refinishing teak - varnish or oil?

[Don Craig]

Thanks, Clay. I definitely am a varnish chauvinist. But I try to have an open mind about these things. Might finish the taffrail with Armada this season. See how it compares on looks and durability.

Don- I have always been a varnish person as well....The maintenance of it seemed like a small price to pay for the appearance....I never really thought it took much effort...just some occasional touch-up and two coats at lay-up, either spring or fall. In any event, I am in the process of purchasing a CD 27 that was stripped down and refinished completely with Armada....I had my doubts until I saw it...very nice, and much closer to the appearance of varnish than Cetol...actually, I have never seen a Cetol job I really liked...I don't know how this Armada business will hold up, but it definately looks real nice...There's my two cents worth......

Maybe my devotion to varnish has something to do with an addiction to the fumes. Well, you're right on all counts--except for my newly-acquired Weekender is only in early stages of restoration and still looking a bit forlorn (garage presently converted to varnishing factory). I would add only that required varnish maintenance of 2 hours/week for anything but a boat under hard use and with LOTS of trim is probably a little on the high side. Varnish is a lot more durable and forgiving than most people think. And one other key point: A boat cover will cut brightwork maintenance down to almost nothing, not to mention protect gelcoat, deck fittings and everything else from the destructive effects of the elements.

Your best point is that most owners DO let their finishes go, and that seems to be true for Cetol/Armada users as well as varnish. A quick tour of any dock will confirm--lots of yucky looking trim. ALL these finishes need regular attention...varnish probably more than the others. I'd like to see a well-done, well-maintained Armada job (hate Cetol orange). Be interesting to compare. Hang in there with the coffee cup holder...

Don, I knew some varnish chauvanist would point that out. OK, I admit that it CAN be done if you're willing to spend 2 hours per week (!) on maintenance of the varnish AND you're on top of it the second it happens and you're willing to re-varnish whole sections frequently and so on. If you're that kind of a guy I don't think you'd be posting on this board asking whether you should use varnish or oil. Oil would be out of the question. You'd be spending your time shopping for varnish brushes.

I'm sure you'd agree that the vast majority of varnish jobs in any harbor don't get that kind of care. Most people let it go until it's checked and yellow and by that time there is no way to patch it without it showing.

As far as a base coat and 8 subsequent coats being sufficient. You're probably right. I just picked 10 coats out of the air as an order of magnitude. If only having to apply nine coats rather than the ten I mentioned tips the scales for you then I certainly think you're a varnish man.

Don't get me wrong, I admire a beautifully varnished boat just like everybody else. I varnished mine for many years and may yet go back to it. I just switched to Armada this year and so far I've been pleased with it but time will tell. It doesn't have any orangey look at all. A few things are still varnished such as the teak coffee cup holder on the binnacle. So far no one has been able to identify which things are varnished and which aren't, but it's only been a year and many things start well... But I wasn't trying to proselytize for Cetol or Armada or something else against varnish. Each has it's place for certain types of owners and I was just trying to give the poster a sense of what the factors are in making a choice. I'll bet you've got a beautiful and beautifully maintained boat!

[Mark Yashinsky]

Go into the archives (last year sometime) looking for the products mentioned. There were a couple of long threads on the (dis)advantages of each of the products and some that were not mentioned here (Honey Teak). A fried is doing the wood work on his CD27 w/ Honey Teak and has the tiller (two sailing seasons and a winter outside) looks fine except for a couple of tiny dings from the blocks on the traveler. Check the archives!!! This has been discussed before.