Refinishing Wooden Parts (Rudder/Tiller/Daggerboard) on a Fiberglass Boat

[Spot]

Hello,
I came into possession of a late 1980's Sunfish (R). The 'guidance system' seems to be factory wood parts, beveled not foiled, with no additional finishing besides what they wore leaving the factory. I am used to seeing these either in worse shape or over-coated in layers of varnish with precious little sanding in between. There are a couple bruised portions, mostly on the daggerboard where it bumped boat and bottom. I am guessing they were stored indoors after sailing.

I am not well versed in the ways of marine brightwork, furniture refinishing, and the like. Any tips to get these in better shape? I have regular and spar polyurethane, clear epoxy, stain, sandpaper, etc.

Q: Would it be a crime against all things boaterly to touch up the bare spots with thinned poly and defer the real refinishing until after the season ends? Or leave them bare for a handful of sails and wait to do it right over the winter?

I also have a set for the kid's Omega 14 that are in worse shape that will need some woodwork before refinishing. I tried some outdated paint stripper on those and made a gooey mess.

If it pleases the court, Exhibits A, B, and C:

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[Wayne Howard]

Sail now, fix when the water gets hard. (Like I would know about hard water.)

[Spot]

 
Yes, we do have a long season of hard water here. If only I had a heated shop big enough for all the boats...I still would not be ready start of each soft water season
 

[Norm L.]

Three options?
Definitely strip it all. Coat over it just makes the ugly semi-permanent. Then refinish with quality materials. Which always bring up what is the best. Since those pieces will be protected most of their life maybe the best of the best is not important.

Varnish over the gouged area. Fast and functional. But if you have the tools and skills, I think you do have the latter, Cut out that section and replace it with like material, or since it is an impact area, a tougher material. I leave details on what those might be and how to stick possibly dissimilar materials together to people with some experience in that area.

Glass the daggerboard and rudder. If clearances in the daggerboard trunk allow. And it does add some weight.

[Doug SC]

This is an easy fast fix for your rudder damage. Set the rudder so the damged edge is facing up. Use G/flex 655 Thickened epoxy Adhesive by West System. It comes in two tubes like toothpaste, and you mix equal parts. When mixing try to keep bubbles out of the mix. Watch as it might sag some, but you can correct for it by leaning the rudder from side to side or flip it and prop it upside down. use gravity to help it keep its shape. After 15-20 minutes depending on the temp,it should hold its shape but keep an eye on it. When it hardens enough shape it with a file and sand paper. Here is a photo of what it looks like on the edge of a Greenland kayak paddle I added to provide protection.

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[Spot]

Thanks Everyone for the input so far!

Norm, the idea to add a more durable material to the impact areas is good. I don't want to 'make the ugly semi-permanent' I suppose there are more options, I was spitballing for sure.

Doug SC- I have made surfboard fins with a similar technique to get a resin edge/bead . I bought a 1/16" (1.6mm) slot-cutting bit that goes on a router table. I would set the height of the table to hit the center of the fin blank, giving a nice 'handhold' for the resin bead. My Greenland paddle has resin and cloth covering the bottom 2-3" (50-75mm)  of the blade tips. Yours is much more gorgeous with the bird and beaded edge.

[Spot]

I found this nugget of FAQ information on a Sunfish forum while I was researching how to dry out a wet boat...-Spot

How do I refinish the wooden style rudder or daggerboard?
You can use 60 grit sandpaper to get the old finish off (make sure you get all of it). Don't use the white 'no-clog' sandpaper for finish sanding - it's coated with zinc stearate, and if stearate particles get onto the wood and you don't get them all off, you'll get "fish-eyes" in your varnish. It's OK for removing old finishes, but sand afterwards with uncoated paper and wipe the blades down with mineral spirits or thinner before you start varnishing.  Depending on the condition of the old finish, it may look blotchy when you get done because UV light darkens mahogany; this doesn't hurt the wood, but if you find it objectionable, you can use a paste-type filler stain (like Interlux) to make it all the same color. Once you have all the old varnish off the blades, finish sand the whole thing with 100 grit and then 120 or 150. Don't go any finer than 150 on bare wood. If you are going to stain, do it now. You will need about 8 coats of varnish on bare wood; that should hold up for years with a top coat every spring. Use good varnish, like Interlux or Epifanes, not the stuff with a picture of a boat on it that they sell at the hardware store. Also get a can of the appropriate thinner. Thin the first coat about 50%, next couple 25%, remaining coats only enough to make it brush properly. Sand between coats - 220 grit after the first couple, 320 after that. Use a good brush made for varnish, at least for the final coats. If you can get the good foam brushes - the kind with the wood handles - they are ok for initial coats, but a real brush is better for the last couple of coats. The foam brushes with plastic handles are worthless. Lay the varnish on with the grain, then brush it across the grain, then finish by brushing very lightly with just the tip of the bristles with the grain. If you aren't sure of your technique, practice on a piece of scrap wood first.

