How to polish your boat

I once heard a boat broker talking about ‘lucky’ and ‘unlucky’ boats. He was referring to the contrasting ways different owners maintain their boats. Sadly there are still more unlucky boats than lucky ones. But here’s your chance to change that.

Neglecting the maintenance of your boat has obvious aesthetic consequences, but it also seriously undermines her resale value. The owners of ‘lucky’ boats have long understood that routine preventative maintenance — including regular polishing — is the most cost-effective solution to maintaining their boat year round.

A fibreglass boat that’s nice and clean and impregnated with wax will see the water and grime just bead or blow off. A bit of elbow grease now will make the clean-up much easier at the end of the day.

We polish boats everyday and I can tell you it is hard work and a skill that can take many years to perfect, not to mention the expense of setting up with the right equipment and using the right products.

However, there are still plenty of owners who are keen to have a go themselves, so I thought a few tips on how to polish properly might be helpful.

2. You need the right equipment: This will not only help save time but also produce a better finish. However, like most things, practice makes perfect, so don’t expect a perfect finish first time around. But do invest in decent tools for the job.

4. Start by giving the boat a good wash: Use a strong detergent to remove old polish and dirt and grime.

5. The best polish to buy: This can be a difficult choice, what with so many top brands available through chandleries. Your Marine Editor David Lockwood loves his Top Gear products. Funnily enough, the author uses it, too.

7. Be careful of these: When buffing, watch out for fittings that can cause your machine to buck wildly if hit. Another danger is wrapping the power lead up in the buffing wheel. You will invariably break the lead exposing the wires and this is why you must invest in a safety switch box. Always be safety conscious, especially when working at heights such as on the hard top (a harness is a good idea). A bucking machine can throw you off balance. If working over water, hang on tight to your machine — I have managed to give a couple of expensive buffing machines a float test and, well, they don’t float!

8. You need a compatible sealer polish: Apply this to the newly cut surface. The sealer helps protect the surface from UV damage, salt and grime by sealing off the microscopic pours of the surface. Sealer polishes are usually applied by hand. You can do this manually and buff it to a finish or you could use the machine buffer.

9. Now detail around the tight spots where the wool buff couldn’t fit: This is a tedious job best done by hand rubbing, but don’t expect the same high gloss finish achieved by the machine.

10. Now she’ll need a full wash again to remove all the polish dust: But only use a gentle wash and wax type detergent from now on, so you don’t strip all your polish away again! We find a few top-up waxes through the year will help maintain that lovely gloss and also make wash-downs easier.

We should all strive to own ‘lucky’ boats and with the above tips and techniques — and a good application of elbow grease — you are well on your way to creating your pride and joy.