[Rhodes22-list] Varnishing Virgin and tiller covers

Thu Jan 19 21:36:05 EST 2006

Mark,
Bill's advice on varnishing is excellent but if you don't want to do it 
every year the tiller cover recommended by others really does work well. It 
even protects the varnish from the line or bungee cord if you lash your 
tiller when you leave the boat. We use a bungee to lash ours to the 
traveller. We have a bit more wood on the boat than some people - trim on 
the edges of the cockpit seats, the companionway slides for the hatch board 
and a piece of mahogany that serves as the kickplate holding the line for 
the centerboard pennant. We use the West Marine version of Cetol/Armada on 
the trim but use varnish on the tiller and the mahogany.

Mary Lou
1991 R22 Fretless
Ft. Washington, PA / Swan Creek, MD

At 05:49 PM 1/19/2006 -0500, you wrote:
>Mark,
>
>I've posted this so often I'm bored with it.  If you look, the dates go 
>back a few years.  But, of course, it keeps coming up.  I still hold these 
>views, enjoy the varnishing, look forward to doing it each year, find it 
>protects the tiller very well in my climate, and remain proud of my 
>ability to produce this product.  I don't stain, and I don't use "Cetol" 
>or like products that have superior UV protection but impart a yellow cast.
>
>All varnish seems to work.  More expensive varnish is easier to apply.
>Lots of very thin coats seems to work best.  A can of varnish could last 
>me a lifetime.
>
>Bill Effros
>
>Old post follows -- Subject changed to original subject line.
>
>This topic seems to always come up at this time of year for understandable
>reasons.
>
>Never having varnished anything in my life, I filed everything in "Does Not
>Apply To Me" (read "Delete") the first year I was on the list.
>
>Last year Rummy brought it up again, and after a dozen replies went to West
>Marine and bought whatever the pretty sales girl told him to buy.  I thought
>it was just another example of that song "When The Little Head Does The
>Thinking", but Rummy reported he was very happy with the outcome.
>
>The only exterior wooden brightwork on my boat is the tiller which, by that
>time, was so ratty-looking I had ordered another from Stan.  Figuring I had
>nothing to lose, I decided to follow the advice on the list, and attempt to
>strip down and varnish my tiller.  I was astonished at the results.
>
>If Raz's work rates a 10, and Rummy's is a 9, then mine would be a 7.  When
>the tiller arrived from General Boats its varnish rated a 2.
>
>I loved my tiller every time I looked at it or touched it.  It was simply
>magnificent in my humble opinion.  The project was perhaps the most
>satisfying thing I did all year.  It still looks and feels great.  I can't
>wait to put on a fresh coat of varnish as soon as it gets a little warmer.
>I'm looking for other things to varnish around my house.
>
>The single most useful posting came from Raz.  I followed his directions,
>and wound up feeling enormously relaxed. Following is his post from last
>year:
>
>"I highly recommend thinning oil based varnish with marine Penetrol, which
>is
>a polymerized boiled linseed oil. The mix that works well for me is about a
>tablespoon of Penetrol to 1/4 cup of varnish. That's about the right amount
>to do a real good coat on a tiller and it brushes out like a dream. Unlike
>solvent thinners this will not degrade the varnish coat. Pettit recommends
>thinning their varnishes no more than 10% with solvent and that only for the
>first bonding coat on bare wood. I use straight Penetrol for the first coat.
>The instructions on the Penetrol can outline the whole process. I have never
>had a varnish finish lift from moisture penetration using their process. The
>trick to a good varnish coat is to use a premium chinese boar bristle brush
>well loaded with varnish and thoroughly brush out each coat. Any slight
>brush marks will level out and disappear as the varnish cures. It takes at
>least 3 coats of undiluted varnish to build a thick enough finish to last
>through a couple of years of marine exposure.   If  I am starting with bare
>wood I do at least 6 coats, allowing each coat to completely dry for at
>least  24 hours, sometimes several days if the air is humid.The penetrol
>does lengthen the drying time between coats. I lightly wet sand with 220
>grit wet or dry paper between coats using water with a few drops of dish
>washing detergent or Murphy's oil soap added. Wet sanding is faster and
>keeps the varnish from getting soft from over heating due to the sanding
>friction. The object is to just remove the gloss without taking off any more
>varnish than you absolutely have to to get rid of rough spots and
>imperfections.  A few minutes before you are ready to recoat, wipe the wood
>down with a rag wet with thinner and allow that to completely dry off.
>Before the very last coat, I wet sand with 400 grit. It took 3 weeks last
>year to do 6 coats on my Compac tiller, but its only a couple of leisurely
>hours per coat including the sanding and cleanup. The end results were
>spectacular. I'll have to start over this year with a new tiller for the
>Gloucester, sigh. Actually I really enjoy this process, its sort of like Zen
>meditation to me."
>
>Thanks, Raz. I'll follow the maintenance instructions to the letter.  I
>really did enjoy the process as much as the outcome, and it was a lot like
>Zen meditation.  I've been looking forward to the maintenance all year.
>
>Bill Effros
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "David Rasberry" <cinetics at acsinc.net>
>To: <rhodes-list at sailnet.net>
>Sent: Saturday, February 17, 2001 11:31 PM
>Subject: RE: [rhodes-list] Exterior Wooden Brightwork
>
>
>Personally, I find the aesthetic appeal of wood to be worth the upkeep. All
>it takes to maintain a good premium varnish job is lightly wet sand with 400
