Varnishing Dinghy Interior

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wilfbishop1
Posts: 23
Joined: Wed Sep 15, 2010 6:12 pm

Varnishing Dinghy Interior

Post by wilfbishop1 »

I am finally at the varnishing stage for my restored 19550's Fairey Duckling sailing dinghy which is one of the relatively rare ones with a centreboard rather than a daggerboard. I have used the Deks Olje (DO) oil-based treatment on larger wooden boats over a number of years and find the durability and simple restoration of the finish to be very good where DO never "lifts" from a surface. However I found from experience that the DO treatment does not work well when it is used on surfaces that are immersed or exposed to water such as hull exteriors & transom.

So I intend to treat the Duckling transom with conventional yacht varnish and DO treat the hull interior. Does anyone have relevant experience of using DO on dinghy interiors please?

Wilf Bishop
Fairey Duckling
Michael4
Posts: 504
Joined: Fri Jan 03, 2014 5:25 pm
Location: West Sussex

Re: Varnishing Dinghy Interior

Post by Michael4 »

Yes. I have used it but only once on the inside of a dinghy.

DO2 is surprisingly slippery when wet. It also wears quite easily on thwarts etc, seems softer than 'normal' varnish.

Having said that it is easy to retouch the inevitable bashes and scrapes.

To be honest I wouldn't use it again inside a dinghy.

Other will have differing opinions, indeed when it comes to varnish everyone has an opinion!
Tideway 206
11+
Sold the 'Something bigger and plastic', it never got used.
JohnO
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Apr 05, 2023 5:15 am

Re: Varnishing Dinghy Interior

Post by JohnO »

Thought I would say hi

I saw your post re varnish and can only comment that I have had best results with multiple thinned coats of Epifanes varnish

I am writing mostly to explain I have on a whim bought two Ducklings to rescue

I have a list of bits and pieces I am searching for

In particular for the first boat I am looking for a bronze mainsheet horse. Early GPS and I think Albacores had similar.

The other missing item is a tan jib even if it’s one that needs cutting down to Duckling size

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Regards

John
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