BOATING TIPS -- APRIL 1997
Interior Refinishing

Joe Coons

By the time you read this Skylark II's refurb will be complete.

As I mentioned earlier, Peter Lamb, an experienced shipwright, helped us with the work on the boat's interior. Pete shared his techniques for interior refinishing with us, and said I could pass them on. Here's his approach to interior wood surfaces:

First clean them thoroughly. We used "Nu Teak", a product that I told you about. For our louvered doors (and there were a lot) we took them to The Strip Shop in Ferndale, which processed them in their special dip tanks.

Next, sand everything carefully, being sure not to sand through the veneer on modern thin plywoods! We used mostly 320-grit paper, followed by 400. Always sand with the grain. (On new, raw wood, sand it with 180-grit paper, then 220, then 320, then seal it [we used Benite Clear Sealer], then use 400, then continue as follows for old and new finishes.)

Now, apply at least two coats of Behr's Clear Lac, a quick-drying sanding sealer and preliminary finish. After each coat, burnish the finish with steel wool (if you can really clean the boat afterwards to avoid rust) or bronze wool, at least as fine as grade "0", if not "000".

For a high gloss finish, varnish with Behr's Super Spar Gloss; less gloss, Behr's Semi-Gloss Interior; or lowest gloss, Behr's Satin; for all three, use a tack rag before each coat. We found that foam brushes worked well for big areas, but a good China bristle varnish brush is required for "cutting in" close to other surfaces. Be sure to have plenty of light: we carried a light in one hand while we brushed with the other much of the time. Or use Deft finishing wax directly over the burnished Clear Lac for a lovely, hand-rubbed look that's easier to repair than varnish, and gives the wood a silky-smooth feel and lustre. (Apply the wax only afdter your varnishing is done elsewhere: you don't want to get any wax on surfaces still to be varnished!)

We used gloss around hatches and on interior handholds and a few accent moldings; semi-gloss on other trim; and the Deft finish for the rest. It turned out wonderfully!

The key to all is perseverance: Judy sealed some panels as many as four times before she was satisfied with the feel, and it turns out that "feeling" the wood is the best way to tell if it's right! And note that every day included a thorough vacuuming of everything: dust was everywhere! For the final coats, it must be still air inside, warm, and with plenty of 30-48 hours of undisturbed drying time.

On Opening Day we will be at slip C-West-17 (if the docks are finished) and we invite you to come over and go through the boat in the morning to see how it turned out. Until then, keep the boating safe and fun!

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Last updated 8/20/97 by SCR