anyone ever used a paint sealant on their boat?

[rabbit]

A body shop that we do a lot of work for got me a bottle of Quantum...they swear by it and say it lasts for at least 5 years...I have felt some of the cars that they do and the paint is extremely slick afterwards and it supposedly protects it from debris, even spray paint. I am just wondering if it is a good idea to use on gel coat. I have an 03 SAN 210.

[gride300]

i'm going to go ahead and say no. it's usually not a good idea to put anything on gel coat besides wash or wax or new gel. wax protects it also.

[seanxtreme3000]

Gride..
they make a gel you can re apply?, say to the side of your boat if its scratched.

[rabbit]

lol...I wax the top of the boat after every outing and then the whole boat every two outings (I know...I'm anal) so i was hoping this would save my shoulders in the long run lol!

[gride300]

if you have scratches look into wet sanding depending on depth. in general it's safe to say not to put anything on a gel coat. usually deep scratches can be removed via wet sanding, then polishing up. do a search on here. there is alot of info on what grits to use and all that.

[SkiTower]

lol...I wax the top of the boat after every outing and then the whole boat every two outings (I know...I'm anal) so i was hoping this would save my shoulders in the long run lol!

my suggestion is to get less anal and more reasonable. I know someone that vaccums their house twice a day, every day. Some things are too much and not needed. Unless your boat stays outside uncovered, it probably can stand to not get waxed EVERY time.

Just my $.02

[Nautiquehunter]

I used to sell a paint sealant product made by the protector they have at new car dealers. It works great on the car but it sucked on the boat. It left swirl marks all over. I use Poor Boys Products they work great

[vanislwake]

Theres probably not going to be any harm in using a sealant on your gelcoat, heck if its safe on paint its going to be safe on gelcoat! gelcoat is WAY more resistant to anything than paint! Its a hard finish, the selant will not harm it.

I know there is sealants out there designed specifically for boats, in fact we had a boat done with one a year ago, it looked like crap because they applied it right over all the scratches and stuff without wetsanding and polishing any of them out, but it stayed shiny, wasn't my boat or my call to have it done, but it did what it was supposed to, just should have polished the gelcoat up real nice first. sorry i forget the name of it.

[rabbit]

I have a lot of crazy friends who go out on the boat with me and I am just trying to keep the boat looking new.

[SkiTower]

I have a lot of crazy friends who go out on the boat with me and I am just trying to keep the boat looking new.

I try very hard not to be anal but if my friends didn't respect my boat, they wouldn't be going out.

[rabbit]

Yeah, they all respect it...just hard when you have 10 people on the boat...something is going to get messed up at some point, that is just how the odds work out. I am just trying to be preventative =)

[gride300]

i don't see how your friends could mess up the outside of the boat. if you're worried about interior try to find primal seat covers. they make specific covers for each seat that hook in and out.