Just another day at the office ;) Pictures inside! (DIE 56K!!!)

[VanityDetailing]

Originally posted by scrub
If I brought my bottle of Flagship Marine Wax to FL could I work for you? Please??

VanityYachtDetailing

Awesome pics and thread.

Thanks for the compliments, guys... it's nice to hear!


No reason to bow to me... I'm just someone that takes a lot of pride in their work, and good products make the job easier. I've SERIOUSLY only been doing this for 3 months.


To answer some of the other questions... I wash it every 10 days, sometimes more frequently, depending on how much the boat gets used. It gets a wash and brightwork (metal, windows, isinglass) every 3 weeks. It gets a full, hardcore detail, ina nd out, every 6 weeks. This boat is beautiful, and I feel honored to work on it. My job is fairly easy when the boat is in good shape to start with. If I stay on top of it, the boat never *gets* dirty, nor does it ever *look* dirty. It's a LOT of boat. But, in contrast, this is on the small scale of some of the boats I also do. At 55', it's a good sized boat, but I've done a 147' a few times, a couple 81's, and a lot of 60's and 65's.


You are all a GREAT bit of encouragement! Thanks!

[VanityDetailing]

Originally posted by RamAirV1
You already answered my question. It would take me at least a month to do that.

Do you wax the boat every 10 days or at some other time interval? Do you use a QD on it? Does Quik Clean Marine come in 55 gal. drums?

RamAirV1

Here's my secret weapon

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10001&langId=-1&catalogId=10001&productId=135270&catalogId=10001&classNum=549&subdeptNum=11201&storeNum=4

[RamAirV1]

Thanks for the link. We actually have a West Marine in Indianapolis. That reminds me, I need to get some fenders to replace the ones with holes in them! If they have the spray wax in stock I will get some. I wonder how it works on a wet surface?

RamAirV1

[LnkPrkSoldier]

oh... i thought the secret weapon were some hobos you found on the street to help with the work... :P jk of course. imagine claying that thing.... *shudders* fantastic job though!

[RamAirV1]

Originally posted by LnkPrkSoldier
oh... i thought the secret weapon were some hobos you found on the street to help with the work... :P jk of course. imagine claying that thing.... *shudders* fantastic job though!

Actually you made an excellent point there! You generally don't have to clay boats! There is no road film and you are not usually under any trees, and there is no rail dust!

I don't mind waxing and QDing my boat. But it's only 20' long. Cleaning the mildew out of the interior is not fun though. Mildew isn't real bad this year but it's there.


RamAirV1

[VanityDetailing]

By rail dust, do you mean railroad dust? Because while it's not as bad where this particular boat is at, there's a marina downtown, called River City Marina, and it's right across from the Jacksonville Landing (where they had all of the Super Bowl shows, like Best Damn Sports Show, Fox Sports News, etc.), and the CSX railroad goes right by both of them. Half the time, the trains are carrying gravel or rocks, and dust just FLIES everywhere. It ***** cleaning those boats.


One thing we have to contend with here in Jax is salt. All of the boats I work on are saltwater boats, and when the owners come back from playing in the ocean, the boats are covered in salt spray. I'll take some pics of the next boat I do with salt on it... it's a big amount...

[RamAirV1]

Originally posted by VanityYachtDetailing
By rail dust, do you mean railroad dust? Because while it's not as bad where this particular boat is at, there's a marina downtown, called River City Marina, and it's right across from the Jacksonville Landing (where they had all of the Super Bowl shows, like Best Damn Sports Show, Fox Sports News, etc.), and the CSX railroad goes right by both of them. Half the time, the trains are carrying gravel or rocks, and dust just FLIES everywhere. It ***** cleaning those boats.


One thing we have to contend with here in Jax is salt. All of the boats I work on are saltwater boats, and when the owners come back from playing in the ocean, the boats are covered in salt spray. I'll take some pics of the next boat I do with salt on it... it's a big amount...

Well, I take back the part about the rail dust. Rail dust is one of the worst contaminants to remove. I have to take back the part about claying too!

From my winter detailing experience, QDs do not work very well on salt spray. You probably have to do a lot of boat washing!

RamAirV1

[VanityDetailing]

Yeah... I have a bit of a system. Soak the boat, scrub it with the Meguiar's pink boat/rv gel wash, rinse it, chamois it. Then, depending on what the customer wants, this is when I go into full-on detail mode. I'll do the metalwork, then the windows, and the isinglass/plexiglass. Then I'll wax the whole boat with the Flagship Marine liquid wax, and then hit the entire boat... metal, windows, and fiberglass, with the #69 Quick Wax. I'm tellin' ya, I REALLY love that stuff.


9 times out of 10, I'll just QW the whole thing anyway... as an added, but free service to the boat. The customers seem to like it, and it maintains a nice finish on the boat, and makes it easier for me to wash next time.

[RamAirV1]

Originally posted by VanityYachtDetailing
Yeah... I have a bit of a system. Soak the boat, scrub it with the Meguiar's pink boat/rv gel wash, rinse it, chamois it. Then, depending on what the customer wants, this is when I go into full-on detail mode. I'll do the metalwork, then the windows, and the isinglass/plexiglass. Then I'll wax the whole boat with the Flagship Marine liquid wax, and then hit the entire boat... metal, windows, and fiberglass, with the #69 Quick Wax. I'm tellin' ya, I REALLY love that stuff.


9 times out of 10, I'll just QW the whole thing anyway... as an added, but free service to the boat. The customers seem to like it, and it maintains a nice finish on the boat, and makes it easier for me to wash next time.

QW seems like the marine equivalent of NXT Spray Booster Wax. Do you have any issues with overspray? Or do you spray it on an applicator pad?

RamAirV1

[VanityDetailing]

if I'm JUST doing the chrome handrails, then I'll load up a terry cloth towel with it... just pretty much spray the towel until it drips. I'll do the whole handrail, by the time I've gone the whole way around, it's formed it's haze, and I come back with a diaper cloth amd buff it all off. It's REALLY easy. But if I'm doing the fiberglass, I'm spraying everywhere. Sometimes overspray isa problem, but it buffs off easy enough.


BTW, isinglass doesn't like the QW.

[RamAirV1]

Originally posted by VanityYachtDetailing
if I'm JUST doing the chrome handrails, then I'll load up a terry cloth towel with it... just pretty much spray the towel until it drips. I'll do the whole handrail, by the time I've gone the whole way around, it's formed it's haze, and I come back with a diaper cloth amd buff it all off. It's REALLY easy. But if I'm doing the fiberglass, I'm spraying everywhere. Sometimes overspray isa problem, but it buffs off easy enough.


BTW, isinglass doesn't like the QW.

Are you referring to the windshield or other windows?

RamAirV1

[rusty bumper]

Originally posted by VanityYachtDetailing
BTW, isinglass doesn't like the QW.

Pardon my ignorance, but what is isinglass?

[VanityDetailing]

Isinglass is the flexible acrylic/plexiglass windows found on the top portions of the boat... they can be unzipped, and rolled up, so air can pass through the fly-bridge.

[rusty bumper]

Originally posted by VanityYachtDetailing
Isinglass is the flexible acrylic/plexiglass windows found on the top portions of the boat... they can be unzipped, and rolled up, so air can pass through the fly-bridge.

Thanks,

Sort of like the rear glass in a convertable?

[VanityDetailing]

same thing, except these don't "yellow" over time... they get foggy, and they're about $900 EACH.