Varnish in the Heat

[Ari-Alexander]

Coming from Israel, where the sun is a killer, I am about to give up my" twice-a-year cockpit varnish" of my 42 Hallberg Rassy catch. (1986 model)
last time I did 6 covers of paint only for the no'2 glossy stuff (after scratching from scratch the basic wood) but it died slowly and painfully after 4-5 months. Most guys here in Tel Aviv gave up on it, having their cockpits turn depressing grey after 2 seasons. but I'm not willing to give up - so any advise, craft or material wise, is welcome, please save the beauty of my old lady's cockpit!

[geoffh]

I can only offer one solution,buy a sewing machine! I have to paint and varnish my wooden yacht in the near future and I am going to make some good canvas covers to keep it looking its best for longer.....
Cheers Geoff

[Wotname]

AriA, I hear you .
While I love the look of beautifully varnished woodwork, I am a firm believer that unless one can afford to pay another to keep the varnish up to scratch, there is no place for clear coating timber above decks!

Having said that, I do have a clear coated laminated tiller (because I just needed at least one bit of varnish in the cockpit ).

Geoff's advice is good, make covers for everything you can as UV is the killer of varnish.

Next can only be general advice, use top shelf exterior coatings, a least 6 coats (but 8 or 10 is better), perfect preparation and so on.

For instance, for my tiller, it was back to bare wood, 2 very thinned coats of everdure (wet on wet), 4 coats of epoxy using an UV inhibited hardener (again wet on wet) and then 8 coats of an exterior 2 pack poly clear coat.

I intended to make a sock cover for it but haven't quite managed that yet . However it is still looking quite good after two and a half years of exposure.

Good luck with your bright-work.