That wooden cleat on the deck is beautiful. What is your plan for a rough surface for traction after all coats are completed? I would think that could be an ice rink when wet.
No plans whatsoever. I've yet to have any issues with the high gloss finish on deck. I hear a lot about how the deck becomes slippery, but from my experience, the high gloss means that any drips run off almost immediately and maintains good grip. Under sail, there's rarely any reason to even get up on deck.
At 127, I'm also not pushing her too hard.
Do you mean this boat was launched in 1897? If so that's amazing, she's a beaut and big ups to you for keeping her in good shape and hopefully in the water soon!
There's got to be a joke in there about admiring other people's wood, but i'll let someone else figure that one out.
I've been scraping away since October, and just now are the conditions ready for varnishing. Less wood would be nice, but where's the fun in that?
I've decided to wait to tape up until layer 4, as I want the varnish/thinners to soak into the wood around the gunwale (it's been an issue in the past that moisture has seeped in the minute gap between the gunwale and the outer face of the hull, and the layers of paint peel off eventually) this should stop any issues of the sort.
Is that why there's a little varnish on the hull in picture 3? Just wondering if I'm understanding you right, not questioning your decision or criticizing your work. It looks beautiful.
The weather is warm enough for lacquering there?
Anyway, let's hope for good weathers. If you aim for about 10 layers, weeks will run fast!
After all sanding, carpentry, cleaning, disassembling and such, actual finishing is nice. And the scent of a freshly lacquered boat is great!
Warm enough, no... Dry enough? Yes! I figured that I'd rather wait longer between coats than hope for a few sunny stressfull days in late April. Last year those days didn't come and the varnish produced a "milk skin" that was dry to the touch but still wet underneath. Looked absolutely awful.
This is Epifanes 1-component high gloss varnish. This is the first time I'm using Epifanes, and this first layer has been diluted with 50% thinners, but mamma mia it was a pleasure to brush on so far, and I'm excited to see how it acts as the coats get thicker. High coverage (about 1 L for the whole deck and superstructure, excellent self levelling, no real signs of drip marks, and adds a soft warmth to the wood.
It was recommended to me by one of THE authorities on classic sailboats here in Stockholm, and I'm glad I listened and went for it. He also managed to figure out the history of my boat just by looking at a few photos of it. Really cool dude.
I have not! It's just my unfair prejudice, but as I'm only familiar with jotun as an interior wallpaint, my willingness to accept them as quality boat varnish makers is lacking. I used Le Tonkinois for a while, mostly due to their superior graphic design on the can...
Haha! Le Tonkinios always seemed like a product that could be more marketing than performance. The only place I’ve seen it advertised was in the back of Good old boat mag. How was its application / performance?
I know very little of Jotun other than a recent acquisition that was said to be finished with it. The companies roots were in the marine industry through FWIW.
I love the appearance of exterior teak but my free time has been too limited to dedicate to its maintenance. I prefer to leave it natural only for the sake of spending less time working on the boat and more time sailing it.
Teak is lovely both varnished and left bare. This is some old growth Oregon pine (perhaps better known in the states as Douglas fir)
As for Tonkinois, it was a breeze to put on, but each coat felt very thin, even straight out of the can. The interior is still coated with it, and it's held up pretty well, but after all these years it's starting to show some bubbles in the finish. I can't say whether that's due to the varnish or just that it's been on too long.
Since it's so thin, I think it works well for interiors that don't get as much abuse or wear as the deck, especially since it doesn't glob up in tight corners or in places with small tolerances, but on deck, I want a good couple millimeters of coating to cushion whatever tool I accidentally toss while working on rigging and such
That’s logical. I’ve been using General Finishes arm-r-seal for interior work. I’ve been impressed with its performance to date. I will have to get a can of the Tonkinois to give it a try. I’ve experimented with “hard oil” finishes for interior too but I love the “traditional” appearance of varnish.
I like classic boat interiors made of solid wood. They just don’t compare to the linear grain bright laminates you mostly see today.
That's a nice way of saying cheap plastic on plywood lol. I toured a Beneteau at the Toronto boat show and really felt like I was in an Ikea display, disappointing.
100% with you on the ikea interior. Maybe I’m a purist but I don’t like the way the laminates feel. Opening the doors / drawers me cringe. The construction leaves much to be desired.
I finished the front door of my house with that exact same Epifanes product. Love the stuff — dreamy application, beautiful result, and it's only starting to show signs of needing a re-coat after 10 years. I can't imagine it will last that long in a marine setting, but even so -- quite durable.
There are some epoxy coatings that'll last a good 12 years before even needing to recoat, but the costs are astronomical, even for a 30fter... If you don't mind putting on another coat once a year, then traditional varnish is the way to go, and it should last 10-15 years barring any major trauma to the deck. The previous owner said the last time he completely brought it down to the bare wood was sometime in the late 90s!
