varnish on bottom ??

[kng]

Hi !! I have to epoxy 3 planks and I will finish the Grey Seal hull, now that I can see the hull lines and beauty, I was wondering what would happen if I varnish the bottom, and only paint a 2" waterline in white..... would be a stupid thing?? or have you seen boats all varnished ??
would the varnish get the water out?? what do you think?? please don´t kill me with your answers !!

thanks !!

[nedL]

I've seen that done on small 'dry sailed' dinghies & skiffs, looks good to me.

[JFH]

If you are in fresh water and are dry sailing her (as said previously) you could use varnish. The only advantage to that is how it would look out of the water.

Otherwise, why go through the trouble and expense of varnishing?

Antifouling if far easier and if you do what I do for a clean fresh water lake,....use topside paint on the bottom too. It sticks and looks great after being in the water for six months. I just sand and re-apply in the spring if it needs such care. For the first few years I used a good enamel from my local hardware store and never had a problem. Now I use even cheaper "Marine" enamel from another supplier at about $22.00 a gallon. The brand is Gold Crest and is made in Guelph Ontario, Canada.

Cheers,
Jim

[kng]

Hi !! yes I know that it is only to look out of the water or may be from an other boat when sailing... but I wonder if the varnish would do the task... I don´t think she will be out of the water, so I think I will paint the bottom.... I have read about a product of SIKAFLEX it´s name is SIKAGUARD 64 it is an two components epoxy whit thinner and bituminous... it colour is black... what do you think?? is too important to apply any antifouling?? my sailing place is a fresh water river, but I would like to sail in open ocean...

thanks !!

cheers !
Emiliano.

[JFH]

Never heard of Sika-Guard. If it is a bottom paint that is 2 part and is intended for below the water-line, then by all means....do it.

If she is sealed with epoxy on the inside, you really should do the same on the outside with a penetrating epoxy. Then sand and paint whatever you like. The paint will protect the bottom from U.V. if on a trailer and keep the epoxy sound. Paint is just easier to apply and cheapr too. Varnish is fussy and will hold up well but eventully will cloud up and look messy after a season or two. I have varnish below the waterline on the transom of a small boat at the cottage and it needs touch up every spring. The bottom is painted. I will probably paint a bootstripe this spring and paint below that stripe to match the rest of the bottom.

Jim

[Bruce Hooke]

If I'm understanding your last post you plan on keeping the boat in the water most of the time. In that case you need to use bottom paint (antifouling paint) otherwise the bottom of the boat will be coated with weeds and growth in a matter of a few weeks.