Varnish or not to Varnish ?

[HappyMdRSailor]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

This, because it's UV more than anything that destroys the varnish, and as a percentage we all spend very little time actually under sail.
Look at how long the varnish on the interior of a boat lasts

Hmm... And all this time I thought it was the wear from "straddle steering" from the bikini team crew I keep ....

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by thomm225

Yeah because a new one could set you back $40.00 to $100.00 or so if you don't do anything to it for maybe 15 years .....

I wish, a new laminated tiller is £200 this side of the pond and without a cover you will be re-varnishing again in a few years. My tiller cover came from skip dipping an old spray hood and 30 minutes with a needle and cotton.

Pete

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by HappyMdRSailor

Hmm... And all this time I thought it was the wear from "straddle steering" from the bikini team crew I keep ....

Photo please

[a64pilot]

Yeah, pictures or it didn't happen

Actually being you, the wear is probably from those sweaty palms.

[HappyMdRSailor]

Originally Posted by Pete7

Photo please

Like everything else I post.... I think it would be inappropriate material for the forum....

Here's some of our dry land practice runs though...

[HappyMdRSailor]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Yeah, pictures or it didn't happen

Actually being you, the wear is probably from those sweaty palms.

HAAAAAAAAAA!!!
+1

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by Pete7

I wish, a new laminated tiller is £200 this side of the pond and without a cover you will be re-varnishing again in a few years. My tiller cover came from skip dipping an old spray hood and 30 minutes with a needle and cotton.

Pete

Last time the tiller on my boat was varnished was at least 10 years ago.

It's still good and strong

[goat]

Originally Posted by HappyMdRSailor

Like everything else I post.... I think it would be inappropriate material for the forum....

Here's some of our dry land practice runs though...

I see she's practising for your wheel.

goat

[reed1v]

Oil attracts dirt, lots of it. So if you like the "shabby" look, go with oil. If your tiller is laminate, varnish is advisable since otherwise the woods can delaminate .
A good quality varnish is easy to apply once you learn how, and simple to maintain if you keep to a regular schedule. Six coats is usually the minimum, but once coated, that a touchup when the varnish starts to look dull will allow you to keep the varnish intact for many years.

[leftbrainstuff]

Originally Posted by keelkicker

Hi

Just starting my first varnish project on my "classic plastic" sailing boat. Thought I'd start easy with the tiller.

My initial scrape and 80 grit sand seems to have got most of the varnish off and left the tiller with a (mostly) nice look and feel.

So, that got me to wondering - do I need to re-varnish, or can I just oil her up ?? I kinda like the look and feel of the natural wood over the shiny varnish. Not sure what the wood is though.... after the initial sand, it
has a sort of reddish hue. I'm assuming its part of the original boat from Sweden, built in the 60's.

I live in the sub-tropics, so the sun is a bit of an issue. I know that most of the other boats around with tillers go for the varnish.

Otherwise, there are a couple of "white spots" on the wood where the varnish had worn, and the wood exposed for some time. Should I oil the wood before i varnish, or keep sanding until the worn spots are gone ?

Thanks for any thoughts

KK

If oiling you need to watch for mold. Tung oil and good linseed oil combinations work well.

I have a neighbour who has removed the varnish on a 50 yr old chris craft. His early oil experiment failed due to mold forming.

I walked him through the use of tung and linseed oils used to treat cricket bats. These oils need to be processed, using a form of pasteurizing. Look for this on the tin.

He found a marine product in a gold tin that seems to be working well in the san francisco bay area.

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[W3GAC]

Surprised no one mentioned Cetol as an viable option for your tiller. The mat finish looks/ feels almost as good as oil, but no buildup and no/ extremely light sanding every two/ three years (5+ if covered) for one or two coats (that can be applied with a few hours. Cetol is thin and mostly penetrates into the teak rather than mostly sitting on the surface with built up layers of 10 layers of 'candy apple' coats that some love or hate.

Styles come and go and cone and go... I noticed at the Annapolis Boat Shows for the past 4-5 years the teak finish trend appears to be heavily over to matte finishes. Cetol plays well in this trend. However, I started covering over to Cetol about 10 years ago as I was going through my 'adjustment' from the madness of varnish. I say madness because no matter what application technique I or professionals use... my teak toe rail would only last 1 year. Didn't matter if I threw 3 coats on or 10. Or if if 'sealed' it with thin West epoxy (what a time it was sanding that all off the following year! The reality was my 46' long toe rail expands/ contracts at different rate than the fiberglass deck and the fillet of varnish that naturally forms at their boundary cracks under the sheer allowing water to ingress up under the varnish and by mid-Summer the ugly yellow of lifted varnish because painfully obvious up and down the toe rail.

Because Cetol is penetrating and breaths, there is hard surface coating to crack and lift and turn yellow. Cetol slowly oxidizes and 'disappears' . After 2-3 years I just go over it with a scuffy pad and add another coat of (thin) Cetrol just as it comes. Couldn't be easier.


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[marlinmike]

No silver bullet as you can see by the many answers, now the advice of 12 coats is ridiculous, talk about slave to your boat. It really comes down to what type of person you are, if you are kinda sloppy or have spurts of enthusiasm, then leave it alone to age grey. If you like things neat but limited in time then the Cetol suggestion if good. Really anal and like spending unending hours sanding and varnishing, then 12 coats of varnish is the answer!!

[Franst8]

I have a 1977 36 ft. Ketch with tons of teak.I don't want to spend my sailing life varnishing
I'd rather be sailing. I'm thinking of using Semco a product that got top marks from Practical Sailor. Has anyone tried that?

[reed1v]

Cetol sucks. Never put it on teak decks nor teak anything. It flakes off and is a pain to remove. Does not last very long in tropical conditions and does attract dirt. Better to go with bare wood. Practical Sailor has research on what is best on woods.

[marlinmike]

Have friends that use it, not bad, not my look, but up side is a teak cleaner can remove it versus sanding it off.

Originally Posted by Franst8

I have a 1977 36 ft. Ketch with tons of teak.I don't want to spend my sailing life varnishing
I'd rather be sailing. I'm thinking of using Semco a product that got top marks from Practical Sailor. Has anyone tried that?