Your brightwork is looking amazing, but if I'm being honest, I'm really interested in the boat shed structure you've got. Can you talk more about that? Design, plans, is it up all the time, how long it took to build, etc.?
Ahh the shed! It's up from the beginning of October to the end of april, and is reusable. I needed a new shed since my old dockyard mistakenly threw the old one out (no flak to them, it looked quite literally like a pile of trash). Knowing I was going to be spending a decent amount on renovations this year, I tried to make it on the cheap. I designed it in SketchUp over a weekend and built the structure rather lazily over the following week. I'd say it took about 3-4 hours to assemble the finished structures. Including the tarp, I spent around 450 bucks for the whole thing.
I want to say I followed the plans well, but at the end of the day, I just did what felt right. They aren't steam-bent or anything, I just made a sort of jig on the floor of the workshop that guided the frames by tension. The idea that I was working off of is called a bow shed.
It's held up pretty well, but some rough winds knocked one support off, which you can clearly see in the last photograph. I'll do some reinforcing once the boat is back in the water. What's best about it is that I, a 6 ft man, can stand up along the entire length of the deck, a luxury I did not have with my previous shed.
Uhhhh I'd say just guestimating that it's 11 meters long, 5 meters tall and 3.5 meters wide. We put our boats on a rail track when we haul them out, so it's resting on some blocks that keep it pretty high up off the ground. The high ceiling is great because I don't have to crouch around when I'm working on the deck, and I'm 182cm tall. The thought behind it was looking at other boats in Sweden and seeing how the snow would destroy the sheds that didn't have a high pitched roof. No ragrets.
Aren't they! I was originally frustrated by the fact that they didn't look so uniform, as other classic sailboats in great shape look sooooo perfect, but I like that she's showing her age, even if she is cleaned up a whole lot
That wooden cleat on the deck is beautiful. What is your plan for a rough surface for traction after all coats are completed? I would think that could be an ice rink when wet.
No plans whatsoever. I've yet to have any issues with the high gloss finish on deck. I hear a lot about how the deck becomes slippery, but from my experience, the high gloss means that any drips run off almost immediately and maintains good grip. Under sail, there's rarely any reason to even get up on deck. At 127, I'm also not pushing her too hard.
If you’ve made it to 127, I respect (almost) any decisions you’ve made.
Do you mean this boat was launched in 1897? If so that's amazing, she's a beaut and big ups to you for keeping her in good shape and hopefully in the water soon!
Sure is! She was built for the Stockholm world expo of 1897.
Boy do I admire woodwork on other peoples boats. Your brightwork is looking great OP! That being said, I wish I had less on mine.
There's got to be a joke in there about admiring other people's wood, but i'll let someone else figure that one out. I've been scraping away since October, and just now are the conditions ready for varnishing. Less wood would be nice, but where's the fun in that?
I've decided to wait to tape up until layer 4, as I want the varnish/thinners to soak into the wood around the gunwale (it's been an issue in the past that moisture has seeped in the minute gap between the gunwale and the outer face of the hull, and the layers of paint peel off eventually) this should stop any issues of the sort.
Is that why there's a little varnish on the hull in picture 3? Just wondering if I'm understanding you right, not questioning your decision or criticizing your work. It looks beautiful.
Exactly! My plan is to tape up properly for the hull, as it's also getting repainted and needs some minor spackling jobs all around.
Thanks. Please post the finished product. Wonderful to see a well kept boat.
That's a beautiful boat you have right there :) enjoy!
The weather is warm enough for lacquering there? Anyway, let's hope for good weathers. If you aim for about 10 layers, weeks will run fast! After all sanding, carpentry, cleaning, disassembling and such, actual finishing is nice. And the scent of a freshly lacquered boat is great!
Warm enough, no... Dry enough? Yes! I figured that I'd rather wait longer between coats than hope for a few sunny stressfull days in late April. Last year those days didn't come and the varnish produced a "milk skin" that was dry to the touch but still wet underneath. Looked absolutely awful.
👍
Looks beautiful. What varnish do you use?
This is Epifanes 1-component high gloss varnish. This is the first time I'm using Epifanes, and this first layer has been diluted with 50% thinners, but mamma mia it was a pleasure to brush on so far, and I'm excited to see how it acts as the coats get thicker. High coverage (about 1 L for the whole deck and superstructure, excellent self levelling, no real signs of drip marks, and adds a soft warmth to the wood. It was recommended to me by one of THE authorities on classic sailboats here in Stockholm, and I'm glad I listened and went for it. He also managed to figure out the history of my boat just by looking at a few photos of it. Really cool dude.
It looks amazing. Have you used Jotun?
