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Got a picture? Depending on how deep, it might be something you could hit with a polishing or rubbing compound. If a little deeper, it might be able to be wet sanded, then rubbed, then polished, then waxed. Hard to say without pictures though. May still be hard to tell from pictures.
Thanks for the reply. I do not have a picture and it may be a couple weeks before I"m able to get one since I haven't completed the long stretch and retired to the lakehouse <smile>.
You can feel it if you rub your finger across it however it appears to be into the top layer (clear coat?). Larger than a strand of hair, smaller than spaghetti if that makes sense.
If you've never tried it (or seen someone do it), you'll be amazed at what wet sanding can do. There is something a bit unnatural about taking sandpaper to a ski boat like this. So if it's not something you're comfortable doing, letting a pro tackle it probably won't be too expensive, and if the scratch isn't too deep (and it doesn't sound like it is), it'll be like it was never there.
I had one on my boat when I bought it. It was not noticeable, but was long (and I knew it was there). I got my dealer to wet sand and buff after letting it bug me for a couple of years. For $40, my only regret was not doing it sooner. Like new.
If it doesn't come out with with polish then wax, wet sanding might be the way to go; however, if it's too deep it will need to be repaired with gelcoat. I lived with a deep scratch on my boat for 15 years and thought the only way to get it out was a gelcoat repair. After 17 years of use I finally decided it was time to bite the bullet and restore the gelcoat through wet sanding. In the process I was able to remove the scratch without any problems.
Rubbing compound. Start with 3M rubbing compound. Although I stressed "letting go" when you fall to a newbie I was teaching on the boom, they decided to hold on and a ski hit the black gelcoat on my boat. I hit it with a little rubbing compound then wax. If the boat were in front of me now I could not find where the scratch was.
get some Vertglass, its a long process but it will take that scratch out of the side, hard to tell without a pic the stuff is bigtime expensive and takes a long time to do, it will have your gelcoat looking fabulous
CC Owned
1978 Ski Tique
1989 Ski Nautique 2001
1996 Ski Nautique 196
1999 Super Air Nautique (Python Powered)
2001 Ski Nautique 196 25Th Anniversary Current Boat
Tow Rigs,
2002 Ford F-250 Lariat 4X4 (Lifted)
2007 Chevrolet Suburban LTZ 4X4
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