Dart 15 Forums

While I'm in "maintenance mode" I'm hoping to clean up the hulls a bit. There are some black smeary marks where the boat rested on tyres all summer, plus some rust streaks from the front chain-plates. I've tried soapy water, white spirit and even acetone but can't shift the stubborn stuff. Someone suggested T-Cut, but has anyone else got any better suggestions please?

Black paint.

Hi Jes,
You can buy a proprietry brand of fibreglass cleaner from chandlers and caravan shops. The proper rubbing compound is Faracla 3 which is specially formulated for fibreglass. It is very handy to polish up the hulls and take off the yellowing which occurs as well as the black marks. You can buy this from chandles or motor factors but make sure you get the one for fibreglass.
Cheers
Bob

Jason

Farecla G6 is what you want.

Club together & buy a big tin off ebay. You'll need a polisher to do a really good job, cheap ones on ebay are around £50, but mine only lasted 3 boats so I went for a Makita, but they're around £200!

A drill with polishing head will do a simillar job, but it's harder work & be careful not to burn out the drill with prolonged use.

If you just want to get a few marks off then a rubbing compound from Halfords should work, but 200ml will cost about the same as 1l+ of Farecla from the cheapest internet source.

Check with Steve Sawford he did a fantastic job with 642, nearly a 30 year old boat.


Not like the owner he said he couldn't work miracles.

I am sure he will point you in the right direction.

Any recommendations for sealing or finishing the hull after using farecla? I'm assuming its mildly abrasive so some kind of follow up is required for long terms results, or does the one application do it all?

I also took my boat to Steve Sawford about 4 years ago and he did a great job. I will certainly be going back again, but in the meantime a good DIY polish up would not go amiss.

David

Steve showed me what to do & to use Farecla G6, you can literally see your face in it when you have finished.

Yes it is a mild abrasive, it's a cutting compound. But DON'T put anything else on it, it's not a car, you don't want or need such a high gloss!

If you make it too shiney & slippery you'll not be able to stand on it when you capsize.

I bought a power polisher form e-bay and two grades of finishing paste from a local firm that makes sinks and things like Mac Donalds' signs and did all our six hulls at about an hour each. I was told to just wash it off with a cloth and lots of water - no other finishing required. They all came up beautifully. HOWEVER our spark hulls have the stripes in the gelcoat so all was fine, but our 18 had added adhesive labels that I thought were sealed but were not and they 'bled' colour even though I avoided them with the paste and polisher.

Three years ago now and they still look good - it really made a difference to the blue stripes on the sparks.

Yes and next time I capsized I really struggled to get a grip !!!!!!!!