Epoxy under varnish, for boat thats not covered

[RonJr]

I am not new to the world of Varnish, but I am thinking about a large project and the direction I should be going, and would like some advise. Our old boat (1971 Egg harbor) had a lot of teak on it, deck, swimstep, doors, interior, cover boards, but it was stored under cover and out of the sun/rain of the PNW. We restored 99% of all the wood work and it looked good. The attached picture of the swim step was my first go at using interlux two part as a base coat (3 coats) and then 4 coats of interlux compas clear. It turned out well, and held up well for a year of hard use. The only damage was from braided line used for Halibut fishing.

The next boat is stored outside, in the rain, in the sun. The attached pictured is of the tow boards that need help. The boards were new 2 years ago, and this is what 5 coats of compass clear looks like not maintained, and left in the weather. I am thinking about stripping and using the same system I did for the swim step. Interlux Perfection Plus with 3 coats, and then cover with Interlux compass clear. I am using the compass clear as a wear coat, when it gets damaged, I can easily fix it.

What are your thoughts on this?

(I am not a fan of SIKKENS, or letting it go gray, worse case I will strip and use Tip Top Teak oil every few months)
I will also not be making 100' of covers to snap on. The tow boards and window trim are the only exposed teak, the deck and cover boards are covered up with a fastback canvas.

[RonJr]

The reason I tried the two part on the swim step is worse case I could hit it with a belt sander and remove all of the epoxy in my garge if it went south.
I never tried it on the cover boards of the old boat.

[Garret]

I finally removed the last of the epoxy under varnish the former owner did after 3 years of ownership. It had looked like hell for all those years, but round tuits were in short supply. The West (with UV inhibitor) with varnish over it (3-4 coats, maybe a 5-6?) was a year old when I bought the boat.

My boat's in Maine & has lots of exposed varnished teak. I've found (after 20 years of ownership that there's no replacement for many coats of quality varnish. I use Epiphanes, but there are other good ones as well. Everything has at least 8 coats & horizontal surfaces have 10. Every spring, she gets a scuff & at least one new coat - more if an area was damaged. Every 4 or 5 years I sand more thoroughly & do 3-4 coats.

Yes - it's a lot of work - but it looks right - no more yellow blotches.

[RonJr]

I finally removed the last of the epoxy under varnish the former owner did after 3 years of ownership. It had looked like hell for all those years, but round tuits were in short supply. The West (with UV inhibitor) with varnish over it (3-4 coats, maybe a 5-6?) was a year old when I bought the boat.

My boat's in Maine & has lots of exposed varnished teak. I've found (after 20 years of ownership that there's no replacement for many coats of quality varnish. I use Epiphanes, but there are other good ones as well. Everything has at least 8 coats & horizontal surfaces have 10. Every spring, she gets a scuff & at least one new coat - more if an area was damaged. Every 4 or 5 years I sand more thoroughly & do 3-4 coats.

Yes - it's a lot of work - but it looks right - no more yellow blotches.

Do you have it under cover or covers?

[Garret]

Do you have it under cover or covers?

Under tarp in the winter, on a mooring without covers May/June - Halloween

[wizbang 13]

dang I read through that whole thing and you wait until the last line to bust Cetol !

[RonJr]

dang I read through that whole thing and you wait until the last line to bust Cetol !

Sorry, I don't think its a bad product at all. A Grand Banks across from me went to it last year and it looks good, just not great.

[Ian McColgin]

I like Cetol for applications that will never be high yacht standard. And I like to use it over a CPES base. Great for caprails on elderly boats because the moisture that wicks up ancient fastenings will lift varnish but both Cetol and CPES are vapor permiable. But for real yacht standard, nothing beats many coats of varnish well maintained and, as Garret has pointed out, epoxy under varnish is just trouble.

I happen to like teak when it's silvered so I am inclined to keeping that raw but to each their own.

[dragonslayer]

2 coats twice a year has been my rule for years. Bare minimum for maintenance. I have used penetrating epoxy on bare wood and it has turned out ok but not so sure I like it.
Dave Ahrens

[dutchpp]

Ron, I almost never use epoxy under varnish on teak. I will stick to traditional varnishes and oils ( Epifanes, Owatrol/Deks oil, Le Tonkinois) , the specific brand isn't that important, just prep your surfaces correctly and stick to the yearly 2 coats. This built up of coats will last approximately 10 years, after that take off the varnish layers and start again.
On my boat almost everything is made of teak ( see pic). I have a simple ( rotating) maintenance plan for the wooden surfaces, to reduce the yearly amount of work.
IMG_1434.jpg

[SHClark]

Never varnish teak. Not having to varnish is the whole point of teak. If you want brightwork, use mahogany.
SHC

[dutchpp]

Never varnish teak. Not having to varnish is the whole point of teak. If you want brightwork, use mahogany.
SHC

A suggestion to use other wood doesn't help when you want varnished teak.

[RonJr]

Never varnish teak. Not having to varnish is the whole point of teak. If you want brightwork, use mahogany.
SHC

The boats been built for 43 years now.

[Garret]

The boats been built for 43 years now.

My 79 YO boat has always had varnished teak cabin sides. They're beautiful.

[jpatrick]

My dad's last boat was a 32' Grand Banks that he'd restored from near death. It had a lot of varnished teak. Dad told me the best way/the only way to keep varnish on teak was to first sand to wood, then coat with Smith's cpes, then hot-coat with varnish. Then add multiple more coats of varnish. He kept his boat uncovered, for the most part, in San Pedro, CA. A very sunny locale.

Jeff

[RonJr]

I think I will do 3-4 coats of interlux perfection pluss and 5 coats of Compass clear.
But I wont get to start on that project till May or so..