"DSK" wrote:
Seahag wrote
Cetol is great once you learn how to use it.

Maybe that's the trouble. Of all the people I've ever seen use it, the
best looks like a layer of smeared-on orange jello. The new stuff "Cetol
Lite" looks a little better.

Judging by how quickly it turns to crap, and how much touch up work it
seems to need to avert this, IMHO it doesn't last one minute longer than
varnish, either. Makes more sense to put on a coat of paint.


.... It's way more forgiving on
older teak than varnish. I can't tell you how frustrating it is to put
on
16 coats of varnish only to have the plugs and seams blow damn near
every
spring. F**k varnish:^)

Never had this problem. Sounds like the wood is getting too much
moisture into it. What are you using for a base coat? What's it bedded
on? 16 coats of varnish ought to hold up much better than that. Right
now we're on coat #11 (my wife is doing 99% of it).

I had a conversation with a guy on our dock who is PO'd about his Cetol
that he switched to last year. He got fed up with varnish (apparently he
got the impression that 3 or 4 coats was enough to last a year) and
sanded his gunwhale, eyebrow, handrails (now *there's* a PITA) etc etc
down to bare wood so as to put on Cetol Lite. Looked like orange jello,
but at least you could almost see the wood grain. Now it's mostly flaked
off and the wood's got black spots again.


I sand the wood to 220 grit and apply 3 coats as per lable. Then after a
week I knock the inevitable chunks off with a 220 hand sanding and put on a
final coat. It isn't varnish, but I can live with the results. I put on a
coat in the fall and spring if I can. The weather was awful last year so I
didn't get it on in time so the edges failed. I've been touching it up this
last couple of weeks and it's getting there. The stuff blends in pretty
well. I've used the Cetol lite at work but I'm concerned it doesn't have
the umph to last a whole year.

What's up with mast supports? Are you switching to deck stepped masts?


The main mast step is on the sole so there needs to be something between
that and the keel besides 18" of air. There were a couple of loose
chunks
of oak, but we'd like something more likely to stay in place when the
you
know hits the fan.

I'd consider molding in some fiberglass supports. From what you've
already done with the hanging knees, it shouldn't be too hard. Metal
corrodes and wood rots. Besides you can mold in a little gutter & basin
to catch the sap running out of the mast

That's what we're gonna do, it was just hard to figure out exactly how:^)

Seahag