Step 01
Wash & prep
Full exterior wash. Anything left on the surface before compound ends up scratching the gelcoat, prep matters more than it gets credit for.
Cobalts are some of the best-built fiberglass bowriders made, and their owners tend to take care of them. This one came in needing a routine annual buff and wax: a few months of summer UV, a handful of mineral water spots from the launch, and a wax that had run its course. Standard 2-step buff and a hand-applied wax brought it back to the depth and gloss the owner expects.
Full exterior wash. Anything left on the surface before compound ends up scratching the gelcoat, prep matters more than it gets credit for.
Medium-cut compound on a wool pad. Cleared the surface haze and the mineral spotting at the waterline. White hulls handle a more aggressive cut than dark ones.
Foam pad and a finer abrasive to clear the compound haze and bring real depth back. The step that takes a white hull from clean to wet-looking.
Marine carnauba-polymer blend across the entire boat. Worked in sections, clean buff to lift the residue.
Deep gloss, color depth back, mineral spots gone. The owner sent a photo from the launch the following weekend, the hull was still pulling reflections clean.
Cobalt this nice deserves annual buff and wax. Mid-season wax-only refresh if it lives uncovered on a trailer through summer.
Cobalts hold gelcoat better than most builds, but only if the wax stays current. Skip a season and the surface starts to show it. Annual service keeps the boat looking like the day it came off the lot.