Received the new Ski Nautique decal last week so I started removing the old ones and sanded those areas, along with the both entire sides up to 1500. So, moving onto buffing this week.

Bringing the gelcoat back to life is a very patient process to say the least. Being at the age that I am at, I will say I do have more patience to do this labor of love than when I was younger. It is a slow process and depending how detailed you want to be, it can be time consuming. I’m being time consuming with this girl. 

I spent almost 3 hours getting 2/3 of the port side last night with 3M Super Duty Rubbing Compound. The first hour I will say very frustrating for me but after calling a friend who’s in the car body repair business, He talk me through the process of buffing. Think small.  So here are some pictures before and after the first pass. 

I worked on my boat yesterday for a straight 6 hours on the starboard side. I realize now that the starboard side was exposed to more sunlight than the port side. Oxidation was more extensive.  I didn’t expect 5 more hours of sanding (in steps) of the aquamarine strip of where the Ski Nautique lettering was at. In doing so when I got to 1000, I resanded the entire side again up to 1500. Was getting a little concerned about how much sanding I was doing but it looks like the original color now and I was able to start buffing. Didn’t get far in one hour but I started at least.  Arms and hands were done by that time. Starting to look identical as the port side. 

Life never goes the way we plan it when it comes to projects needing done.  But that is life when you are married, have kids and you have many hobbies such as I do.

After spending the entire month of October and November building a deck for my daughter and husband's home, squeezing some time to go bird hunting, then the unexpected wood splitter given to me from my father-in-law that needed repairs done, I am finally finished sanding, compounding and buffing out the boat last week. Probably have 98 percent of scratches removed.  Have a total of 24-25 hours of hand sanding time and about 16 hours of running the buffer. Had to go back and sand the starboard side again to get it to match the port side. Oxidation was much deeper on the starboard side so it needed more work to be done. Basically 3-4 more hours of hand sanding.

Need to move the boat outside on a sunny day to see what I have missed. But I am confident that I will be satisfied when it’s in the sun.  All the while working with getting the decal correct from the graphic studio. That took longer than I expected but I’m very happy how they turned out.  So basically, the boat is ready for the decals to go on. Need a warm day to do this outside for the pinstriping. My garage does not have enough space on one side to walk around on. 

Thanks for the comment’s! I finished her up a month ago. Picture does not do her justice so I’ll post some better ones soon.  Have a day coming up to pull her out of the garage to put 3 coats of wax to finish the project. Been busy with other projects around the house but this week I’m been busy cleaning the inside of the boat and spring engine maintenance to have ready to drop in. Needing to paint the mounted areas for the boat guide poles go on the trailer before they are installed.