Trojan Boat Forum

Well, it's been a whole month since posting here last, and, sad to say, not a boating month for me. I discovered some nasty rot in the mahogany decking on the far forward port bow, and have been slowly working at it with Git Rot. That's great stuff, however I wasn't very successful keeping spillage from getting on the solid surface mahogany around the 1/8" pilot holes I drilled into the decking. I'm afraid it's going to have a permanent dark stain. It'll be time to sand and fill it this week, and then I'll see how it turns out.

Two deep holes along the front edge have to be filled with marine epoxy putty. I dug out the softest wood, then drilled 1/8" holes and squirted Git Rot in there. I've found that disposable plastic syringes (available FREE at Target pharmacy) work wonders at getting the Git Rot liquid into tight spaces. The recommended vinegar and water solution is good for cleanup of the sticky stuff.

I fill the surfaces of all repairs with mahogany colored Interlux wood filler, and it doesn't look too bad, although the color is a little too reddish to match my particular grade of mahogany. Sanding and varnishing seems to even everything out pretty well, though.

Any other stories of wood-boat maintenance out there?

well, I'm still working on my Summer project. I'm about half way done now...Does anyone know how many coats of varnish is needed until the finish smooths out??? I just put down the 13th coat of interlux 98...its finally starting to smooth out...but at this rate, it will be 24 till I get there. Any Ideas?

Wow, what is the consistency of that varnish? I use something called "Man O' War" spar varnish with UV shield. It's not a polyurethane, and it comes out pretty thick. I used about 3 coats from bare wood to finish, and it seems to be pretty smooth. I can't remember if I used a sealer first, but it sounds like your wood was pretty thirsty to start out with, and your first couple of coats just soaked in and acted mostly as a sealer, which is OK.

It depends on the product, and I'm not familiar with the Interlux varnish, although I've used a lot of their other finishing products and paints with good success. You might want to contact them about your experience.

If you're looking for the classic glossy "mirror" type finish (what I call "floating furniture") it might take quite a few coats, especially if you do aggressive sanding between coats. Most varnishes recommend that you do some sanding between coats. I've found a little finish sanding goes a long way, as long as you give the previous coat some "tooth" to allow the next coat to adhere properly. I don't sand at all after the final coat--and I don't think you're supposed to.

Some people like to use a wood filler product to close up the grain and make it more smooth before varnishing. I'm not a big fan of that. If you don't use it though, there will probably be a little texture from the grain on the final finish. I think it looks good that way!

Hope this helps.