Boat Building Forum

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Strip: Varnish
By:Scott Salter
Date: 5/25/2003, 6:43 pm

Hello all,

I used Helmsman Spar Urethane on the Guillemot-L I finshed last summer. This spring I noticed some of the varnish peeling off on the deck, some pieces were about an inch by inch and a half. I sanded the entire boat and when I thought I had a good surface to re-varnish, I took it out for a soap and water cleaning before putting on the new varnish. I found that I didn't get it all off. Using a spray hose I could see the water pressure was removing more flakes of varnish. I guess I have to go back and sand it all off (arrghhh), but I want to avoid this problem again. Has any one else seen this problem with Helmsman. I have a new quart ready to go, but I'll switch if this is a trend. My guess is that the problem was either I put it on too thick, sanded the Raka no-blush epoxy too smooth before varnishing, or failed to ensure the surface was properly prepped. The good news is that my Artic Tern was ready to go and today was a nice day (finally) to paddle on the Lynnhaven River in Virginia Beach. Thanks for any suggestions.

Regards,

Scott