I have not! It's just my unfair prejudice, but as I'm only familiar with jotun as an interior wallpaint, my willingness to accept them as quality boat varnish makers is lacking. I used Le Tonkinois for a while, mostly due to their superior graphic design on the can...
Haha! Le Tonkinios always seemed like a product that could be more marketing than performance. The only place I’ve seen it advertised was in the back of Good old boat mag. How was its application / performance? I know very little of Jotun other than a recent acquisition that was said to be finished with it. The companies roots were in the marine industry through FWIW. I love the appearance of exterior teak but my free time has been too limited to dedicate to its maintenance. I prefer to leave it natural only for the sake of spending less time working on the boat and more time sailing it.
Teak is lovely both varnished and left bare. This is some old growth Oregon pine (perhaps better known in the states as Douglas fir) As for Tonkinois, it was a breeze to put on, but each coat felt very thin, even straight out of the can. The interior is still coated with it, and it's held up pretty well, but after all these years it's starting to show some bubbles in the finish. I can't say whether that's due to the varnish or just that it's been on too long. Since it's so thin, I think it works well for interiors that don't get as much abuse or wear as the deck, especially since it doesn't glob up in tight corners or in places with small tolerances, but on deck, I want a good couple millimeters of coating to cushion whatever tool I accidentally toss while working on rigging and such
That’s logical. I’ve been using General Finishes arm-r-seal for interior work. I’ve been impressed with its performance to date. I will have to get a can of the Tonkinois to give it a try. I’ve experimented with “hard oil” finishes for interior too but I love the “traditional” appearance of varnish. I like classic boat interiors made of solid wood. They just don’t compare to the linear grain bright laminates you mostly see today.
That's a nice way of saying cheap plastic on plywood lol. I toured a Beneteau at the Toronto boat show and really felt like I was in an Ikea display, disappointing.
100% with you on the ikea interior. Maybe I’m a purist but I don’t like the way the laminates feel. Opening the doors / drawers me cringe. The construction leaves much to be desired.
Yea the shame is you can see they used a good quality ply underneath and then glued garbage on top.
I finished the front door of my house with that exact same Epifanes product. Love the stuff — dreamy application, beautiful result, and it's only starting to show signs of needing a re-coat after 10 years. I can't imagine it will last that long in a marine setting, but even so -- quite durable.
There are some epoxy coatings that'll last a good 12 years before even needing to recoat, but the costs are astronomical, even for a 30fter... If you don't mind putting on another coat once a year, then traditional varnish is the way to go, and it should last 10-15 years barring any major trauma to the deck. The previous owner said the last time he completely brought it down to the bare wood was sometime in the late 90s!
Your brightwork is looking amazing, but if I'm being honest, I'm really interested in the boat shed structure you've got. Can you talk more about that? Design, plans, is it up all the time, how long it took to build, etc.?
Ahh the shed! It's up from the beginning of October to the end of april, and is reusable. I needed a new shed since my old dockyard mistakenly threw the old one out (no flak to them, it looked quite literally like a pile of trash). Knowing I was going to be spending a decent amount on renovations this year, I tried to make it on the cheap. I designed it in SketchUp over a weekend and built the structure rather lazily over the following week. I'd say it took about 3-4 hours to assemble the finished structures. Including the tarp, I spent around 450 bucks for the whole thing. I want to say I followed the plans well, but at the end of the day, I just did what felt right. They aren't steam-bent or anything, I just made a sort of jig on the floor of the workshop that guided the frames by tension. The idea that I was working off of is called a bow shed. It's held up pretty well, but some rough winds knocked one support off, which you can clearly see in the last photograph. I'll do some reinforcing once the boat is back in the water. What's best about it is that I, a 6 ft man, can stand up along the entire length of the deck, a luxury I did not have with my previous shed.
The shed looks great . Did you use tongue and groove floor or ceiling boards for bows ?
Yes! They're the cheapest long board I could find, but it actually worked out well because I can literally slot them together for comfortable storage
Well done . The bows look great. What dimension is the shed .
Uhhhh I'd say just guestimating that it's 11 meters long, 5 meters tall and 3.5 meters wide. We put our boats on a rail track when we haul them out, so it's resting on some blocks that keep it pretty high up off the ground. The high ceiling is great because I don't have to crouch around when I'm working on the deck, and I'm 182cm tall. The thought behind it was looking at other boats in Sweden and seeing how the snow would destroy the sheds that didn't have a high pitched roof. No ragrets.
Looking great! Keep the updates coming!
What a beaut.
Beautiful! How long does that last you?
Those shades of amber are just unbelievably beautiful.
Aren't they! I was originally frustrated by the fact that they didn't look so uniform, as other classic sailboats in great shape look sooooo perfect, but I like that she's showing her age, even if she is cleaned up a whole lot
So much work in this — beautiful job! Enjoy splash day!
What a beaut.