How to sort scratches on hull

[Cheeky Girl]

Hi
I have some scratches on the hull what’s the but way to fix. She was polished last year but all they did was fill the scratches with polish
See attached photo
Regards
Graham

 

[AngusMcDoon]

400, 800 then 1200 grit wet & dry with a cork block then electric polisher with cutting compound, or hand polish if it's a small area & you're patient. Use 400 grit until you can see it but barely feel it, 800 grit until you can't see it and 1200 to remove the 800's slight roughness. After polishing with the cutting compound it will be so shiny you can see a reflection of your fizzog in it. Then the rest of the boat will look scrofulous by comparison so you'll have to compound the rest of it to match, which will take all summer.

 

[Refueler]

Yard who just Antifouled my boat - they also touched up a couple of areas where topsides where scratched during a storm period.

They used 1000 grit to remove the ridges and then lightly painted in ... waited and then applied another coat extending out further ... and then a third coat out further. They then with ultra fine paper before using cutting compound to restore the gloss.

We did not polish as the topsides are in need of general sanding back and then lacquering to give long lasting sheen. But even so - it takes serious sunlight falling on it to even try to find where it was !

 

[Concerto]

Use a guide coat to show how deep the scratches are so you only sand where they show. Look at pages 14 and 15 of this presentation to see what I did and the details of the guide coat.

https://wiki.westerly-owners.co.uk/images/8/86/Gel_coat_renovation_19May2020.pdf