Eliminating Blemishes and Cleaning

[Jonathan M. Cohn]

Winter is upon us and one of my goals is to clean up the outside of my CS 17.3. The boat is conveniently in the garage and I need to justify her primo parking spot by doing some work! Here are three areas I've identified for beautification:

 

1. When the previous owner installed the toe rail he used a sealant that has yellowed and aged poorly. He wasn't sure if it was 4200, 5200 or something else. It feels slightly rubbery and I can tear it off but scrubbing it has done nothing. Along with the spots in this picture, there are some drips on the hatch sides. Any ideas on how to clean or remove?

 

2. The rub rail has a bit of sticky, dirty, residue above and below. I scrubbed the whole boat with a boat soap and this didn't come off.  How hard can i scrub it? Plastic scraper seems to take it off. What do you wash your boat with? Can I use the same product that they recommend for gel coated boats? Orpine Boat Soap is what I had on hand.

https://www.westmarine.com/orpine-orpine-boat-soap-quart-3119930.html?queryID=417cdd5697b807a4029882bcdd11d2f2&objectID=3119930&indexName=production_na01_westmarine_demandware_net__WestMarine__products__en_US

 

3. This is the back of the boat where I cross the holding strap from one side of the trailer to the other. You can see the red and yellow of the strap on the right. Little chips of paint seemed to have flaked off. Is this just a cosmetic issue? If I can find the same paint, can I just paint over? Do I need to sand? best just to leave it alone? Get a new strap?

 

 

Thanks for sharing your wisdom.

[Hirilonde]

The fact that the bedding yellowed tells me it is likely a polysullfide like Lifecaulk or 3M 101. That you can peal it off hints at the same conclusion. There is no easy solution. You have to remove it all if looking good is the goal. I am always suspicious when I see goo in quantity on the outside, exposed. If something is bedded well at installation all ooze out can be cleaned before cure. It serves no purpose if the bedding is done well.  It is often an after something failed application.

I suggest removing the toe rail. Removing all old bedding, physically, there are no real solvents that will help. If you are doing any painting, do this next. Then last, re-install the toe rail with new bedding. So what to use?  My bedding of choice is the one that yellowed on your boat. But the white just does not look good a ways down the line. Polyurethanes will stay white, but can be a bit tenacious.  And some are "obscenely tenacious" , which I am told is a cool name for a boat. I use Sikaflex 291.  It is a little more tenacious than I wish, but the least of the polyurethanes, and it stays white.

[Don Silsbe]

I’ve had some success using lacquer thinner to remove polysulfide bedding compound.  Problem is that it will also remove most paints.  That’s OK, if you’re touching up anyway.