Ben 323 varnished bulkhead

Jan 22, 2008
16
Beneteau 323 Toronto ON
I own a 2004 Ben 323, stationed in Toronto. the boat is stored on land under a cover every winter. After last winter varnish started peeling off at various locations in sheets. Anyone has experienced anything like this?
 

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Jun 21, 2004
2,532
Beneteau 343 Slidell, LA
Yes, I have heard it many times. (Search the archives)
Evidently, Beneteau had a product/processing problem when applying stain & sealer to their wood products during that time period. Some boats had premature failure of the sealer and Beneteau actually sent their people to redo the entire cabin at no cost, when boats were still under warranty. Unfortunately, at this point in time, you will have to deal with this at your own expense. The failing sealer will have to be stripped completely. Beneteau recommends using Mohawk spray laquer to refinish. You may have to experiment with color because Beneteau mixed stain in the sealer that was used. I refinished my wood companionway ladder recently, because of wearing, and didn't like the finish result using Mohawk laquer. Instead, I used Min Wax semi gloss polyurethane and a mixture of stains to achieve acceptable results. On my '06 Beneteau, I have not seen any evidence of the sealer failure to date.
 
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Likes: Calif. Ted
Jun 8, 2004
2,841
Catalina 320 Dana Point
A friend has this problem on her '06 Bene 43, as BigEasy said Bene used a fancy 2 part catalyzed lacquer finish that failed. On her boat large areas have peeled and there are many smaller areas that seem to start as dings.
 
Mar 20, 2016
594
Beneteau 351 WYC Whitby
I don't have that problem ,however I did make some pieces out of maple and after months of staining and stripping to get the desired results ,I matched the colour . Minwax English chestnut 233 with Minwax polyurethane clear gloss (fast-drying) from a spray can mixed in. I did all my floor and it came up perfect with no bubbles or flaws spraying polyurethane from can . Everytime I tried brushing it ,it came out like crap..air bubbles , fish eyes ,etc. The mix I put on with sponge brush and then sprayed with poly from can after, you could not tell from Beneteau finish.
 
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Likes: BigEasy
Jun 21, 2004
2,532
Beneteau 343 Slidell, LA
The mix I put on with sponge brush and then sprayed with poly from can after, you could not tell from Beneteau finish.
Did you spray with poly immediately after applying the mixture or did you allow the applied mixture to dry 24 hours?

When I refinished the companionway stairs, I used a mixture of English Chestnut and a bit of Sedona Red. Applied minwax varnish & stain sealer after sanding back to wood, then applied the stain mixture with a folded cloth rubbing into wood, and allowed it to dry 24 hours. Very lightly hand sanded with 400 grit, vacuumed, tack clothed, and finally sprayed with the poly. Used some steel wool and Aqua Buff (Beneteau uses it) to buff it out. Very pleased with the outcome. I still need to go back and redo the bottom stair step ( that is removable) that I used Mohawk pre-catalyzed lacquer on.

I read on another site that someone took a cabinet door from his boat to Lowes and they were able to mix a custom stain tint with Cabot stains. My local Lowes was discontinuing the Cabot line and didn't offer the custom mixed stain service.
There may be some paint stores out there that do offer a custom mix on stains, so it may be worth checking. However, as Mechone mentioned you can get a good result with Minwax stains.
 

ToddS

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Sep 11, 2017
248
Beneteau 373 Cape Cod
So... I have a 373 (which I've owned for a little more than a year), which has MASSIVE amounts of peeling just as you've pictured, but 100% of the peeling is on the underside of the cabin sole in the bilge, or in the compartments under the main cabin seats, or inside the engine compartments, inside the aft-most cockpit lockers etc. etc... no peeling at all in "visible" places anywhere in the cabin at all. The extent of the peeling is way too great for it to be a coincidence that it is all hidden. Either this boat was refinished, and whoever refinished it only did it in all the "visible" places, or moisture from the bilge accelerated the process everywhere "invisible", or Beneteau themselves used a different product on different "sides" of the wood based on whether it faced into the cabin, vs. into the bilge/engine/lockers. I vacuum up the "sheets" of lacquer (or whatever the product is) from the bilges to keep things tidy, but I've been meaning to ask the previous (he's also the original) owner whether he knows more of the story.
 
