Should I feel guilty about not being a fanatic for varnishing and hull polishing ? ?

You are guilty as guilty can be, Your penalty should be to clean my dirty boat inside and out and then fill and repair all the deep scratches on the hull and repaint the cockpit which is badly stained; that will teach you for not looking after your boat.:)
 
I have rather the same concern and the boat having a blue hull rather emphasises the point. Settled this year at least as my wife has made it plain that she doesn't appreciate the faded look. However I'm fully aware that polishing is removing gelcoat, is this really better for it than just leaving it alone? I'm not afraid of a bit of elbow grease but having spent (IMHO) too long in my life polishing things because someone felt it made one a better person has made me a trifle chary about this subject.
 
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Elecglitch said:
I have rather the same concern and the boat having a blue hull rather emphasises the point. Settled this year at least as my wife has made it plain that she doesn't appreciate the faded look. However I'm fully aware that polishing is removing gelcoat, is this really better for it than just leaving it alone? I'm not afraid of a bit of elbow grease but having spent (IMHO) too long in my life polishing things because someone felt it made one a better person has made me a trifle chary about this subject.
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It doesn't matter what you do. If you overdo it, you can always do a paint job, while will probably have to be done sooner or later anyway.
 
We take pleasure from the boat looking as well as she can so we do make the effort. But this is purely personal opinion and fully appreciate others who take a different approach. It’s a free world, at least for the the time being.

We launched yesterday and were pleased with how she freshens up each spring - 23year old boat:

launch.jpg
 
Time box it. I allocate one weekend a year (dictated by tides and weather) to dry the boat out, do the anti-fouling, clean the prop, change the anode and polish the topsides. The rest of the season I sail.
 
A good post. The beauty of boats is they can satisfy all different personalities. I know there are many that rarely leave the marinas but the owners still derive a huge amount of pleasure from them and a well polished boat is a thing to be admired. I too am a more functional person. I have kept a list of the jobs I have done over the winter and after over 40 jobs last weekend was the first time I picked up a paintbrush which is probably a good indication of my priorities.
 
I like my boat to look smart and must pass the 10 foot rule, if you cannot see a problem from 10 feet away then ignore it.



Not a bad shine on my 38 year old Fulmar on the original gel coat.
 
In the ten years of owning our current boat, she's been out of the water precicely twice, for 48hrs on each occasion for antifouling and new anodes (we mix fresh water and salt water cruising). As far as I recall, I've never bought or opened a bottle of polish;-)
Has she suffered as a result? Sure, of course. There's 'chalking' on the hull and we have zero shiny surfaces. Am I bovvered? Errrr.... YES! But obviously not enough to make a difference. I'll be well p1ssed off when the time comes to sell though;-)
ENJOY you sailing and endure (if you must) your cleaning!
 
Robih said:
We take pleasure from the boat looking as well as she can so we do make the effort. But this is purely personal opinion and fully appreciate others who take a different approach. It’s a free world, at least for the the time being.

We launched yesterday and were pleased with how she freshens up each spring - 23year old boat:

launch.jpg
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If that is a DIY job I take my hat off to you.
 
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