Woody
Well-Known Member
Last spring I decided to wax the 420DA myself. I just wasn't satisfied with the efforts of the 'pros' that I hired. Through the summer I received numerous compliments. I gotta say the wax job 'held up', there was a noticeable difference. I'm no expert on buffin' & waxin' but all my previous boats always looked great when I did them, probably because each was brand new. Starting out with fresh jelcoat makes it easier.
I compounded, polished, then two coats of wax. There were numerous areas that had to be gone over again and again because they just didn't look right, lots of good lighting is mandatory.
I store my boat 120 miles from it's home slip. Those guys usually only see my boat at launch and haulout. At haulout this year they said the boat looked good, the best they'd seen it at seasons end. I got the same comment from the guys at the storage building as they were putting it in.
I guess my main observation is if you want good lasting results then you have to be working with good, healthy gelcoat. I question how much compounding was done by the pros, if any some years. You can't get away with skimping, especially on the colored gelcoat.
I about did myself in last spring waxing that boat, lost 22lbs in the process(I haven't put it back on yet). With the end of season feed back it appears I must have done OK....but dam that's a lot of boat.
I compounded, polished, then two coats of wax. There were numerous areas that had to be gone over again and again because they just didn't look right, lots of good lighting is mandatory.
I store my boat 120 miles from it's home slip. Those guys usually only see my boat at launch and haulout. At haulout this year they said the boat looked good, the best they'd seen it at seasons end. I got the same comment from the guys at the storage building as they were putting it in.
I guess my main observation is if you want good lasting results then you have to be working with good, healthy gelcoat. I question how much compounding was done by the pros, if any some years. You can't get away with skimping, especially on the colored gelcoat.
I about did myself in last spring waxing that boat, lost 22lbs in the process(I haven't put it back on yet). With the end of season feed back it appears I must have done OK....but dam that's a lot of boat.