Deck Stains

[Lakerider]

2 minutes ago, fishmanjj said:

My boat is much older, however...sometimes the grandkids get sunscreen on he hatches or inside the gunnels and the next day it’s yellowish colored and also oak leaves will leave a tannic acid stain on gelcoat. I’ve used every hull cleaner out there and they will all work, but...the best has been Clorox Bleach Gel.....I can apply it with a small paint brush or rag ...let it sit in direct sunlight for about 30 minutes before rinsing it off....and it will completely remove sunscreen or tannic stains. You then have to re- wax that area or use Woody Wax. 

This also works for fish blood and guts stains that get on floor.   JJ

Thank you for the info... There's been no sunscreen on the boat yet...lol but will keep that in mind for the future!

 

[lurem]

DAVIS INSTRUMENTS FSR if it is a stain may work.

 

[polliwog]

I have a 20yr old Hewes LT never had yellowish stains in the non skid, Co has to step up and either have the area reshot or send to someone who will do the job. $30-40,000 boat should be perfect. It's not that hard to do  I had a hull paint job on my 32ft lobster done with Awl grip  10years ago for $9,000 bucks.

[Coto]

If worse case scenario you can't get the stain out, just Seadek the cockpit. 

[Ron in Atlanta]

On 12/26/2020 at 3:47 PM, Moderator said:

The factory isn’t set up to do repairs.

I would never want to disagree with the Moderator as he is so much older and therefore wiser than I am 🙂 BUT...They USED to do repairs at the (old) factory.

Here is a story that has not yet been told here.  When I bought my first Pathfinder, a V2000, it had a problem from day one but I was brand new to the Pathfinder series of boats so I didn't recognize that there was a problem for a few months.  When turning to starboard at speed, the prop would cavitate.  This was back in 2010.  I remember taking the boat from Stuart where I bought it, down to Flamingo to get the first 10 hours on the motor so I could have that service done at the dealer in Stuart.  The first time I noticed the cavitation was down at Snake Bight Channel.  I remember thinking that I must have encountered a floating clump of grass that wrapped around the prop.  Put her in reverse, gave her some throttle and looked back to see if any grass floated up.  Once I got her home, she kept doing the cavitation trick on right turns.  Contacted the dealer, they suggested talking to "Funky Monkey" (if I remember his handle  correctly ) the guy from the PowerTech Props.  He sent me a 4-bladed prop to try.  A beautiful piece of sculpture but she still cavitated upon turning right.

The dealer wanted to test her out so I took her back to Stuart (from Atlanta).  I think they though it was "pilot error".  Both George and Kevin came out with me.  "Yep, she has a problem" they both agreed.  Although the motor was down on the lowest hole (no jack plate), the prop still came out of the water on those turns.  They spoke to the factory in Ft Pierce and they agreed to cut the transom down by one inch!  Not a small task and they did a great job, as you can see...

They made a customer for life by taking care of the issue for me.  

So, the factory used to do repairs but as suggested, they wanted to hear from the dealer first which complicates your issue as your dealer is shutting down.  And, as you know, boats are selling like crazy these, "social distanced" days, so they must be nutty busy down in Ft Pierce right now.

I would still pursue that remedy  since you are so close but if it becomes too difficult, perhaps they can recommend a good fiberglass shop for the repair.

Good luck!

 

[Lakerider]

15 minutes ago, Ron in Atlanta said:

I would never want to disagree with the Moderator as he is so much older and therefore wiser than I am 🙂 BUT...They USED to do repairs at the (old) factory.

