Advice on varnish/oil bowsprit

[Ruddy Duck]

All:

I just finished a 30 hour project stripping and varnishing nearly all of my exterior teak. The boat is looking great.

I did not touch the large bowsprit. My concerns about varnishing the bowsprit are twofold.

1. Will the anchor chain chip and scratch the varnish surface and look terrible? Compromise the protection of the varnish?

2. Is it correct to assume that the annual coat of varnish on the teak bowsprit would be a nightmare due to the calked joints? I'm assuming it is bad practice to varnish over them. My plan was to remove the calking and re-calk once the initial 7 coats of varnish are applied. I don't want to pull all of the caulk annually.

Would an oiled bowsprit be out of place next to varnished rails and trim?

One thing is for certain - the gray/faded/peeling bowsprit looks terrible next to the newly coated teak.

Advice and opinions on the topic are much appreciated.

[bletso]

You might try Cetol. Very forgiving, easy to patch, and from 20ft looks like varnish. Bottom pics Skylight | Sailing Vessel Vigah

[markwesti]

Hey Ruddy Duck , where you at what kinda' boat you got ? I use Cetol Light , but my buddy uses Cetol Natural , I like the Natural much better . Trust me whatever you do don't oil , it will look good at first and in one month it will look awful with all the dust that will stick to it . Here is a picture of our sprit with Cetol Light yes it is that orange . the Natural looks so much better not orange at all . All it takes is 3 coats and you don't have to sand in between if you don't want to , I give a light scrub with a Scotch Bright pad before the last coat but to tell you the truth it doesn't make that much difference .

[Pauls]

Oil drying rate is a huge variable depending on whether the oiled is boiled or not (you can buy it either way). You should use an oil which will be dry within a few days, that won't be much of a problem with dust unless you apply the oil in a real dusty area.

If you'd like to see what an oiled bowsprit and mast look like, go on you tube and look at Emerald Steel. They have a lot of videos, you'll find some good shots of mast and bowsprit. They've been using oil for many years now, it obviously works for them.

[Ruddy Duck]

Boat is a 1977 Bristol 40 yawl. Location is south Louisiana.

Regarding Cetol. Does it require an annual coat? Do I have to remove caulking from the strips to recoat? I assume I can't put varnish over the strips of calk.

Thanks again!

[Saleen411]

Originally Posted by Pauls

Oil drying rate is a huge variable depending on whether the oiled is boiled or not (you can buy it either way). You should use an oil which will be dry within a few days, that won't be much of a problem with dust unless you apply the oil in a real dusty area.

If you'd like to see what an oiled bowsprit and mast look like, go on you tube and look at Emerald Steel. They have a lot of videos, you'll find some good shots of mast and bowsprit. They've been using oil for many years now, it obviously works for them.

Yea...linseed oil I think. I haven't read much about sailors in general using that.

[IdoraKeeper]

Finish repairs are inevitable. Cetol will outlast varnish by a few months.(I have tried side by side comparisons). Consider filling the fully prepped wood with epoxy prior to applying the UV protecting final coats. UV will destroy the epoxy without protection but you can minimize millage (wood) loss when you remove or replace the distressed (inevitably) UV protection top coats. Just don't procrastinate when its time fix your bright work. :-)

[UNCIVILIZED]

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong. But doesn't the length of time that a finish last vary fairly directly with the harshness of the environment that the boat is in. With UV & heat being the most decisive issues.

I say as much as it seems that the further south folks have been, the less impressed they are with finishes that don't have built in UV resistance. And as an example, that since some oils don't, or have weaker ones, they don't perform as well as varnish. But also that quality paint outperforms varnish, in terms of longevity.

I've never been one much for wood topsides, nor varnish, so I'm not an expert on the subject.
Yes, done well it looks pretty... on someone else's boat.

[Crazyutpilot]

Originally Posted by UNCIVILIZED

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong. But doesn't the length of time that a finish last vary fairly directly with the harshness of the environment that the boat is in. With UV & heat being the most decisive issues.

I say as much as it seems that the further south folks have been, the less impressed they are with finishes that don't have built in UV resistance. And as an example, that since some oils don't, or have weaker ones, they don't perform as well as varnish. But also that quality paint outperforms varnish, in terms of longevity.

I've never been one much for wood topsides, nor varnish, so I'm not an expert on the subject.
Yes, done well it looks pretty... on someone else's boat.

