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MAINTENANCE AND CARE OF YOUR BOAT, SAILS AND TRAILER
Boat:
1. A good coat of tough wax before the boat is used and scratched will insure your hulla longer lasting
finish. (This is especially critical for the colored hulls.)
2. If you scratch your hull, don't despair, we can send you some touch up gel and instruction. (The
gel's shelf life is only 3 months, longer if it's well sealed and kept cool, so it cannot be kept for long
periods.) Small scratches can be sanded out of the gel coat with "fine" sand paper.
3. If you have teak rails, we are now using Sikkens Marine (Cetol), which is a teak sealer and final
finish in three coats. The company says it will last a year, if we get six months that is better than most
and it has very high UV protection. It can be easily touched up in any worn areas.
4. Deck stains can be scrubbed off with cleaner and scrub brush or removed with acetone. Acetone
can also be used to clean road tar and grease off your hull. (It will also remove wax. It is powerful, so
use it sparingly.)
5. Your bronze fittings will develop a green patina that looks great. But if you like that shiny look, a
good brass cleaner and elbow grease will do the gob. They can also be shined to a good gloss and
then coated with a clear polyurethane for a long lasting shine.
6. Keep mast tube vacuumed out and lube with a dry silicone spray.
7. Clean black mast rings with acetone and spray with silicone.
8. Leeboard hinges can be taken apart and cleaned with a wire brush. Keep them lubed with
Lanacote.
Sails:
1. If your sails get dirty, they can be spot cleaned with a clean acetone rag. For overall dinginess just
throw them in a swimming pool that has chlorine in it. Spread them out and check in one hour. Don't
leave them for 2 days, and then complain that they are no longer colored! The time will vary
according to the amount of chlorine in the pool but a couple of hours should suffice.
2. Be sure if any stitching comes loose to attend to the matter ASAP as it will only worsen with use.
Any local sail maker can re-stitch this or a sail makers needle and nylon or cotton covered polyester
thread will let you do the job.
3. After a windy day in salt water, the sails should be rinsed in fresh water and dried before storage.
4. Sheet lines can be scrubbed white with bleach added to the scrub water.
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