Removing thwarts and coamings

[Hodmi]

The woodwork on Pegasus (196[7?] Daysailer 1) is in rough shape, so I'm going to do a thorough refinishing this winter. To do a good job I'm planning to remove the parts and bring them into the basement.

Is there any danger in leaving the boat without the woodwork for a few months? I plan to install a temporary set of plywood spacers for the thwarts, but I'm a bit worried about it going out of shape. It will be sitting covered on its trailer until spring.

Thanks,
Hodmi

[GreenLake]

Offhand, I would say no.

I would make sure to avoid heavy snow loads or pooling water.

It should also not take several months to do this project. It's at worst a three-weekend project.

• One weekend to take everything off and sand the wood to bare wood.
• The second weekend to apply the finish.
• The third, to put everything back together.

That estimate assumes that you can't free yourself from other plans for the entire weekend. Otherwise you could do it in two (you'd want to let the finish dry or cure for a week before assembly).

What were you going to use to do the refinishing?

There are millions of opinions out on what's best. Practical Sailor has run field tests of varnishes (if you subscribe, you get access to their online archive). I personally used epoxy covered by water based polyurethane (I followed the "treating outdoor wood" brochure from System Three). The upside is that it's very durable, the downside may be at the time you reach the end-of-life for that coating. I haven't gotten that far, can only note that since I did that, I've had essentially no maintenance issues (had to redo a spot where the tiller rubbed through).

When you are ready for re-assembly check the carlins. That's the wood under the little side decks into which you screw when you reattach the coamings. That's susceptible to dry rot, If your screws are not gripping very firmly I would treat the holes with borate, let them dry for a week, and then soak with epoxy. That usually firms things up. If not, you could go one screw size larger, or, use K.C.'s trick of waxing your screws and putting a bit of thickened epoxy into each hole right when you attach the screw. The wax makes sure the screw doesn't actually bond, but the epoxy will harden around it, forming a thread, so to speak.

[kokko]

If the carline are in good shape but the screws are not grabbing, you can use a bamboo skewer dipped in adhesive and inserted. Cut off flush and let cure.

[Hodmi]

Thanks guys. Fantastic suggestions as always.

Because of the long Canadian winter I've got about 5 months to do the work. So I can take my time and do a careful job.

I haven't decided on what to use for the finish yet. I was thinking originally of using spar varnish. It's "traditional" but does require a lot of maintenance.

I like the epoxy idea. Besides the ease of maintenance, it may add a bit of strength to some minor cracking I see on the coaming.

[kokko]

Practical Sailor does periodic reviews od wood finishes. Originally I spent thirty bucks for west marine woodpro. After that I have used a good quality exterior polyurethane PS gave a good review to the ace hardware brand.

[GreenLake]

I've tried exterior PU (local brand) on bare wood and have had mixed to bad experiences with it, particularly on the floor boards, but also on coamings.

The PU would crack and blister around the screw holes and in many other places after no more than a season. (Boat under cover when not in use).

So, I took it all down to bare wood, using heat guns, scrapers and orbital sanders (starting at 36 grit).

Then I coated the pieces with System Three ClearCoat and/or their laminating epoxy- Silvertip. (They both work, the clear coat levels a bit better and gives a thinner coat, so you need more coats). I placed all the pieces flat onto a nail bed.

The nail bed is just a strip of wood with nails hammered in so they stick up. I used three of these, because the rear coaming is shorter, so I could support the longer pieces at both ends and in the middle, and the shorter on on both ends. I set it up so one nail lined up with one of the screw holes in the boards, and left that one taller so it would hold the boards in position. That setup kept the boards raised up, so there wasn't any issue with epoxy dripping and pooling on the underside, and I could even finish both sides in one go. Yes, where the nails rest there's a pinprick size defect, but I made sure it was on the back side.

After the epoxy had cured, I used System Threes Water-reducible Linear Polyurethane and gave things as many coats as I had patience for.

One thing that I would do differently is that I would probably do differently is to apply a bit of a stain to hide color variations, possibly even use a bit of oxalic acid to deal with any darkening. I tried that when I restored my tiller and it really took care of places where the wood had darkened under cracks. The point is to get an even color. You can wipe the wood with alcohol to see what it would look like with a varnish. I didn't do anything like that for the coamings and there are some color variations as a result. Given the age of the boat they tend to look "distinctive". Most traditional varnishes have a little bit of a yellowish or reddish tint to them, and that's something else that you can emulate with a stain, because the PU will be clear.

If you do use epoxy - measure precisely and mix well! If you get bubbles you can "pop" them by flicking a propane torch over the coated piece, adding just enough heat for the bubble to expand and burst, no more. Also, if you do use epoxy, you need to coat all sides (and the insides of all screw holes) because if any water wicks in, it won't be able to come out again.

The PU coating (especially if you use the catalyst that comes with it) will be very touch and it benefits from the fact that the epoxy will prevent the wood from "working". But you do need to keep it intact, because epoxy is sensitive to UV degradation.

Alternatives: regular varnishes will not work well, they tend to not hold up and get rubbed off the exposed edges. If you love running around with a brush in your hand and the boat is close by, then oiling the coamings is an alternative. Oil soaks in and therefore doesn't rub off, but needs to be touched up several times each season. Luckily the prep required is also minimal.

[GreenLake]

Practical Sailor does periodic reviews of wood finishes. Originally I spent thirty bucks for west marine woodpro. After that I have used a good quality exterior polyurethane PS gave a good review to the ace hardware brand.

They do their testing in Florida, so you need to factor that in. If you get less sun exposure, and perhaps more temperature cycling or lots of moist air, your mileage may vary compared to what they are finding. That said, I think that magazine is a tremendous resource - and completely free of ads.

[K.C. Walker]

The method that Greenlake describes is also what I have done. I used MAS epoxy for encapsulation of the wood with a DuPont automotive clearcoat sprayed over that. After four seasons of heavy use it still looks great. I won't say it looks like new because it is a little banged up from all the hours of fun. Though, where it hasn't been banged up it still looks like new.

Using this method extends the life of the "varnish" to approximately 10 years instead of an annual sand and recoat of traditional spar varnish. When you reach the 10 year mark you should be able to just scuff sand and recoat. Of course, they'll be touchup to do along the way.

If you catch spar varnish or any clear finish, like linear polyurethane, before it degrades you can refresh it with a sand and recoat without having to strip it. Part of the UV resistance of these coatings is the gloss which reflects UV. When they start to get dull is the time to give them another coat.