And now you know why I don't have any bright work on my boats anymore.
Where do you get this Alwood? I’m thinking about stripping my brightwork bad spots and repairing.
Awlwood is an Awlgrip product so search online. Your local full service yard should be able to get it for you at a better price than online.
It’s not a product that you can use to fix just the bad spots, it’s more of a strip it all off and start from scratch product.
Back in May I went around all the cap rail on Sonas, scraped out and sanded all the spots, filled with four coats of poly, then went over everything with three coats. It all looked great.
About four weeks ago the varnish on my bow cap rail literally exploded! The varnish on the other cap rails is fine - the top coat is flaking a bit but nothing more than the usual Florida wear and tear, a light sanding in the spring and a couple of new coats will be fine.
The bow rail however looks like someone walked around and poured acid on it. I am now going to have to take a sander to it and bring it to all back to bare teak and start again.
Any ideas why this happened to the bow rail and not the rest? I was wondering if doing this in May when there may have been humidity in the air trapped moisture under the poly - but wouldn't that have happened to the rest as well?
I did have mechanics on the bow dismantling and rebuilding my windlasss but I can't see how they could have caused this.
First photo is what I was doing in May, others are examples of the rail now.
Wood expands and contracts continually, so its a battle to maintain any finish applied.
Any joints are particularly prone to cracking and then moisture ingress. This problem can only be cured for the long term by stripping all of it and starting again. Open out any joints as suggested to about 1/8" wide and 1/4" deep. Varnish as if they were 2 separate pieces.
Mask the joint after all is complete and caulk with black Teak Decking Systems caulk.
This will allow the joint to flex without cracking the finish."
I'm speculating a bit, but it seems there are black spots or streaks common to the problem areas. That is likely to be mould & mildew. Prep with sanding wont remove it all, there will be some that is in the grain, or just under the surface. The natural oil in the teak can feed it, enabling it to grow. Once it has cracked the varnish then it can really get going....
So I am thinking that part of the answer will be to wash the teak with both detergent and a bleach solution prior to varnish.
Lots or folks advocate heat gun to remove old varnish to minimise sanding. It is possible that a benefit of doing that is that the heat could kill the mould & mildew also.
What is the varnish that you use?
Coelan was available here maybe 10 years ago. I ceased using the Yard which stocked and promoted it, they were very enthused, kept some exposed wood finished with it on display,seemed to last and look good.http://www.coelan-boat.com/
I know someone who got this and like it a lot. Clear coat that lasts up to 10 years on wood. Anyone here used it? You buy the clear and mix in a color stain.
I dont know if you can buy it here any longer...It could be it was too costly and they could not sell enough for retail sales.