Toerail Varnish Strategy?

[jviss]

Greetings.

The teak toerail on my boat really needs to me scraped and varnished. I have never been able to get around to it, as we just launch it in the Spring, and it's seemingly tough to get done on the mooring, mostly because even the slightest amount of wind blows the varnish off the brush.

I wonder how other folks have dealt with this. Maybe I'm just hoping for a miracle, but perhaps someone's developed a technique for treating the toerail that escapes my imagination. This would include the stripping as well as the coating.

Thanks very much.

 

[sail sfbay]

tape off, strip varnish, sand then apply Semco natural sealant with a brush or rag...............repeat applications are easy.

 

[jon hansen]

this is the bible on such

 

[Rick486]

Greetings.

The teak toerail on my boat really needs to me scraped and varnished. I have never been able to get around to it, as we just launch it in the Spring, and it's seemingly tough to get done on the mooring, mostly because even the slightest amount of wind blows the varnish off the brush.

I wonder how other folks have dealt with this. Maybe I'm just hoping for a miracle, but perhaps someone's developed a technique for treating the toerail that escapes my imagination. This would include the stripping as well as the coating.

Thanks very much.

Hire a guy to do it. I messed around with lots of teak trim on my Pearson 39 for years. Finally, I just hired some guys who did varnish restoration for a living. They did a beautiful job and allowed me to keep it up rather than trying to salvage it. And I remember Westport Harbor as "exciting". I ran over a moored dinghy there once....needed a diver to untangle the mess....

 

[jviss]

View attachment 204097

this is the bible on such

I own that book but haven't finished reading it - just made a slight dent in it so far.

 

[jviss]

Hire a guy to do it. I messed around with lots of teak trim on my Pearson 39 for years. Finally, I just hired some guys who did varnish restoration for a living. They did a beautiful job and allowed me to keep it up rather than trying to salvage it. And I remember Westport Harbor as "exciting". I ran over a moored dinghy there once....needed a diver to untangle the mess....

Do you know some guys to do it? Please let me know, PM me if you wish.

Yea, Westport can be scary, but with some local knowledge it's not bad. Only thing is, the shoals move around every year. Last year there was a red and green only about a boat length apart.

 

[TomY]

Greetings.

The teak toerail on my boat really needs to me scraped and varnished. I have never been able to get around to it, as we just launch it in the Spring, and it's seemingly tough to get done on the mooring, mostly because even the slightest amount of wind blows the varnish off the brush.

I wonder how other folks have dealt with this. Maybe I'm just hoping for a miracle, but perhaps someone's developed a technique for treating the toerail that escapes my imagination. This would include the stripping as well as the coating.

Thanks very much.

The only way to comfortably strip or finish toe rails is using staging. Nothing fancy, it can be saw horses and or step ladders to safely support a plank (within safe height limits). The goal is to get into a comfortable height that makes the work pleasant compared to struggling at odd heights on ladders or working from the deck.

To make short work of it, talk some friends into helping.

 

[jviss]

The only way to comfortably strip or finish toe rails is using staging. Nothing fancy, it can be saw horses and or step ladders to safely support a plank (within safe height limits). The goal is to get into a comfortable height that makes the work pleasant compared to struggling at odd heights on ladders or working from the deck.

To make short work of it, talk some friends into helping.

View attachment 204101

You're fortunate to have such good friends!

 

[berner73]

Well, I certainly haven't figured it all out yet, but the good thing about finishing your toerails is that it will give you ample opportunity to practice, practice, practice over the subsequent seasons.

We used to keep the boat at a slip and that made the job very manageable. Now we're on a mooring and it's a chore to try and do it on the ball. As a result, we've migrated any rail work to an off season project while the boat is on the hard. However, this year we're also replacing the lifelines before we launch and I have to say, working on the toerails w/o the lifelines up is exponentially easier. For our boat, it's a piece of cake to remove the lifelines and I think it would make doing the job on a mooring much more manageable.

In the end, I think Rick486 might have the right idea provided one can stay ahead of maintenance coats.

Good luck and take pictures. Nothing looks as nice as a freshly varnished boat.

 

[TomY]

You're fortunate to have such good friends!

I wish! Not my boat, a shot of a nice boat staging set up. Working at a comfortable position is half the battle.

 

[RoyS]

There is something wrong with us...