Here is a story that has not yet been told here.  When I bought my first Pathfinder, a V2000, it had a problem from day one but I was brand new to the Pathfinder series of boats so I didn't recognize that there was a problem for a few months.  When turning to starboard at speed, the prop would cavitate.  This was back in 2010.  I remember taking the boat from Stuart where I bought it, down to Flamingo to get the first 10 hours on the motor so I could have that service done at the dealer in Stuart.  The first time I noticed the cavitation was down at Snake Bight Channel.  I remember thinking that I must have encountered a floating clump of grass that wrapped around the prop.  Put her in reverse, gave her some throttle and looked back to see if any grass floated up.  Once I got her home, she kept doing the cavitation trick on right turns.  Contacted the dealer, they suggested talking to "Funky Monkey" (if I remember his handle  correctly ) the guy from the PowerTech Props.  He sent me a 4-bladed prop to try.  A beautiful piece of sculpture but she still cavitated upon turning right.

The dealer wanted to test her out so I took her back to Stuart (from Atlanta).  I think they though it was "pilot error".  Both George and Kevin came out with me.  "Yep, she has a problem" they both agreed.  Although the motor was down on the lowest hole (no jack plate), the prop still came out of the water on those turns.  They spoke to the factory in Ft Pierce and they agreed to cut the transom down by one inch!  Not a small task and they did a great job, as you can see...

They made a customer for life by taking care of the issue for me.  

So, the factory used to do repairs but as suggested, they wanted to hear from the dealer first which complicates your issue as your dealer is shutting down.  And, as you know, boats are selling like crazy these, "social distanced" days, so they must be nutty busy down in Ft Pierce right now.

I would still pursue that remedy  since you are so close but if it becomes too difficult, perhaps they can recommend a good fiberglass shop for the repair.

Good luck!

 

Thank you for this post!  My son-in-law and daughter just bought a new 2020 pathfinder and suggested I post this about my boat.  When I reached out to the manufacture in Ft. Pierce and explained my dilemma about the dealer I bought the boat from they were sympathetic but also sounded like they were crazy busy and really didn't have the time to be bothered with it since it's just a minor flaw albeit on a brand new boat.

[geeviam]

53 minutes ago, Ron in Atlanta said:

Here is a story that has not yet been told here

Very interesting story Ron.  Just curious - Did you notice any improvement in the stability, specifically porpoising, after the transom was cut down by one inch?  Maybe less tabs needed after the change?

[lurem]

I don't think this has been mentioned before but if it is a stain the how about a buffer and a little rubbing compound to get the stain off?

[geeviam]

6 minutes ago, lurem said:

I don't think this has been mentioned before but if it is a stain the how about a buffer and a little rubbing compound to get the stain off?

Good idea!  When I worked at a Donzi dealership MANY years ago, there was a factory gelcoat yellowing issue similar to this, with several new boats that were delivered around the same time.  The factory covered the fix, which was a couple of highly skilled detail guys with high speed grinders, with buffing pads mounted on them, who used a special compound to remove the yellowing on the surface without burning all the way through the gelcoat.  It worked well on the smooth surfaces.  Not sure whether or not it would knock off the non-skid though?

[Ron in Atlanta]

3 hours ago, geeviam said:

Did you notice any improvement in the stability, specifically porpoising, after the transom was cut down by one inch?  Maybe less tabs needed after the change?

No, I did not notice a change in stability, I do not remember any significant porpoising either before or after the surgery,  Only needed tabs for driving into chop or wake.   Lowering the prop an inch further into the water totally eliminated the cavitation however.

You might ask the question, "All the boats come out of the same mold, how come YOUR boat had a transom that was too long?"  The only thing I can think of was that perhaps the hull/deck joint had too much material between the hull and the deck when they were joined??

By the way, this is a boat you may be familiar with...

I had always wondered why the passenger seat faced aft.  I assumed it was so the passenger could watch out for a water skier.  Then I read about Don Aronow, the designer/builder.  He liked to run around just off the beaches in Miami in his Sweet 16 and pick up bikini-clad young women for a bouncy ride out in the ocean.  He liked to watch the front of their bikini tops react to the rough water, hence, he designed it so that the passenger seat faced aft.

I don't know if that is a true story but it ought to be.