AAAGGGGHHHHH the teak

Newsgroups Archive Prior to 2025
21

I am trying something new. With previous boat a Bristol 45.5 ( a rain forest died for this boat), I started with 11 coats of Epifanes gloss which is a highly regarded varnish. This was fine in New York City but when we went to the Caribbean it failed in a year. Went back to Honey Teak which I had used previously on earlier boats. This was a two-part acrylic urethane that you could put multiple coats on in one way. HT generally was Practical Sailor’s pick for best teak treatment. Unfortunately, it was made by one guy in the car port of his house in Florida who died a few years ago and the brand died with him.

This year I am following the advice of the local pros. I am putting on three coats of Epifanes two-part clear, followed by two coats of Epifanes varnish. We shall see.

22

We have used 2 part varnish and generally get 8 years. Best applied on cool cloudy days.

As for refinshing, all we do is red pad the existing finish if you get to it before it breaksdown. Otherwise scraping is the only solution. Teak has hard and soft fibers so caustic cleaners remove the soft wood leaving a bumpy mess.