God bless Harbor Freight. 7" buffer/sander, sheeps wool covers (3 so far and Meguiar's Ultra Cut Compound. Oh, and Youtube. You can buff away all your gelcoat if you're not careful. I tried to start wetsanding, but that was going to take longer than priming and painting the hull to get it all the way to wax. Everything was at Harbor Freight. I've burned up a couple of tools thus far, refuse to pay the "extended coverage," and they've only refused to take back one thing. My first 7" buffer i wasn't paying attention, wrapped the cord into the buffer, smoke, sparks, hell fire shooting out. I threw that thing 30'. I also burned out a 6" DA and something else. I'm their best advertising - until they refuse to take stuff back. Within reason.
After i get the bottom finished and barrier coated, the stbd side compounded, I'll run a polish over everything, then wax it. Probably all Meguiars, since it seems to be an outstanding product. I got boot and cove stripes to deal with in the meantime before I get to the polish and wax part. In the past, I look at an oxidized hull and see a prepped surface that just needs a quick sanding, two coats of primer and then 2 part linear polyurethane. I like this gelcoat coming back. Complicating things, the boat is in Maine and I'm in the Virgin Islands on a regular basis. Like right now. Actually cooler down here.
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