Transom scratches

I have a few scratches from wakeboards on my transom. I bought some miguires #56, but is that too light? Can I use turtle wax, and what type to remove light ski scratches? I'd rather try by hand first than use a drill and get swirl marks.

try meguiars # 49 oxidation remover. If that doesn't work use 3m super duty compound and follow thet with meguiars #45 polish.

Try a Magic Eraser. I use it on my fiberglass platform and it gets them out really easy. Put a coat of wax on it after your done.

Wait until you are about to sell the boat because you are bound to get many more. Cover the bottom few inches with Gator Grip. Scratches and scars give personality.

Well, I buff and buff some more and lightned them up a bit, but they aren't gone! But my boats color was coming off on my rag, so I guess I'm heading in the right direction!(not too much though!)I did try a drill in desperation, and got some good work out of it, using a buffing disc from Home Depot. Everyone has scratches from wakeboards... I know people are getting them out, or they don't care...

Like schoolrider said, wait until you're ready to sell unless you protect it with something like Gator Grip. It's going to happen, it's nothing that you can control especially if you have newbies that you're teaching.

Do a search for a thread called "cut and polish"

until this year, and i had peeled off the the grip tape that was damaged on my swim platform, a board never touched my platform. every boat i have ever been on, i always sat on the platform and put my board on in the water. i have a nice boat, but if i am ever fortunate to buy new, a board will never touch a platform... this eliminates platform and transon damage... just me .02

I have one of those 3M protective clear plastic strips to protect mine

Last year there was an article on malibu's website on gelcoat repair.

It doesn't take all that long, no worse than waxing a car I suppose. You'll need a few pieces of 0000 (4-ought) steel wool, some very high grit sandpaper (1000 to 1200), lower grit sandpaper (200 grit or so), some rubbing compound, 3M Finesse It II Finishing Material, 3M Marine Ultra Performance Paste Wax, some rags and towels, and a garden hose.

Wash the boat to clean the areas you need to fix. If the scratches are really deep, wet the coarse sandpaper and sand out the scratches. The color goes all the way down to the fiberglass, so unless you really dig deep, you won't get all the way through the gelcoat. I keep the affected area and the sandpaper really wet, either with a squirt bottle or the garden hose. If the scratch is deep, you might have to start with the coarse sandpaper, and then move to the finer stuff. With the smaller scratches, the fine is sufficient to begin with. Once the scratch is gone, the 0000 steel wool is used (also wet) to smooth out the gelcoat where you've used the sandpaper. (For some light scratches, steel wool is all you need.) Then, use the rubbing compound (following the directions on the bottle) to buff out the micro-scratches left by the steel wool. Wipe the area clean.

Next, apply the 3M Finesse It II finishing material to take care of any remaining scratches left and give it the "wet look". A machine buffer helps a lot, but it's not that hard by hand either. Then, apply the 3M Marine Paste wax per the directions on the bottle.

You can also clean up the rub rail with these materials. If yours is like mine, the rub rail takes abuse and can look awful. Take the 0000 steel wool (keep it wet) and rub the rub rail until the marks disappear. Then, go over it with the marine paste wax to make it shine. It's incredible the difference a clean, black rub rail can make.

I found the article I used: http://www.malibuboats.com/nwsart.asp?ID=3&ArtID=65 It's for gel coat repair, but I ignored that part and adapted the scratch removal. Good luck!