside in sun it will appear within a year, indoor storage you may never see it.
As far as the scratches in the surface for a quick fix try a Sharpie.

To do it right and for a better match I would use a paint pen if you want them gone. There is a good chance the surface was painted in the mold so touching up the black paint over the white gel coat is just like a car repair. It's a fair amount of work but matching the color black is a lot easier than white, red or yellow. They have touch up paint pens in the automotive stores filling the deep ones with a spot putty lightly sand then with a few passes paint them with a brush it smells a lot like fingernail polish so use in a ventilated area. After that dries in a few hours you can make them vanish completely with color sanding by wet sanding just the excess paint flush with 1000 up to 2000 grit and polish the area with rubbing compound by hand and remove the fine scratches from the rubbing compound with finer compounds and a hand glaze. Just be careful sanding and polishing with any machines or even by hand if it is painted you can expose more white in a hurry.

There is a ton of information on automotive paint repair out there heres a good system I have used.
<object width="640" height="505"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/JFd_FBgom-c&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/JFd_FBgom-c&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="505"></embed></object>

As far as a UV protectant 303 comes to mind, sailboat guys use a lot of it on their hulls and sails. It goes on like Armor All wipe on and forgetaboutit.