Hull Refinishing

shulersbbq · Post by **shulersbbq** » Sun Mar 01, 2009 10:57 pm

Has anyone had any experience with or heard anything about Poly-Glo coatings? I'm looking for something to bring the shine back to the old girl's hull that will last ( at least 12 months?) without having to rewax every 3-4 months. Any other ideas?
I finally had Stormrunner shipped to my house and am beginning a total refurb project on her.
If anyone is looking to ship anywhere on the East Coast let me suggest "The Boat Exchange" out of Columbia, SC. Richard did a great job and was very accommodating. The air ride hydraulic trailer was great as it allowed us to offload the boat at my home without any other equipment.

seavita · Post by **seavita** » Mon Mar 02, 2009 8:35 am

shulersbbq wrote:Has anyone had any experience with or heard anything about Poly-Glo coatings? I'm looking for something to bring the shine back to the old girl's hull that will last ( at least 12 months?) without having to rewax every 3-4 months. Any other ideas?
I finally had Stormrunner shipped to my house and am beginning a total refurb project on her.
If anyone is looking to ship anywhere on the East Coast let me suggest "The Boat Exchange" out of Columbia, SC. Richard did a great job and was very accommodating. The air ride hydraulic trailer was great as it allowed us to offload the boat at my home without any other equipment.

I had my guy do x-kote and then he sealed it with nano technology wax.....supposedly this will last 3-4 years and looks about as good as you could want for a 30 yr old boat(a real shine and even a water reflection), I reccomend it.

FYI I did poliglow on my old Chriscraft and it came out ok, but I think even with the extra money I prefer the above....

g36 · Post by **g36** » Mon Mar 02, 2009 9:14 am

i use poliglow on my boat and i think i looks really good and get alot of comments. its not that expensive or hard to apply if you put it on and it doesnt suit you then remove it and go with something else. just do a small area and put on the recommended coats and see what you think. i can tell you that what ever gets on the area will wash right off without any effort. i keep my boat under cover and we have a terrible time with spider poop which stains like heck on the fiberglass but the places that have poliglow it will wash right off with just a soft rag and water no stain. since it is not intended for the deck i made a sunbrella cover to keep my deck clean but i have it every where else. its been on a year now.

Mac32 · Post by **Mac32** » Mon Mar 02, 2009 11:12 am

For what it is worth I just got done refinishing my topsides from being pretty far gone, actually it was like white sand paper it was so chalky. I spent some time researching many forums on what to do regarding a coating like poly glow or the traditional rubbing compound w/ wax finish. I ended up chickening out of the poly glow for fear of having to re do it again because of how bad she was (chalky)so I went with the manual labor option. This also was probably due to my lack of experience with poly glow and having some experience with rubbing compound, so I picked what I was most comfortable with.

But now that I am done with the rubbing and sanding (1000, 1500, 2000 grit in really bad spots, then rough cut compound with final finishing compound) I am very happy I went this route. I now can actually see the serial numbers on a dollar bill in the reflection even before the first coat of wax, I will try to get a picture if anyone is interested.

The whole upper deck above the rub rail probably took me 40-50 hours including the Decks and removing the black stripes on the cabin sides and I think the total cost was about $150 in compound, pads, and sandpaper.

Not really a recommendation here, just a little more info. Oh yeah, and I haven't gotten to the wax part yet.

rossjo · Post by **rossjo** » Mon Mar 02, 2009 1:31 pm

Mac - did you DA or hand sand all of that? Sounds like a LOT of work!

Does your marina enforce rules about the sanding dust?

Mac32 · Post by **Mac32** » Mon Mar 02, 2009 2:28 pm

I only hand sanded areas that were really rough, and even though I found the gelcoat to be pretty thick in most areas I would only recomend using people power when taking sand paper to the boat. The roughest I ever used on things like scratches from the anchor was 800 grit wet and I would have had to sand for a 1/2 hour to get through the gelcoat.

I also used a bleach/water solution for lubricant while wet sanding due to tiny tiny pores in the gel coat having specs of mold in them, it looked finer than graphite dust but I could see it (wife could not) so they had to go.

Also I have the boat in my own work shop with a few other friends boats (5) to be exact, so I have my own set of rules, and those really only apply to beer, food, proper conversation while working on the boats.

Never thought about it but I imagine It would upset a few people if there boat was covered by compound dust in the spring....

rossjo · Post by **rossjo** » Mon Mar 02, 2009 9:35 pm

I hear you - did my 26 in a shop for over a year and then 6 coats of primer and Awlgrip.

I was referring more to EPA rules on the sanding dust ... isn't this an issue in most areas?

ldoff · Post by **ldoff** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 3:10 pm

I've been a live-a-board (and cruiser) since 1991.

I have a 1978 Trojan 44 MotorYacht (twin Detroit Diesel 6-71's; 12 kw generator; etc).

She is a great boat in just super condition.

I decided to refit her cosmetically and mechanically and my response to those who are tired of waxing and re-waxing is to re-gelcoat. It is not easy and it is not cheap, but I would like to get twenty more years out of her.

Also, I decided to experiment a little for some slow speed efficiency.

Here are some photos:

http://base.googlehosted.com/base_media ... 509&size=6

http://base.googlehosted.com/base_media ... 061&size=6

http://base.googlehosted.com/base_media ... 086&size=5

http://base.googlehosted.com/base_media ... 824&size=6

Mac32 · Post by **Mac32** » Tue Mar 31, 2009 3:47 pm

Its A Boy Boat!!!!!!

http://base.googlehosted.com/base_media ... 824&size=6

(sorry, had too)

Have you run the boat with the bulbous bow yet? Just curious how it work or is it a sonar dome?

Stripermann2 · Post by **Stripermann2** » Tue Mar 31, 2009 4:08 pm

"Its A Boy Boat!!!!!! "

That's funny!

Welcome Idoff, nice looking hull!

ldoff · Post by **ldoff** » Tue Mar 31, 2009 4:12 pm

I'll be back in the water by the end of April.

I did considerable research and the bulbous bow is supposed to increase speed (or reduce fuel consumption) by 12 to 15 percent.

I have years of operating data, so I should be able to figure out if this works as advertised. After all, all of the 'big boys' have them. The only question is whether I am too small at 44 feet for this to be effective.

Nice pun, yes, "she's" a boy.

I have heard that there have been a few boats that have cut them off, because people were offended by the profile.

willietrojan · Post by **willietrojan** » Tue Mar 31, 2009 4:20 pm

I used 800 grid sand paper on the tough areas then used a product call Buff Magic with an electric buffer then went over it with Four Seasons boat wax,
looks new!

Boaters World's website is still up.

http://www.boatersworld.com/product/176972537.htm

http://www.boatersworld.com/product/179010061.htm

Trojan Boat Forum