S6E3//Varnishing Tools, Techniques, Tips for the Voyaging Boat//

[@hebertcentrone6804]

that work is art

[@MichaelCilenti]

I feel like varnishing is a continual journey where I learn something every season. We started with foam brushes, then switched to a standard brush, but lately we've been using a foam roller. It seems to enable us to careful meter the varnish and ensure uniform coverage with each coat. Thanks for another great video John.

[@FarReachVoyages]

Thanks. Glad you liked it. I think it can be very helpful to be good at more than one technique. I'm always learning something new about varnishing. It's one of the things that makes it so interesting and rewarding. Thanks for engaging too.

[@jasonellis-bouchard5799]

Hi John, Thank you for sharing varnishing techniques and tips through another high quality video. I learned a lot. I also enjoyed the bloopers!

[@FarReachVoyages]

Ha! Glad you found useful.

[@jasonellis-bouchard5799]

I also just finished reading Rebecca Wittman’s book. Thank you for the reference. What a well written volume!

[@kwdriver58]

I'm going to admit to my ignorance up front, so this is asked in good faith. why do you choose to varnish over bare wood and have to repeat it more often/sooner vs epoxy then varnish as I've seen others do? and do you/why don't you oversize screw holes and do an epoxy plug (?) then set the screws into epoxy vs raw wood? as I've said before, love your work and choices, and you do seriously quality work.

[@FarReachVoyages]

kwdriver58. Great questions. Thanks for watching and engaging. The bow sprit and coamings are not made of teak or other highly rot resistant wood. The bowsprit is Douglass fir and the coamings are African mahogany. So they need to be protected. You could paint them as I did for the bulwarks (African mahogany strakes with Burmese teak cap rail). Maintenance would be greatly reduced. One of the advantages to varnishing the bowsprit is you can see the condition of the spar through the varnish. If it's painted you don't know what's going on under the paint without detailed inspection and probing. Plus, I think a varnished bowsprit also looks great. Same for the coamings. It's the first thing you see when you come aboard the boat or enter the cockpit from the companionway. Varnished coamings are warm and inviting--especially on a FG boat. With the bare teak cap they are not difficult to maintain. Painting them would be perfectly acceptable--just not for me. I think it's a bad idea to encapsulate wood with epoxy. Epoxy is not flexible. It can be quite brittle. It is the same reason using a two part LPU paint like Awlgrip is not recommend over solid wood. Wood needs to be able to move with changing temps and humidity. Epoxy doesn't want to give. Also, water will eventually get through a break, a fitting, surface damage, etc. Then, it can't get out. Varnish is easy to apply. It's has a little flexibility so it can move a little with the wood. It can be easily stripped with a heat gun. Epoxy is more difficult to remove with a heat gun, but eventually it will need to be stripped. It's the same reason I don't use two part varnish. It's tough. It lasts a long time but when it needs to be stripped it's much more difficult than tung oil based varnish. I agree with your thinking re the fastener holes. It's a good solution. I have done that very thing for the cleats on my cockpit coaming as well as in the cabin top of the Far Reach. At some point, I will probably go that route for the chafing guards. I'd probably use 1/4" G10 plugs. Then, tap them for bronze machine screws (probably FH 10-24 or 8-28) rather than wood screws. Choices....

[@lanetatom2701]

For copper shields, Instead of screwing into the metal, could you just make a sleeve of the same material that incapsulates that area of the bowsprit?

[@FarReachVoyages]

@lanetatom2701. Thanks for weighing in. There are lots of ways to protect the bowsprit limited only by one's imagination and desired endstate. So any idea that achieves that and you're happy with could be a solution. What may not be appreciated is the impact potential of a steel anchor on a wood bowsprit. There is a lot going on up there even with the anchor securely stowed when sailing in a seaway. When I used only leather and copper the wood was bruised (dented) under the chafing guard after my voyage home from the VI. That's why I modified it further with the epoxy impact plate under the leather. But whatever method chosen it has to protect bowsprit. There are boats with platforms and pulpits fastened to the bowsprit and all kinds of devices to keep anchors locked down and making handing them easier. But I don't want all that stuff up there because I'd like the boat to retain her lines and remain as simple, uncomplicated, and elegant as possible. Perhaps next time I take the sprit off I'll look closer at installing G10 plugs tapped for machine screws.

[@lanetatom2701]

. I am over halfway through making my own bowsprit. I will have to watch again to see how you dealt with your bow line up to the masthead. I made a square wooden donut and will have to come up with some bronze or stainless frame to connect the bow line from the bow to the masthead. But I would just be shoving the bowsprit through the donut is the plan.. so far.

[@FarReachVoyages]

Thanks for watching and commenting. It takes a while but keep plugging away. You'll get there. You find all the info on our bowsprit build here. www.farreachvoyages.com/blank-17/

[@lanetatom2701]

Gammon Iron! I was not far off in my thought process.@@FarReachVoyages

[@hebertcentrone6804]

we called that in Uruguay "rasqueta"

[@FarReachVoyages]

How do you mean?

[@hebertcentrone6804]

@@FarReachVoyages I was using that piece of flat metal to finish wood in 1970

[@FarReachVoyages]

@@hebertcentrone6804 👍