"DSK" wrote in message

My wife uses foam brushes... still have to be careful about bubbles, but
it's pretty quick and easy. I'm wavering on the foam brush thing, it seems
sinful to me.

Ah, yes, a Becky Wittman convert. I like the foam brushes, too, as does my
wife. That said, I bought a set of badger bristle brushes, three round and
two straight, this past summer. And I love 'em for varnish. The round ones
are unbeatable for getting into nooks and crannies, or along moldings.

... Then of course there is the issue of sanding between coats. Cetol
requires none as it bonds chemically to itself, but varnish requires a
mechanical bond between coats, so sanding is obligatory.

Actually (depending on the varnish you use) it's not. All sanding does is
produce a lot of dust and require cleanup. The pro we had going over our
brightwork originally gave us a lot of pointers on this. He said that most
people sand way too much and don't clean up after well enough. Bristol and
Epifanes both make a good high-build high-UV-resistant finish that isn't
supposed to be sanded between coats, once the surface is good.

Yeah, that would be Epifanes Gloss Wood Finish, of which I've been extoling
the virtues to Capt. Mooron. I love that stuff, mostly because it builds
much faster than straight long-oil varnish, and it's completely compatible
with varnish. I've never tried Bristol Finish, but some of the folks on our
dock swear by it.

If a boat with really sharp varnished brightwork parked next to you,
people would say "Boy that Sea Sprite sure is a pretty boat, what a dang
shame about the woodwork."

People who truly know brightwork would, indeed, but the average Joe on the
dock says, "Wow, that woodwork sure is gorgeous, but I'd never want that
much wood on my boat." Or something similar.

Have you ever tried Epifanes Gloss Wood Finish?


Yep. I'm not positive but IIRC that's what's on the tugboat right now.

The Epifanes rep I spoke with at the Woodenboat Show told me he uses it
exclusively now. He hasn't opened a can of his company's varnish in over
three years. The stuff builds exceptionally well, and levels nicely.


I've heard that before, and don't believe it for a moment.


Well, this guy makes a pretty good living at it and knows a lot more than
I do... I can't believe somebody would pay money for a pro job and want
Cetol but apparently a lot do (including two in our marina).

That would surprise me as well. We've got some pros (independent
contractors--not part of the marina staff) who do brightwork locally, and
while they don't hate Cetol, they do a lot of arm twisting to convince their
clients to use varnish. One of them, a friend, did the transom of a Grand
Banks 42 this past winter and it is absolutely beyond belief. Looks like
glass over perfectly-sanded teak.

We noted the road work when we were there last year. Not too many
bluehairs when we were there, but no doubt they'll come. They always do.

They're already there. That daily 3 truckloads of New York newspapers and
2 truckloads of froo-froo coffee isn't for consumption by locals.


We noticed a surplus of New Yorkers when we were then in Dec. '03. Everyone
seemed pretty laid back, though, and we're looking forward to being down
there some day.

Max

"katysails" wrote in message

Too bad they're making Tiara's now...what a comedown....but Max is right
about that S-2...that thing was FAST....smokin fast....BTW, Max, who ended
up buying her and where did she go?

We were planning to buy Last Dance, but the owners wouldn't part with her
until they'd secured their next boat. We found Clover in the meantime, so
when they came up with their new Hunter 410, their buyer was "gone."
Ultimately I think the boat was sold to a broker on the other side of the
pond. What's amusing is that their Hunter is as slow as LD was fast
downwind. We leave Senior Prom far behind with Clover, and I'm sure LD
would have left us in its wake. To weather is another story: that Hunter
moves upwind.

As for Tiaras, they're about as fine a power yacht as is built today.
Typical for Slikkers.

Max