Captain's Coat..?

Capt J · Dec 21, 2015

Quite honestly Mr. Green lost a lot of respect when I see him holding an electric sander. I never use any electric tools when varnish besides a heat gun.

Personally, I would use the new Awlwood stuff, I just used it on a 98' and it came out great. 1 coat of the primer, 2 coats primer and clear mixed together, then 3 coats afterwards of just clear, then to touchup just sand and use the clear. It goes on nice, can do multiple coats in a day and the results were great and it looks like varnish. A lot less coats too.

15 coats sounds like way too much. When using varnish I prefered Interlux jet speed for the first 6 coats (thin the first 3 50/50, wipe the first coat on with a rag or sock not a brush), then followed by 3-4 coats of schooner. I'd get darn close to a year out of this combo and then lightly sand and do 2 more coats when it starts looking dull. Easy to repair, easy to blend. Putting 2 coats on everytime it looked dull (around 8-10 months), I never had to strip the varnish. Call me crazy but the schooner works. They stopped making Interlux jet speed, so now just use schooner.

Epifanes is a bit harder than varnish, but I haven't seen it last any longer. I think if you put 15 coats, it would be so thick especially when all fresh, that you'd end up with it lifting,bubbling, or cracking over time. I have seen epifanes lift and crack a lot in the summer sun down here resulting in the need to strip it. I don't use it on the exterior, only on interior wood floors. If you choose to use it, I would do around 8-9 coats now, then in 4 months right before it gets hot, do another 4 and build it up over time. Call me crazy but I don't like the stuff. I'd use Cetol Marine long before Epifanes.....Cetol looks ok if you do 2 coats of the Natural Teak color and then 3 coats of clear.

I was next to a custom Carolina SF a while back and the boat looked REAL good from about 15' away. They just used Brown awlgrip and painted the teak and up until about 12' away you couldn't even tell. They didn't put any woodgrain look in it or anything. LOL

Norseman · Dec 22, 2015

. Epiphanes is a bit harder than varnish, but I haven't seen it last any longer. I think if you put 15 coats, it would be so thick especially when all fresh, that you'd end up with it lifting,bubbling, or cracking over time. I have seen epifanes lift and crack a lot in the summer sun down here resulting in the need to strip it.
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Nah, no problem with lifting and cracking.
15 coats sounds like a lot, but there is sanding in between coats so the build-up is not as much as it sounds.
I had my guy use a scotch-pad after a few years, instead of 220 grit sandpaper just to save some of the varnish. Seemed to work quite well.
Yes, the sun in the summer is brutal and will burn of the top-coats, but again, I was able to do maintenance coats annually only, not several time per year.
Granted, I was not after a 110% perfect Yacht Finish at all times, just a normal everyday sailboat varnish job.
Worked good, lasted a long time.

Ken Bracewell · Dec 22, 2015

I'm a 12-coat fan, so 15 must be better! I always put 12 on the Curt-C/Rena, and we were complimented on our varnish everywhere we went.

Norseman · Dec 22, 2015

Yeah more is better, up to a point anyways.
I should now, I owned and lived on a woodie in the Caribe.
A 44' Bill Tripp Bermuda Yawl. Double-planked mahogany hull and the rest teak.
It had more external varnish than God, and I was the guy doing the coats every 3-4 months.
Being a young lad 30 years ago, I did not know any better.
Now I do, therefore sitting in the shade supervising with a cold beer while Mr. Greene does his thing. Works for both of us.

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Captain's Coat..?

Capt J Senior Member

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Ken Bracewell Senior Member

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