Annual Maintenance - Cetol & Gloss?

[Patsi]

Chuck Baier mentioned great results on exterior teak using Cetol overcoated with Cetol Marine Gloss. My question is about annual maintenance... Do you just add one coat of Marine Gloss every year? What prep is required before the coat? Would appreciate advice from anyone using this system!

Catalina 34 in Sandy Hook Bay, NJ

[sageofsalem]

Hi Patsi,

I just moved my boat from Chicago to the Rio Dulce in Guatemale. The Toe Rails and Center Cockpit teak rail , really all the teak, which is not much on My Morgan 462, was in real need of attention.

It had Cetol on the toe rail and i had used Captains varnish on everything else, not knowing any better.

Using cheap Mayan labor on the Rio Dulce, $12.00 for eight hours ( and everybody told me i was overpaying), Rodolfo used a electric pad sander and sixty grit to remove everything. It hadn't been touched through about three frigid northern winters outside. Then I had him bring out ome grain with one pass of 150 grit.

Following directions on the Silkenns can, He used Cetol Marine for two coats and then finished off with two coats of Cetol Gloss. I am told it is a simple proceedure to scratch it up a little and add another coat of Gloss whenever it nneds it. No need to go back to bare wood like with varnish.

I was delighted with the result, and will not use varnish on the exterior of the boat again.

I also had a beautiful isinglass dodger, bimini and complete mosquito netting for the huge center cockpit on my 46 footer made on time and at bid price for $1200 US. Plus my cockpit cushions recovered for seventy dollars.

Bill

[gonesail]

i used 2 coats of clear .. scuff or scrub and wipe the old cetol with thinner and you are ready to go with the new. looks as good as varnish so far.

[Hud3]

Same for me--scuff with 3M pad or sandpaper, wipe with thinner, and lay on two coats of gloss. Holds up fine year to year, here in the Tropics. You might even get by with one coat, but after the prep, why not two? The nice thing about Cetol is that you can put one coat on in the morning and another in the afternoon, without sanding or scuffing in between if on the same day.

[Alexei]

I like Cetol. Used it last year when re-finishing my topside teak on Icefire. It was nice and easy, except for the actual sanding. Talk about a pain in the neck!

I do have a problem I haven't figured out how to solve, though.

While doing the job, particularly on my topside grab-rails, I dripped some of the cetol and clear-coat onto the actual deck in several places. I've tried deck cleaner, soft scrub, and elbow grease to get the varnish stains off, but so far I've had no joy. Any suggestions on good techniques to remove those stains, short of sanding down and re-applying new gelcoat and/or non-skid?


Thanks,
Alexei

[Hud3]

I've had good luck just scraping the spots with a single-edge razor blade. Other than that, judicious use of acetone on a rag usually works. Be careful, because acetone will soften gelcoat if left too long in contact.

[jdoe71]

Bristol Finish is another option. Two part product, more expensive than Cetol but goes on even faster and so far is holding up better. You can put it on pretty much wet on wet. I have both on our boat and the Bristol finish is now into year 3 without touching it whereas my Cetol gloss work needs a retouch. It seems to be a harder finish than Cetol and doesn't mark as easily.