I have an older glass boat. '98. It has been well taken care for the most part. Garage kept, waxed, etc. The top cap is starting to develop what I'm gonna call a haze in places. It's a red and black cap. The haze is only visible in high sun. Outside of middle of the day you can't see it at all. I'm assuming this is oxidation. There's no rough feel to it and it's not that chalky condition that you'll see on some glass boats but I'm figuring it's the start of that. It's not the entire cap, it's just portions.  It's worst where the sun really hammers it.  Any thoughts or advice on how to approach dealing with it are greatly appreciated.

 

It sounds like it's still in good enough condition that you would wet sand it, starting with 1,200 and working up to 1,600 or 2,000 and then buffing it out with a mild compound.  Then put a glaze on it.  Looks brand new again.

There are also a few products that have shown up on the market in a past couple of years that claim they will strip the dead finish off and leaving it looking new again, but I haven't tried any of them so can't verify or deny their claims.  I will be a hellavalot less work if you found one that does what it claims because you are going to turn both arms to jelly buy the time you are done going the wet sanding method.

Wet sanding is the last thing you need to do (apologies to the post above) .  Wet sanding is what you'd do to smooth out a repair or damage. Its way to aggressive for oxidation and light scratches.  All you need is a good cutting polish to remove the oxidation.  This process will also remove light scratches and swirl marks. 

This can be performed by hand but a DA (Dual Action ) polisher will do a better job.  Porter Cable make the best one for the $. I use Chemical guys "Boat" products and they are inexpensive and work exceptionally well.

This would be my recommendation

1. Give it a good wash, use an aggressive detergent like dawn liquid soap (it will remove old wax buildup)
2. Polish the bad areas with Chemical Guys Marine and Boat heavy compound using a yellow cutting pad
3. Re-polish the bad areas and the remainder of the gel coat with Chemical Guys Marine and Boat Revive polish with an orange polishing pad.  Do not polish the underside of the hull. Top and sides only.
4. Protect the polished areas with Chemical Guys Marine and Boat Wet Wax (by hand).
5. Go fishing!
6. Perform steps 1 -3 -4 at the beginning of each season
7. You can use a product like Chemical Guys Marine and Boat quick detail spray during the season to keep it looking good.

PM me if you need any specifics.  I've been detailing cars, boats, and planes for 35 years

There are other great product out there but CG is a one stop solution as they make it all. And made in the USA..

Thanks guys!  I guess l may get to try both ways. I'm only doing the top cap so one half of it was wet sanded and 40% polished back out before I read the second post. That side is looking good as new so far. I'm open to trying the Chemical Guys stuff though. I'd like to only be as aggressive with it as I need to be so maybe the second half gets done that way. 

Im way out of my element here so I really appreciate yalls help. 

Adam

Mine is starting to get that way too. I've been directed to try the pro-tec kit that they have. From the videos they have it looks like some pretty amazing stuff. I can't actually vouch for it yet since I haven't used it yet. Hopefully what you're doing will work!

I am actually doing my boat right now.  The oxidation is actually covering the cap of the boat and has gotten pretty thick.  I am halfway done with the boat now and it looks new where I have worked it. 

I boat a cheap buffer and wool pads for it, I tried other pads and the wool seems to work the best.  I bough some of the Maguire's rubbing compound and rub that stuff around in a 2 ft area for about 15 min, wipe it off then do it again (you might not have to do it again if the oxidation is not bad).  Make sure before you decide to polish and wax to make sure the surface is dry of the compound oil,  to make sure you got all the oxidation

3M Marine Cleaner and Wax is for light to moderate oxidation. This sound like your case.

3M Fiberglass Restorer and Wax is for moderate to heavy oxidation.

3M Finesse-It II is a glaze that fills in micro abrasions and such when applied with a buffer. Great stuff!

Personally, what I do every other year is a light once-over with the Cleaner and Wax, then a run with the Finesse-It II, and then a layer of wax, all applied with a rotary buffer. That's like a mini-restoration that keeps the gel coat looking great.

On the year that I don't do that, I just do wax in the spring  

All year, I use Bow to Stern (cleaner) about once a week.