At 05:35 PM 6/12/00 +0200, you wrote: >I do not have the opportunity to be often on my boat and I am spending a >lot of time to take care of the varnish. Anybody has a solution which >would significantly reduce the varnish maintenance ? ========================================================= Yes Patrick, its called paint, you might consider it. If you have a good coat of varnish and paint over it is easy to strip and re varnish again if you like. Two boats ago I had some one good with mixing paint abilities to make paint look like the color of the varnished wood and it was quite satisfactory. For some one like you that leaves your boat in different parts of the Med in the hot sun for long periods of time, this could be a solution. You couldn't tell the wood was painted until you were right up on it. Look who is talking, I just varnished the back door and steps into the salon. Al . Captain Al Pilvinis "M/V Driftwood"--Prairie 47 2630 N.E. 41st Street Lighthouse Point, Fl 33064-8064 Voice 954-941-2556 Fax 954 788-2666 Email yourcaptain@earthlink.net Website http://home.earthlink.net/~yourcaptain

> At 05:35 PM 6/12/00 +0200, you wrote: > >I do not have the opportunity to be often on my boat and I am spending a > >lot of time to take care of the varnish. Anybody has a solution which > >would significantly reduce the varnish maintenance ? > ========================================================= > Patrick, I would try a product called "SIKKENS". (OK, watchdogs, I have no connection to this product or it's manufacturer.) Sold world-wide, lasts 3 times as long as varnish. I used it on our 36 Grand Banks in Florida, and only takes light scuffing & 1 coat per year. (I used the gloss product over 2 coats of the "regular" stuff, over bare teak. But you can also apply the gloss directly over varnish in good condition, after scuffing it up. Manufacturer won't stand behind this approach, but I tried it, and it worked like a charm! Although there's no UV protectant in the gloss product, 2 coats over varnish still looked good after 2 years in Ft. Myers. Only downside is that Sikkens takes a little longer than varnish to completely harden. I found that most captains just use the base product without the gloss, but being a brightwork nut, I couldn't stand the dull finish. You can find this stuff at any ships-store over here. If you want to continue the brilliant brightw! ork, with 1/3 the work, give it a try! Jim & Jan Hamlin, Boatless for Now