MILES OF MASKING TAPE

[commanderpete]

Ah, the joys of brightwork. This Spring I put on another four coats of varnish while my boat was in the water.

I can still remember how good it felt just after the final coat was finished and I pulled the tape off.

Just then the guy in the next slip pulled his boat in and tied up. We chatted for a few minutes, admiring my gleaming handiwork, before I drove home.

I came back the next day and joy turned to despair. The varnish was all messed up--but only on one half of one side of the boat. I sat there trying to figure out what sort of freak atmospheric disturbance could have caused such a calamity.

Then it occured to me--my neighbor had hosed down his boat just after I left, splattering water on my wet varnish.

I can't win.

[Bill]

It's that time again Gathered together my paint brushes, old newspapers, 60 yards of masking tape and can of Cetol. Spent the next three days alternately cursing and crying, but the teak is now re coated. Weather was good to great (not too hot - low to upper 70's all three days - and winds were light). Good thing that in six months I will have forgotten all the pain when it's time to re coat the teak, otherwise I might get me some of that SeaBoard stuff

[CapnK]

6 months - almost that timehere, too. I got some practice-for-pay last week on a boat in the marina, so that was a Good Thing. His was even harder than mine to do - varnish worn to bare old wood on most pieces. Some Oxalic acid for the bare wood, some 100-grit for the still-in-place varnish, a lot of elbow grease, and several curses for the swarming Love Bugs (which find wet varnish to be an irrestistable stimulant on which to do their "thing", apparently...).

Katie's brightwork was done differently - all taken back down to bare wood, 3 coats of clear epoxy (sanded after the last coat had dried), and then the varnish. They still look great, but I plan to stay ahead of the game and give her a winter coat. What woman can resist a free winter coat?

[Bill]

The six month fun schedule arrived as usual this spring. The weather, however, was not being cooperative and the Bay Area was getting drowned. Two weeks ago, I went to prepare the boat for our first IntraIsland regatta. When I opened the hatch, what to my amazement did I see? Laid out were the Cetol, brushes, masking tape and etc., but I could not remeber doing it

Slowly my mind recovered and I recalled spending one day at the boat masking and coating the teak around the entrance hatch and then laying out newspapers on which to coat the hatch boards when I returned. Supposed to have been the next day, but I had an allergic reaction to something, went to the Dr and ended up on prednisone, a steroid. Turns out, one of the little know side effects of the stuff is memory loss. People who take prednisone for allergies call it "half"heimers as opposed to "Allz" heimers.

Oh well. Finally, last Wednesday I began the masking - coating routine and completed it all by Friday (removed the masking tape Saturday), except for the four teak pads under the bow pulpit legs. Of course, things did not go as planned. The rains returned, but I managed to get the coating done early enough that any water mars are not visible from three feet away.

Only five months until the next fun session . . .

[commanderpete]

I've tried all kinds of masking tape. 2 week tape, 30 day tape, 60 day tape. THEY LIE. Can be a nightmare getting it off.

Tried electrical tape also. Doesn't stick too well, but comes off easy.

Might try this stuff next

http://www.jamestowndistributors.com...%5Epage%7EGRID

[Bill]

THEY LIE. Can be a nightmare getting it off. [/url]

Well, it is better than the "cheap stuff" from Ace Hardware. The "cheap stuff" will come off if you don't leave it on for more than a day, although what gets a lot of sun can be a bit of a trial. What the "cheap stuff" does that the expensive "blue stuff" does not do is to leave a sticky residue. The residue comes off with paint thinner, and in some cases a bit of hard rubbing. This is adding another step, but if your time is "no cost," the "cheap stuff" is really cheap, so a little extra time is not a problem.

[c_amos]

......Katie's brightwork was done differently - all taken back down to bare wood, 3 coats of clear epoxy (sanded after the last coat had dried), and then the varnish......

How has that held up Kurt?

I will be breakingout the pig's nostril hair brush myself soon, and wonder about how the epoxy pre-coat thing worked out for you.

FWIW, I tried it on my winch blocks, but used the wrong thinner for the varnish.. it did not last but I know that was due to operator error.

[Bill]

Finally doing the teak coating that was planned for June. Unlike earlier efforts, I'm adopting a new procedure: instead of one coat every six months, now it will be two coats every 12 months. That's the schedule used by the professionals who are coating the teak with Cetole on a friends power cruiser.

Although two once a year v. one twice a year makes sense, the real reason is to only invest in masking tape once a year instead of twice I remember the pain of masking as soon as I begin the process. A year will better dim the memory . . .

[ebb]

Admirable Admiral,
That sounds so good!
We've had nice days befor the wind gets up.
Perfect for popping cans and stroking the boat.

You know that Costco blue tape unrolls pretty easy,
why not roll it back on again after you've used it
and put it right back 6 months from now?
It's all sized right. Saves time. And money.

But yer happy with that whale oil, huh?
__________________________________________________ _____________________________________
Occured to me this morning at 3AM that
like our favorite rigger/writer BrionToss
you'd consider a byline titled
pieces of blue tape too short to save.

[Bill]

You know that Costco blue tape unrolls pretty easy,
why not roll it back on again after you've used it and put it right back 6 months from now? It's all sized right. Saves time. And money.

Now there's a thought. Might need to number the pieces and create a schematic of locations to be sure I got it right.