Detailing

Sun, ethanol, hard water, and lake biofilm are working on your boat the entire time it's not in our shop. UV oxidizes gel coat. Mineral deposits etch into glass and mirror finishes. Vinyl that gets cleaned with the wrong product turns chalky and cracks long before its time.

Detailing isn't cosmetic theater — it's how a $60,000 wake boat still looks like an investment in its sixth season instead of its third. We detail to a process, not a checklist, and we use marine-grade products that won't strip wax, void warranties, or flash-stain pontoon paint. The result on the trailer is a boat that turns heads. The result on resale is a number that surprises people.

Wash: hand-wash with pH-balanced marine soap, two-bucket method, soft mitts. Decontamination: iron-remover and clay where waterline staining warrants it. Compounding: only where the gel coat actually needs it; we don't blanket-buff a boat that doesn't need correction.

Polishing: dual-action machine work to refine the finish. Sealing: choice of sealant or paste wax for routine care, ceramic coating for owners who want longer protection. Vinyl and upholstery: marine-specific cleaner, mildew treatment, UV protectant — never tire shine, never household cleaners.

Glass: streak-free with a hydrophobic finish so spray sheds. Metal: rails, cleats, and hardware polished and protected. Bilge: optional, but a clean bilge is the difference between catching a small leak early and discovering it the hard way. We document every step and tell you what we found — staining, oxidation, stress cracks — that you'll want to know about.

Most owners only call about oxidation when it's already gone too far. Light to moderate oxidation responds to compound and polish — a one-day correction that brings gel coat back close to factory. Heavy oxidation, with the chalk you can wipe off with a finger, takes wet-sanding and serious correction work, and even then it's not always recoverable.

The honest answer depends on how thick the original gel coat was and how long the boat sat unprotected. We'll tell you straight after looking at it. Vinyl is similar: clean, supple vinyl that's just dirty cleans up beautifully. Vinyl that's gone hard and cracked at the seams isn't coming back, and we won't pretend otherwise.

Ceramic coatings are not a magic bullet, but on a properly prepped surface they outlast traditional waxes by a factor of five to ten. We offer professional-grade marine ceramics with multi-year service intervals.

They're worth the money on newer boats that will see hard sun and frequent lake use, and on darker hulls where oxidation shows fast. They're not worth it on boats with significant existing damage, on boats slated for sale within twelve months, or on owners unwilling to maintain them with the recommended top-coats. We'll quote both ceramic and traditional sealant when you ask, and we'll tell you which one we'd put on our boat.

Cabin and head spaces are the parts of a boat people stop noticing until they're embarrassed to invite friends aboard. Mildew prevention starts before mildew shows. We treat upholstery with marine-grade antimicrobial protectants, condition leather where applicable, deep-clean carpet or snap-in flooring, and address the slow-burn problems — soft headliners, chalking dash plastic, fogging acrylic — that ruin a perfectly good boat from the inside out.

Interior detailing is included in our full-detail package, available standalone, and recommended at least once between mid-summer and end-of-season.