[christian.hess]

just put on a coat or 2 every season or when your bored and its fine...

its when you get lazy and complacent and leave the varnish get too thin that you have to do it all over again...

I do remeber those days though on my old h28 when all I need to maintain was a galon of varnish...a scraper...and some sand paper...could do 90 percent of the boat cosmetics this way...

no gelcoat, glass, thickeners, even paint the only paint I had was a little on the coachroof...jajajaja

 

[christian.hess]

just a note on varnishes...I have had very very very good results in many places simply using what hardware stores call outdoor or furniture varnish...

down here its used for beach houses made of palm trees and the like and its thick, cheap and lasts very very well

 

[christian.hess]

That's good to know. If you're still an El Salvador, I can imagine that the sun is no joke down there through much of the year. If something lasts there, it should be pretty good everywhere.

yup

and a trick hey use down here to seal the wood is dirty oil, actually the more burnt the better

it a tarry mess that prevents insects and the like from eating the wood, and works wonders against termites

when brushed on the wood it smells for like a month then becomes like a golden brown black stain...you then just varnish over this or leave it as is and it will last a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT longer than leaving the wood bare

and regardig varnish...I usually go by color, thickness and ease of brushability to determine if it will last or not...

having said that I also have used some of the newer furniture type varnishes labeled as outdoor or marine use and it a very clear almmost blue type varnish that goes on very thin no nead to dilute actually.

anywhoo

trial and error when cruisng around the globe jejeje

 

[christian.hess]

If you want the job to last more than one season, you need at least 3 more coats. 8 coats is ideal for multi-year protection that only needs to be touched up with a maintenace coat or two every 2-3 years.

The reason why a lot of sailors think varnnish is not durable and requires constant maintenance is they stop varnishing the bare wood when they are happy with the gloss..usually the third coat.

Varnish is like antibiotics- if you stop taking them when you start to feel better, instead of following the instructions, you likely end up having to take 'em again.

8 was the magic number I was told by some old wood shipwrights...

on the spars i did 3 epoxy and 5 or 6 coats varnish but they lasted untouched till the day I sold that boat 4 years or so after I did the masts...

coamings, deck fittings, and such I did once a year...and like you say I had it coming as I ran out of time before setting out doing only 3 coats on the coamings and sure enough in el salvador I had to redo them...and recoat in panama just for kicks....

peace

 

[christian.hess]

uh is that mold not removable?

that will happen with many types of surfaces...paint, varnish, wax whatver after intense humidity...

im not understanding why thats minwaxes fauklt UNLESS it wont go away and its below the surface

ps a fan does wonders to circulate air, its helps mitigate these spores if you will from getting too intense

here in the tropics if you leae your boat unattended for a weel or so in the wet season you get this and worse...