Varnish repairs

This year I have at learned the hard way that it is not particularly wise to leave your wooden boat uncovered for too long in the winter weather…

However, I can not complain about the durability of the Epifanes varnish. Considering how much it rained in November and December, the damages are relatively few, only a total of 14 small spots and a couple of slightly larger ones under the side windows. Most of the varnish still looks as good as new, and repairing the spots is not a major task.

The reoccurring damage under the side windows is due to a not well thought-through construction of the sliding windows, so I need to think of a better solution. A large part of the problem is that there is no drainage of the brass rail, and it is difficult to seal the screws that hold it in place well enough so they don't leak. I wonder if the brass rails can be replaced with teak rails - then they can be glued in properly, and the oil in the wood will lubricate the windows, so they don't get stuck. I don't know, it will not be made this year, so there will be plenty of time to think about a good solution

I have decided to renovate the bow emblem this year, it has so much varnish that it no longer looks nice - patina is a good thing, but it can be too much. So I scraped off all the dirt and painted the face of the letters and figures with gold paint. So now it just needs 10 coats of varnish - the picture was taken after the 2nd coat.

The stern hatch, which I skipped the previous years, needs an overhaul. I'm in the process of removing the varnish and sanding it. It is a pleasure to see the beautiful mahogany get its reddish-brown color again as the sun-bleached wood disappears. There are a couple of cracks that need to be repaired, and I want to improve the general finish a bit, but other than that, it only needs varnishing.