It has always been my experience that oil always works better it doesn't stay pretty as long, but sure beats sanding and redoing every couple years.

[slowpoker]

When you get the wood bowsprit all cleaned and sanded to bare wood, which will be a lot harder to do than the rest of the wood you already finished; I would put a couple of coats of teak oil then. Step back and see how it looks next to your other varnished wood. Now you have some time to recouperate from your next 30 hours of labor, to compare oil to varnish. Helpful Hint: Wet down the wood and scrub with a pad or a stiff brush to get most of the black mildewy gunk and loose varnish off and expose the grain. Will save you a lot of scraping and sanding!.
I realize that oil does not last long but, It's always a good idea to 'nutrify' the teak with oil a few days before applying those many coats of varnish, it prevents the wood from minor cracks on the varnish at the end of it's life. You have nothing to lose by applying some teak oil before deciding on something else.
Just a side comment: Saw a boat that had all the wood on deck, handrails, toe rail, cabin hatch frame, etc. painted with oil paint, simulating the color of golden teak. Looked OK from afar, must have been there for a few years and still was holding up.
Of course, not as beautiful as 10 coats of just finished varnish, but a lot less work and would look better than 3 year old varnish, for years to come.
The paint job probably can compare in appearance to that Cetol finish on the bowsprit picture on this thread but would be almost impossible to strip off all that paint, back into wood to be varnished again.

[UNCIVILIZED]

Originally Posted by slowpoker

Just a side comment: Saw a boat that had all the wood on deck, handrails, toe rail, cabin hatch frame, etc. painted with oil paint, simulating the color of golden teak. Looked OK from afar, must have been there for a few years and still was holding up.
Of course, not as beautiful as 10 coats of just finished varnish, but a lot less work and would look better than 3 year old varnish, for years to come.
The paint job probably can compare in appearance to that Cetol finish on the bowsprit picture on this thread but would be almost impossible to strip off all that paint, back into wood to be varnished again.

The tip that I was given on painting teak many years ago did involve painting it a teak color, so that from any distance it still looked like teak. Though first you want to fully varnish it, so that later, after you paint overtop of the varnish, it's pretty easy to strip the paint, as the paint then isn't in the wood's pores.

[Suijin]

Another vote for Cetol, mostly because off it's "repairability" and the fact that 3 coats gives you essentially the protection of +8 coats of varnish. As noted the "natural" product looks more like varnish than the original or light versions. Downside is that it does not flow like varnish and give you that gorgeous glass-like finish. But it's a good compromise for brightwork that is subject to wear and dings, and looks enough like varnish that 99% of the people who step on your boat won't know the difference.

[Crazyutpilot]

Also a great way to clean teak almost back to natural is to use a medium to strong mix of Oxyclean and warm water with a soft to medium bristle brush you won't believe what will come out of the wood grain!

[Ruddy Duck]

Many thanks for the replies.

The most elementary part of my question has not been addressed yet. It has to do with the strips of calking. Below is the only picture I have that shows the bowsprit (taken before I touched any of the wood).




My assumption is that I need to strip out all of the old calk, strip the wood, apply a finish (varnish/cetol/oil) and re-calk.

In a year, when it is time to add a coat of varnish or cetol, do I have to remove all of the calk again? I'm assuming the varnish should not be applied over the calk.

Also, the boat is a 1977 Bristol 40 Yawl located in Louisiana.



Thanks again!

[zeehag]

i leave the grate raw, so folks donot slide into ocean. the spar is painted white. my new one will be a spar of ipe(perota/huanacaxtle) epoxied and clear coated, with the same grate for bow work. un-oiled un-varnished and raw for best traction.
when i plan on sitting in a repair mode for some extended time i might oil the grating, but if i am planning a passage, i do NOT want the grate slick or varnished or cetol'd or other wise slippery.
raw teak is the best nonskid ever. to place a finish on it means you donot intend to use the boat in real seas, wherein you may just fall from a slick grating.
btw--the anchor should not be able to mar the surface of your sprit or the grating. even with rollers each side of mine, there is no marring at all. snubber bridles are used to keep the sprit from being worked by the chain at anchor.
to clean teak grate--just use sea water and a 3m pad. does not overdry the wood as do your bleaches.

by the way--your pic does not work.