Ctol Light and UV Protection

[dsbentley]

I have recently moved my 65' sailboat from Seattle to the Caribbean and now am faced with the problem of the sun and UV protection on my teak. I am using Ctol light on my pilot house and hatches and now want to do my rails. Someone said I should only put on one coat of the Ctol to avoid blistering that can occur if I use multipul coats? Is this true? Is there a better alternative that Ctol? I hear regular varnish will be a constant headache with the UV.

[camaraderie]

DS...In the tropics I used (on bare wood) 2 coats of regular cetol and 1 coat of Cetol GLOSS. The gloss has UV inhibitors but is colorless so multiple coats over time or at one time are fine...it will not blister. Just touch up with a scotch brite pad and some more gloss every 6 months or so in the tropics or once it starts looking baked. The trick is not to let it go too far so that you NEVER have to use regular Cetol again. This keeps the grain of the wood showing nicely and a good gloss that ain't as nice as 15 coats of varnish but is a lot less work!

[dsbentley]

Thanks Camaraderie, I have used Ctol lite on the pilot house, is there much differeance in the regular Ctol verses the light? Is it only the gloss that has the UV inhibitors?

[camaraderie]

I don't think you'll see too much difference between light and regular as long as you limit yourself to 2 coats of regular. Once you start building up regular year after year it gets dark and ugly but on bare wood...2 coats looks pretty light. All the Cetols have UV inhibitors but I simply mention it for the gloss since that is all you keep renewing year after year. Here's a pic of it on another similar thread. BTW...beautiful job youve done on your interior!
http://www.sailnet.com/forums/gear-m...tml#post100508