How to keep varnish from peeling at edge of toe rail?

[wikakaru]

Areas of varnish on the toe rail of my Typhoon are peeling up around the bottom edge of the toe rail where it meets the deck. I assume that Cape Dory put some kind of bedding compound in there but it is long since gone, and water gets up under the edge of the varnish and causes it to lift and discolor.

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I'm sure the proper solution is to remove all the teak, strip it, varnish it, re-bed and re-install it, and then spot varnish all the bungs, but that is a much bigger job than I'm up for right now. Can I just strip the bad areas, run a bead of caulk over the gap, and then varnish over it at the edges? If so, what kind of caulk would work best for this? Any other ideas on how to stop this from happening in the future?

Along similar lines, the joint between the toe rail and rub rail has been sanded down in some spots to where the two pieces of wood no longer meet. Any varnish that gets in there cracks and peels. What should I do there to keep it from happening?

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Thanks!

Jim

[Brimag]

You are correct that stripping would be best however you can do spot repair as needed. We use interlux interprime sealer after scraping and sanding bad spots. After that sand and add additional coats of varnish until flush . Also for cracks in joints you can seal with West System then varnish over. For bedding compound we use Teak colored Boatlife lifecaulk. Any upkeep is better than letting it go unchecked... Brian

[Steve Laume]

The problem is the water getting under the teak and then lifting the finish. Once you strip with a heat gun and build up another finish, it should look fantastic, until it happens again. You need to keep the water from getting under there. Brain gave you great advise except that I would not use epoxy to seal the cracks. Best case is that it works, and no one will ever be able to remove those pieces, without damaging the gel coat. it is more likely to crack and leak again. Then you will also have to remove the epoxy to refinish again. It seems like a tiny bead of brown caulk might be your best solution.

I have used varnish and Cetol on the brightwork of my boats. It usually comes down to just oiling the rub and toe rails as bright finishes don't hold up very well. I would rather have oiled wood than be a slave to the brush and be constantly messing with the rails, Steve.