Carver Gel Coat

Hi,

Have you ever looked at Clear coating the gelcoat?

if you love the boat why not look into having it painted with a quality 2 part paint...

Carver's gel coat is a nasty, muddy, gelcoat, and even after freshly compounding and waxing it, just doesn't look that good.

I think putting clear coat over the Carver gelcoat would be a disaster as the Carver gelcoat wouldn't be a good surface for adhesion.

Priming and painting it would be an option.......other than that, there isn't much you could do with it. A friend of mine worked on a 2005 56' or 58' Carver and they tried different waxes and everything they could and never got it to hold wax, and never got it to look good for more than 2 weeks after waxing it.

QUOTE=Waterhog;155978]I love my Carver (2005 46 Voyager) and would not trade her for most of the other boats in our marina. However, the truth is that the gel coat on most all Carvers pales when compared with its peers. I get frustrated when the owner of the older and neglected Sea Ray next to me shows up once every month and a half spends 5 min spraying with water and his boat out shine mine with weekly maintenance. I have seen gel coat gurus brought in to spend a week working their magic on the Carver finish only to achieve marginal improvements. I have come to peace with the fact that the finish is what it is, but am curious to what others on this forum do for their boats.[/QUOTE]

Gelcoat = some regular TLC

I just purchased a 1988 4207 MY. In the N W we have lots of bad weather and some sun - - yep it does come out here and lots of bird fall out. My boat was boathouse kept and is now also. The finish looks like new, bright and shines. Boats moored outside take a lot more care and gel coat cleaning and waxing. Wash with a good soap with wax - - I use turtle with wax. You have to wash and wax befor it starts to look bad. Wash after ever time you use the boat. Depending on your location and the envionement (industrial or other contaminates in the air) you have to adjust your maintenance and care of the gel coat. I have been boating on salt water for 43 years and TLC makes and boat look good. Varnish, paint or gel coat - - it takes PREVENTIVE maintenance to keep looking new. My thoughts and experience.
olddutch

You don't understand. The Carver gelcoat itself is bad. It is muddy and cannot be kept shiny, or waxed to a shine. It's as if they don't put enough hardener in it or something.

OK I will eat my words - - I just havent seen any carvers on the west coast with muddy gel coat. As I am new to carver boats I am not aware of the gel coat problem. Did someone coat the gel coat with something?? Perhaps the AllGrip finish would be a good solution - - dont know the weather & elements where you are moored. I am blessed to have a large boat house hwich keept the boat out of the elements, it's gel coat is bright and shines like any new boat except it's a 1988. People who have seen it when I broought it to our yacht club can not beleve it's a 1988 - - it looks new. Sorry you have a problem with your boat finish - - - I also would be very frustrated )*&&^%%

My boat was converted from gas to diesel in 1991. the air intakes were not enlarge - any one know of a shop that makes custom ss air intake lovered grills ?
.tAKE GRILLS iuc<i am still looking

I use Buff magic on mine then Rejex over that she's an 87 3607 and I think she looks good all season, wash at least once a month

I had to chime in here because I think a lot of it depends on the person using the buffer and the products being used. My Carver stays like this for the season. Below the rub rail I don't have to do anything but above the rub rail you have to wax every 6-8 weeks. I wash weekly with Imar yacht soap to not strip wax. I see most marinas using heavy compound and then simply waxing over it. That leaves the gelcoat very porous allowing the sun's rays to penetrate the gelcoat more and it oxidizes quicker, resulting in it not lasting long. Wax is for protection, not shine..

There is a difference between Carver gel coat and my buddy’s Sea Ray. I have been told that the formula is different but I am not a chemist so I will leave that to those that are in the know. What I can tell you is that I have not seen the muddiness that has been alluded to in this string. With proper care most gel coats will shine beautifully. Here is an example of my Carver on the left reflecting the stern image of my friends Sea Ray. His was done professionally and mine was done semi professionally (me). Understandably the greater the angle of the shot the more shine you see but during straight on viewing we shine about the same. (I had a better example but the picture was too large to upload.)

Dan

Beautiful work!

I have also heard that and tend to agree. However, both look identical to me in that shot and once in the water I'm not sure one can tell the difference between the two. Gelcoat is simply pigmented polyester resin. Maybe the SeaRay resin is different. I believe it all comes from Spectrum, I guess we could call them and find out.

Are you guys using a wax or polish? I use Collinte 885 paste but some say the polymers bond better to the gelcoat, never tried a polish.

My 18 year old Carver gelcoat looks wonderful. Buffed with Buff Magic and protected with Rejex.

Yes, the hailer has been replaced.

In Southeast Georgia here and have had vast experience on detailing many yachts of different builds.

Carver is the one we have most consistent difficulty with on detailing. Her gelcoat just does not last, compared to other yachts, even a SeaRay(not ripping on Sea Ray perse' but yall know...)has better gelcoat for the most part. No matter what we try everything soaks in and becomes blotchy from certain angles. It becomes porous quick, at least in the deep south...i could 5 step it, no difference...

If there's anyone out there with success, please post!

Maybe its the UV down here...its harsh on everything..

Carver is known for not putting enough hardener in their gelcoat which is why it causes the wax to soak in and not last and it's horrible even from a buffing standpoint. Try using rejex on it or a similar polymer and see if that has any effect. A friend of mine ran a new 56' Carver that the gelcoat was literally slightly sticky to the touch and they wouldn't do anything about it.

Dana,

The sun is definitely the biggest problem. I’ve had good success with marine 31 captains coating with uv50. It’s a glass coating, wax or sealants like rejex are gone in 6 weeks or so. I like presta products for buffing/polishing. For me it’s once a year with the ultra cutting creme light followed up with the coating and it shines all season.