Teak Sanding Varnish Begins

Epifanes yacht varnish is the best....

It has nearly been a week since we arrived here in Florida. On Monday, the boat was launched. With her under a roof and in a boat shed, since she has no mast, we are working on sanding and preparing for a new yacht varnish finish. We have been doing our own varnish for the past 8 years, but we have never varnished the entire boat at one time. Usually we have the work divided into quadrants plus extras, making it much easier to handle. I know doing 1/4 of the boat usually takes 1.5 hours, so it should be no surprise that doing the entire boat takes 5+ hours. I am talking about applying just ONE COAT of varnish. I will be working towards applying 3 primer coats and 3-4 top coats, making 6-7 coats. So, this will take a while!

Carbide scraper takes off the old finish like a hand plane.

Welcome to Island Packet Yacht ownership! Yes, you can just as well let the teak all go grey and fade out or you can use other finishes that require fewer coats. We have found that once varnish is on, then taking care of the top coat is NO MORE work than any other top coat finish. So, if that is true, then why NOT use varnish? Plus, when it is on, it does look really great!.

We know this is not as exciting as beautiful photos of BLUE OCEAN waters or the gorgeous white sand beaches of the Bahamas, but we will get to that this winter. For right now, we are excited about refitting out this 20 year old yacht and making her brand new again. She is like a classic car, well designed and beautiful to own. We do enjoy this boat and all that goes along with ownership. Teak work is part of the job.

Lucky for us, we have been able to trade our timeshare for two condos to live in while we are working on the boat. The boat is still empty from being trucked to the Island Packet Yacht Factory for refit. So, we work hard all day, and then come "home" and hit the pool and enjoy the sunsets on the beach and relax in comfort!

Here are some photos of the work this week....

Cleaned, sanded and vacuumed teak.

Radeen is a Pisces, so she loves the water.

Bare teak. Eyebrow, Hand rail, gunwale. Teak every where!

Clean cockpit combing teak

Next, all the edges needed to be taped with long lasting tape for clean removal in 2 weeks.

We used two rolls of 60 yard tape

There is Radeen on the bow as seen from the stern, lots of teak!

Pre-dinner swim and beach sunset required daily.

After sunset, the sky is even more beautiful.

First coast of varnish is easy to see where you are. Check out the massive new chain plate!

Look at this SPLINE in the end of this teak board which keeps it from warping!

The cockpit is full of teak.

Radeen, on the beach after a full day of teak work. 

It is hard to believe it is FRIDAY night, and we have been working 4 days on the teak. Monday was launch, Tuesday and Wednesday were spent sanding and vacuuming. Thursday was final prep and taping. Friday, I applied  the first varnish coat. Saturday, we need to move out of condo #1 and into condo #2 and set up shop there. Thanks for following, we enjoy sharing the adventures.