Prepping for cabin sole repair/varnish

[Oceanride007]

My boat is 30 years old, time to repair some dents before revarnishing, got hundreds of dents, some have turned black with water ingress. Thought would be good to clean out the black, make smooth refill with West system 206 or 207 hardener and 105 Resin.

Would much prefer resin did not give wood wet look. Making defect stand out.


Some are Ok, others like this, not so. Any thoughts.

[tkeithlu]

Is that the worst? Is the wood itself actually discolored, or is that water sitting under the varnish? What happens when you sand down to the wood in that location?

I usually associate wood turning black with oak, which stains to a depth that you would not want to sand out. My inclination, looking at the photo, is to suggest that you sand down to wood in this and similar locations,sand lightly everywhere else, let these dents dry out, and then varnish. Varnishes are available in mat and satin finishes as well as glossy. Some irregularity in the sole surface, as from these small dents, is not going to trip anyone, so I'm inclined against filling with resin.