First things first: don't be afraid to use your rotary polisher. I know the idea of putting a machine like that on your baby can be terrifying, but if you do it correctly you will be fine.
The most important thing to remember when using a rotary is to KEEP IT MOVING. Allowing the pad to rotate on a single spot for an extended period of time will burn through your gel coat and then you will have a really big problem.
Secondly, you should be using a wool pad and not a terry cloth bonnet. Make sure you are keeping the pad clean section by section; the best way to do this is to use a pad spur. Search the forums on using a rotary polisher; Mike has written some really great articles that curbed my initial fear of using one, too.
Most likely you just masked the oxidation until it dried out again; properly compounding will get rid of the dead oxidation and bring out the shine you're looking for.
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