Oh forgot to ask:
I do have a small amount of top surfaces and brightwork that live in the sun all year round uncovered.
Classic Boat have been really pushing Colean (is that spelling right) as a compleat wonder-varnish that almost lasts for ever.
Any thoughts?
Any experience?
Can it really be worth that amount of dosh?
eib
Oh - and what about Colean?
Re: Oh - and what about Colean?
I am the chap mainly responsible for Classic Boat's espousal of Coelan.
Here are a couple of pictures of my non-CVRDA-eligible tender which give an idea:
I built this in 1991; this is a three year old finish; the boat has lived outside, without a cover of any sort, all the time, and has been afloat for more than half of its life:
and here by contrast is the inside of the same part of the boat where I have scraped back the epoxy and 2-pot poly in way of the impact cracks - which are invisible on the outside:
I am a huge fan of this stuff in the right place - it looks good and is very very resistant to UV light and ordinary damage, but its real merit is that it is, and remains, elastic, so it is far better than two pack poly with or without epoxy as a varnish type coating for solid timber which moves as the moisture content varies.
Its main use aboard a CVRDA dinghy would be on a wooden mast, since it is so very much tougher than varnish. It is a brute to rub down (it can be done) and it can take a reasonable finish but one will not get a "racing dinghy finish".
It comes off with a hot air gun and a sharp scraper.
THIN IT before application and thow the brush away afterwards...cheap brushes are OK as it self levels very well.
It should not be used below the waterline but would be fine for a dry sailed clinker boat (absolutely no more leaks...)
Here are a couple of pictures of my non-CVRDA-eligible tender which give an idea:
I built this in 1991; this is a three year old finish; the boat has lived outside, without a cover of any sort, all the time, and has been afloat for more than half of its life:
and here by contrast is the inside of the same part of the boat where I have scraped back the epoxy and 2-pot poly in way of the impact cracks - which are invisible on the outside:
I am a huge fan of this stuff in the right place - it looks good and is very very resistant to UV light and ordinary damage, but its real merit is that it is, and remains, elastic, so it is far better than two pack poly with or without epoxy as a varnish type coating for solid timber which moves as the moisture content varies.
Its main use aboard a CVRDA dinghy would be on a wooden mast, since it is so very much tougher than varnish. It is a brute to rub down (it can be done) and it can take a reasonable finish but one will not get a "racing dinghy finish".
It comes off with a hot air gun and a sharp scraper.
THIN IT before application and thow the brush away afterwards...cheap brushes are OK as it self levels very well.
It should not be used below the waterline but would be fine for a dry sailed clinker boat (absolutely no more leaks...)
F 3163 "Aquarius",
IC K229 nameless for the time being
I14 K377 "Mercury" - long term rebuild project