detailing, compound, wax, boat washes, bottom paint

For this area it is recommended at least 2 times a year. Wax will protect up to 4 or 5 month's. Then the sun and salt will start destroying the bare gel coat, requiring a more expensive compounding or even wet sanding to be done before it can be waxed. Even if the boat is new, we recommend getting a wax/sealer applied to it as soon as possible as the mold release that makes a new boat shine does not give any protection from the suns ultra-violet rays.

Wax/sealer protects only but the real shine comes from polishing. Unless the boat is new or has been meticulously maintained, it will probably need to be polished first. A general idea is if there are any dull spots or cloudiness, it will need to be polished first as wax alone won't do anything.

If the boat has any chalkiness or fade, it will need at least a compounding before polish and sealer. If it is really bad (You put your hand on it and it feels rough and your hand gets some chalky residue on it), it will need to be wet sanded before compounding.

Once cleaned, you'll want to keep the boat looking good. We recommend cleaning it once a week, or once every other week at a minimum. When it rains, the boat may streak and those black streaks will work into the sealer, requiring a harsher cleaner to remove, which also removes the wax/sealer. Also salt from the air will set on and start corroding any aluminum and other brightwork.

If you keep your boat in the water, bottom paint must be applied. If the boat is new and has no protective bottom paint, the hull must be prepped and at least 3 coats of a barrier coat must be applied first so water won't seep into the hull as gel coat is porous and the bottom paint, applied after the barrier coat only protects from growth. We recommend 2 coats.

If it already has bottom paint, it must be sanded so the new paint will stick and also so the coats don't build up, which will affect performance and fuel economy. 

Many don't prep much beforehand and the paint just builds up, flaking away and will require a complete bottom job a few years down the road which will be quite expensive. We have the vacuum sanding system required by the marinas to sand enough to feather in most of the flaking before applying another 2 cotes. 

We don't believe in it for paint and gel coat. Unfortunately, there is no magic system that will stop a boat from getting water spots, keep salt off and keep a boat looking new for a multitude of years without maintenance. 

One must read the fine print on these 2-, 5- or 7-year guarantees. It always states that one must have the boat kept up monthly with an application of the company's expensive maintenance products to keep the "ceramic coat doing its job". Basically, just like wax/sealer, ceramic coat will lose its ultraviolet protecting abilities after several months and will require a sealant to be applied to continue the protection. Sounds just like a wax/sealer but a lot more expensive.

At a point, most stop maintaining, and the sun beats down and destroys the underlying gel coat. The difference is that the ceramic coat is chemically bonded so it must be aggressively sanded and then compounded/polished and sealed to bring back any shine from the underlying gel cote. As wax/sealer loses its protective ability it wears off as there is no chemical bond.