Remove the rain seal on the awning?

[jd1923]

7 hours ago, Galileo said:

OK, we love you guys. Our old 10-year-old hull #113 looks better, pasty white only when cleaned, rarely every washed, let alone waxed, LOL (get a pressure washer)! 🤣

[Galileo]

11 hours ago, jd1923 said:

OK, we love you guys. Our old 10-year-old hull #113 looks better, pasty white only when cleaned, rarely every washed, let alone waxed, LOL (get a pressure washer)! 🤣

Looking good!

Aside from the dirty back end, it looks great. 

We have an older (much older) sailboat that has been sitting in the Louisiana sun for 25+ years and the deck is very pasty/chalky. The gelcoat has worn completely away in a few places, but when it’s aggressively cleaned it regains a good bit of gloss.

No idea how thick (or consistent) the gelcoat is on the Ollie, but I would imagine it could take several years of chalking and cutting before you’d run out of surface that would polish out.

I’ve had several pressure washers. Judiciously used, they can be real time-savers. That said, they just plain don’t get ALL the dirt off. You need a sponge or rag or washing mitt to get down to the actual surface - even if you’re not trying to remove tree sap, bugs, or bird droppings. That’s takes good old, US made elbow grease!

[Galileo]

11 hours ago, Patriot said:

Yes, it’s much easier to remove the streaks for sure. When not on the road, I park our Oliver in our “Ollie Hangar” here at home. It has really helped keep it clean and streak free and out of the UV.

If you have the property, that’s a great option.

Since we’re all but full-time, we have no property. We opted for indoor storage to keep not only the sun and birds, but the millions of mud-home-building insects out of every nook and cranny. 

Pricey - but worth the cost!

 

[Jason Foster]

Two weeks in the rain in south Texas and I am still happy I removed the horrible crap retainer.  It streaked some after the rain, but it always does, even with the seal.  I use Star Brite's Black Streak remover which is safe for wax, and it takes care of it.  Nothing replaces working to make things nice, though.  Awning works great and even though water streaks down the side between the trailer and the awning, it doesn't make a mess.  I'm glad I removed it.

[Galileo]

My intent was to try leaving it off, but after seeing how badly the curb side of the trailer streaks, I’m thinking now that I will install the new seal I purchased. 

The problem - as I see it - is that even with the seal removed, the awning creates a narrow gap that does catch tree debris. These are held here and create the streaks. 

The street side - in our case with no awning - has nothing to slow down the flow of water or trap debris, so everything washes right off.

I was (un) pleasantly surprised to discover that after I removed the seal, cleaned off the whole roof and around the awning brackets, and cleaned and buffed away the streaks - it rained that night - bringing down tree litter - and re-streaked the curb side even worse than it was before!

[jd1923]

On 6/14/2025 at 2:34 PM, Galileo said:

My intent was to try leaving it off, but after seeing how badly the curb side of the trailer streaks, I’m thinking now that I will install the new seal I purchased.

Do that. We have a simple 1" drip edge on the curbside and do not get streaks. Nothing on the streetside, it gets streak. If I was to ever get our Oliver polished and waxed or otherwise coated, I would put new drip edge on BOTH sides.