Jan 22, 2008
16
Beneteau 323 Toronto ON
thank you all for your responses. I should feel a little better knowing that I am not alone facing this problem but I expect it to be an uphill battle. It is especially puzzling that it started happening after 15 years (I bought the boat new). I am somewhat experienced with boat work having built 5 boats of different sizes but matching this finish to the original will be quite a challenge. Thank you all again for responding.
 

DougM

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Jul 24, 2005
2,242
Beneteau 323 Manistee, MI
My 2004 Bene323 is starting to do the same thing. The first spot is on one of the table leaves where someone (who shall remain nameless) dropped a screwdriver on it and dinged the surface. Now the peeling area is about the diameter of a coffee cup. The top of the forward bulkhead finish looks like it may start peeling as well, just a matter of time. It looks like the beginning og a major project which would have to be done during an already too short Michigan sailing season. I was hoping I had one of the boats that wasn’t going to encounter the problem.
 

ToddS

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Sep 11, 2017
248
Beneteau 373 Cape Cod
Your question (and my prior response) prompted me to reach out to the previous (and original) owner of the boat to see if he could shed some light on the subject. Unfortunately, what is good news for me, is likely bad news for you... but I'll share so that you, and others on the interwebs are at least informed. Here's an excerpt from the email he sent me in reply:

When I purchased the boat (new), I noticed some peeling of the varnish. The Beneteau dealer in Annapolis took the boat back from me and performed a warranty repair. They called a crew in from France and the crew stripped all of the varnish off of the boat, sanded it and revarnished it. It took them about a week to complete the work. The varnish on the boat is no longer the factory varnish. When Beneteau gave the boat back to me it looked great. I don’t expect that you will have any problems with peeling on the interior of the boat. I do not know if they re-varinsihed the bilge etc.

While the previous owner can't say for sure, I can say with a fair amount of certainty that the "crew from France" didn't bother revarnishing the undersides/insides of places like under the galley sink, in the engine compartment, etc... which I can EASILY live with... and that they did an absolutely great job on the "regular" interior parts of the boat. Not surprisingly, it sounds like revarnishing all of the interior wood is a pretty significant undertaking. I'm glad he found it and complained while the boat was still under warranty.
 
Jan 22, 2008
16
Beneteau 323 Toronto ON
Thank you ToddS. I since have discovered many other locations with this problem. My first task will be to match the color and shine of the existing finish. The bare wood in locations where the varnish has peeled of feels like it has not been sanded, pretty rough. As much as I admire the design this is very disappointing. I'll send this little picture directly to the builder in France, see what they say.
 

ToddS

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Sep 11, 2017
248
Beneteau 373 Cape Cod
Good luck Adhara. I'm sure once you settle on just the right treatment, it'll look great again once you finish. That's a big job though. I'm trying to decide if it is worth (it probably IS) putting some polyurethane or something on the "hidden" surfaces that peeled. I would have the luxury of not caring how good it looked in those places... just thinking I should do it anyway to provide an additional layer of protection for the wood (from moisture). Seems like something I ought to do, but NOT something I'll let delay my launch for the season (next week). Maybe at the end of the year if it is warm enough after I haul... typically though, whenever my boat is out of the water, it is too cold to use paints/finishes... and when the boat is in the water, I want to sail, not spend the day applying polyurethane... (first world problems, I know...)
 
Jan 10, 2018
260
Beneteau 331 Halifax
Mine peeled, so I stripped the finish, did some sanding and painted the whole thing an off white. It looks great!
 

NYSail

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Jan 6, 2006
3,049
Beneteau 423 Mt. Sinai, NY
There is a thread detailing this on a 423 site..... bad production lot.