>grit sand paper and put on a single fresh coat once a year. To my mind it is
>a less onerous task than buffing out and waxing dull fiberglass.
>
>Razz
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Alex Bell [mailto:alexbell at coastalnet.com]
>Sent: Saturday, February 17, 2001 10:08 PM
>To: rhodes-list at sailnet.net
>Subject: Re: [rhodes-list] Exterior Wooden Brightwork
>
>
>Roger,
>
>Boat improvement labor and time is not the same as work, so your
>upgrades would be seen by many of us as the thing to do if we could do
>it. Right now, Blew DAze has teak on the cockpit seat edges, the
>companionway hatch holding edges (what is that called) but the hatch is
>the good stuff. The rails for the sliding hatch are also teak. That's
>too much, along with the rudder components. Need to make a few changes.
>
>How much snow in your back yard?  Man am I happy we did not do the move
>to Traverse City about now.
>
>Alex
>
>"Roger K. Pihlaja" wrote:
>
>>>
>>>Alex,
>>>
>>>As I sit here thinking about it, there are only 2 exterior wooden
>>
>components
>
>>>l
>>
>
>mputnam1 at aol.com wrote:
>
>>Bill,
>>This makes a lot of sense ... I'm curious about seeing a photo of Bob's 
>>tiller cover if he can find it, but I can see your point.  Once you strip 
>>down to bare wood, did you have to re-stain it before varnishing?
>>-Mark
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: Bill Effros <bill at effros.com>
>>To: The Rhodes 22 mail list <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
>>Sent: Thu, 19 Jan 2006 09:21:00 -0500
>>Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Rudder refinishing
>>
>>
>>Mark,
>>I enjoy the varnishing, and look forward to renewing it each year. Once 
>>you strip down to bare wood, and build up the initial coats of varnish, 
>>you only have to replace 1 or 2 coats each year to maintain a better than 
>>new appearance, and excellent protection for the wood.
>>Since this is the only exterior wood on my boat, it really enhances the 
>>look of the boat. The curve of the tiller is both graceful and useful. My 
>>varnishing handiwork is often complimented by people who would never 
>>imagine that I could make that object look so good. I would never dream 
>>of covering it.
>>Also, I now lash down my tiller whenever I'm away from the boat, and last 
>>summer while I was in Italy for 3 weeks, I would have lost my tiller had 
>>I not tied it to my boat in a serious manner. If there had been a tiller 
>>cover over my tiller I think that's all I would now have--the tiller 
>>would have slipped out of the cover.
>>The farther south you go, the more problems you have with the sun on 
>>varnish. Where I live, a tiller cover is not really needed, and it's less 
>>trouble to add 2 coats of varnish every year than to deploy a tiller 
>>cover each time I leave the boat.
>>Bill Effros
>>mputnam1 at aol.com wrote:
>>
>>
>>>I've seen a few of you refer in this string to getting a tiller cover 
>>>... is this an easy thing to find at West Marine? Having never shopped 
>>>for one, I don't know if these come in all sorts of sizes ... and what 
>>>might be best for the R22 ...
>>>
>>>>Thanks, -Mark > >-----Original Message-----
>>>From: Robert Quinn <rjquinn at bellsouth.net> To: The Rhodes 22 mail list 
>>><rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org> Sent: Wed, 18 Jan 2006 11:56:46 -0500 
>>>Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Rudder refinishing
>>>
>>>I used ACE Hardware Spar Varnish, about 4 coats. The key is to get a 
>>>tiller cover and shield the tiller from the sun when not in use. Saves 
>>>tons of time and effort. > >Bob on the "NoKaOi" > >----- Original 
>>>Message ----- From: "Hank" <hnw555 at gmail.com> >To: "The Rhodes 22 mail 
>>>list" <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org> >Sent: Wednesday, January 18, 2006 
>>>11:28 AM >Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Rudder refinishing > >15 coats of 
>>>Varnish! Of course it would be beauiful with that many coats, >but who's 
>>>got the time or patience to do that? My hat's off to anyone that >works 
>>>that hard. > >Hank > >On 1/18/06, Bob Weber <ruba1811 at hotmail.com> 
>>>wrote: > >
>>>
>>>>Jim, that was last years project on Ruba. A carpenter friend of mine 
>>>>who >>ownes a Shannon 27 (lots and lots of wood - toe rail, rub rail, 
>>>>bow >>pulput, >>hand rails, and that is just the exterior. Great boat 
>>>>would never wish on >>my enemy) He recommended ephenies. Not sure of 
>>>>the spelling but >>pronounced >>F-N-ees. He recommended diluting the 
>>>>first two coats with thinner. Then >>just a little thinner on 3 - 5. 
>>>>Then straight for the next 10 >>coats. Sand >>with super light grit 
>>>>paper or steel wool between coats, clean and recoat. >>This product 
>>>>claims to dry enough to recoat in 24 hours but I found it 
>>>>to >>be >>more like 2 days, probably since I was doing this job in 
>>>>my >>basement. Good >>luck, take your time and you will be happy with 
>>>>your results. You may >>also >>want to invest in a tiller cover for 
>>>>next year. Don't know what they cost >>but after coat 10 you wont care 
>>>>about the cost. Bob weber >>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>From: "Jim Connolly" <jbconnolly at comcast.net> >>>Reply-To: The Rhodes 
>>>>>22 mail list <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org> >>>To: "'The Rhodes 22 mail 
>>>>>list'" <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org> >>>Subject: [Rhodes22-list] Rudder 
>>>>>refinishing >>>Date: Tue, 17 Jan 2006 17:57:01 -0500 >>> My tiller is 
>>>>>looking a bit whitish and chalky after 3 seasons in the 
>>>>>sun >>>following Stan's refurb. Does anyone know what product Stan 
>>>>>uses on the >>>tiller? If not, does anyone have suggestions? >>> Jim 
>>>>>Connolly >>>Looking for excuses to think about Spring >>> 
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