the neverending task

Varnish looks pretty, but keeping it that way needs vigilance. It gets chipped, and rubbed, and attacked by UV light, so I went up to Robinetta today to give all the varnished teak a new top coat for the winter. That means rubbing it all down with very fine sandpaper, wiping it with white spirit, then coating it. Then it needs to dry for 24 hours without getting rained on, not to mention that the wind should be light so no dust gets blown onto it, and the temperature must be above 10°C, and below 20°C or it dries too quickly to brush out properly... Today was a bit windy, but otherwise perfect.

I also gave a quick coat of varnish to the tiller and winch handles, not to mention part of the bowsprit. Then it was International 100 on top of the life caulk I used between the bulkhead planks on the port side. I need to sand that down on my next visit (not this one because it would just have put sanding dust on the wet varnish...).

I really need to put a coat of sadolin on the wood that still has it, so it's protected for the winter (even though I intend to convert that to varnish next year), and the decks look grubby so they're calling for a coat of paint too, but that's a job for next time...