Sunday 7 Nov, re-launch 2021, HHN day 39: Hull polishing continues, prepping for and applying the ceramic coating.

We wake feeling very refreshed for some reason. Then we realise the clocks went back last night and we had 1 hour extra sleep.
Nacho arrives at 9am to finish the compound polishing on the fiber glass parts on the deck, mostly the cabin sides. Meanwhile, I continue below preparing the hull surface for application of ceramic coating. So Nacho is doing the back breaking work while I do the fiddley stuff.
Actually, the prep work for applying ceramic is quite time consuming and has to be done perfectly. After getting a right compound shine the surface then has to be fully de-greased and de-waxed. I do this in 2 stages. First washing with strong washing-up detergent, rinsing off with plenty of fresh water, and then drying. Secondly using a degreasing spray specially formulated for ceramic coating. This is a wipe-on polish-off job.
Then ceramic primer application. This is applied with a few drops on a foam pad then “polished” on with an orbital polisher. Then, at last, the 9H Ceramic is applied by hand putting just a few drips onto a small pad for about 30 x 30cm area. It is just a matter to ensuring the surface is fully wetted by the ceramic solution. 10-15 minutes later I just lightly buff with the highest quality microfiber to bring out the most incredible shine.

But ceramic is not all about amazing shine, it is about longevity of shine and protection. Standard wax polish will give the same glossy shine, but within a month of salt spray and sunlight it needs re-applying. Which, while the boat is in the water, is very difficult to do, so very few people do it. So with wax the boat get launched looking like a million dollars, but most of the season it is dull and has no protection from the sun’s UV. This is why I’ve turned to ceramic. They say it will last up to 2 years, but, in reality it is just past its best in one full season.

With the clocks now on winter time, it’s already too damp and cool by 4:30pm to continue the hull work. In the evening, Oana and I spend some time to feed a new LED strip into a rubberized tube. Both purchased from Amazon. With the LED strip inside, it is perfectly protected from the marine elements and will be embedded in the underside of the boom and act as our cockpit light.
The challenge is to get the damned LED strip into this rubber housing. Even getting a mouse line through it is pretty tough because the rubber is kind of sticky. With mouse line finally through we attempt to pull in the LED strip.
Me in the mid-cabin and Oana in the galley, with the 10ft (3m) rubber strip taught through the salon. It goes in about 30cm then stops. That’s only 10% of the way! Then spray SailKote, an antifriction spray on the LEDs and it works! With some wriggling and shaking it goes in.
We then test is with out 12v emergency battery, and it still works despite all the stretching and pushing. Now it just has to be installed on the boom… sometime.