Don't bother refinishing a rudder if there are cracks in it that run lengthwise. I did this, and during a heavy air race the board split wide open. The Sunfish Bible offers recommendations for reinforcing such cracks on page 344 within article titled "Solutions for rudder problems."

Hope this helps - my negligence made for a disappointing day for me. (-Anon.)

https://sailingforums.com/pages/Sunfish_FAQ/#How%20do%20I%20refinish%20the%20wooden%20style%20rudder%20or%20daggerboard

[Norm L.]

I liked the comment about not buying the hardware store vanish with a picture of a boat on it.
Back when I still subscribed to Practical Sailor their varnish tests recommended in the top few Ace Hardware spar varnish!  It wasn't the best but the best cost way more than the Ace product. As products constantly change, I can't say that Ace still has a good product. At least it didn't have a picture of a boat on it.

[Spot]

I liked the comment about not buying the hardware store vanish with a picture of a boat on it...

Does anyone make a real 'varnish' nowadays or is it all polyurethane?
I have been nursing the same quart can of 'spar' polyurethane along for many years. Last year I had decanted it into a half-pint jar in an attempt to keep it from skinning over.

[Riley Smith]

Yes, they make real varnish and yes, you are going to pay for it. THEN you're going to wait TWELVE HOURS between coats. The humidity needs to be down and the moon in the second quarter to apply. The payback is (relatively) long life if you persevere and get enough coats on the thing. I'd not use anything else on it but that's just me and I'm sort of machoistic.

And sooner or later you're going to have to DO IT AGAIN.

I just got done with refinishing the gaff and boom on the catboat. It had never been refinished since construction  and there were wear spots and dings from twenty years of hard knocks. As you are doing a REFINISH job and not from scratch, if you can lay your hands on a good scraper it will take a big load off all the sanding. You can peel the varnish right up. Now, I'm talking GOOD SCRAPER. I custom made mine from an old planer blade and it was SHARP. And it would peel the varnish right up. It would ALSO peel that wood too if you were not paying attention.

And then there's the sanding. The more time you spend on prep, the better the final product will be. Essentially you build a mirror as you varnish, and that mirror reflects light in a nice manner. The more coats you put on (correctly) the better it will look. There are all sorts of recommendations for brushes and varnish and I'm not getting into all that. I just use a throwaway foam brush and it does an excellent job. One piece of advice I'll give you is don't go too think with the coats. They'll run and you'll SAND SOME MORE.

A tack cloth is you best buddy. Insects were sent by Satan. As this is Mississippi and we have every known bug in the universe, you can expect it in one of your coats. I too would sail now and finish later, although varnish does not like colder temps, so keep that in mind too.

Good luck with it.

[Doug SC]

Oh, right you are about the weather, moon phases, and bugs. I don't have a place inside so had to cherry pick the days. Took all spring, summer, and fall! Some stuff ended with just 6 coats, but most had 8. What you wrote brought back memories I have tried to forget!  

[Riley Smith]

All those spars (and the mast too) took up ALL my shop space. For MONTHS. (I was retired once and could work on things whenever I felt like it). And believe you me that created OTHER problems because my shop is NOT a wood shop. It is a whatever breaks shop and most of the time there are half a dozen projects on-going. With a greatly reduced space, it made for some interesting solutions. And yes, the bugs find the varnish EVEN INSIDE!

[Riley Smith]

PS...I really wonder if the baking hot shop has that much effect on varnish and coatings. It gets HOT in that shop ( I don't hardly go in there in the summer months) but the boat is stored in there. Once all that varnish and paint is applied, it's on with the baking treatment. VOCs are baked away entirely and completely over a long period in "the oven" and no moisture contaminates the effort. That's gotta be good for SOME coatings lifetime points!

[Spot]

Thanks Riley, thanks Doug, thanks Norm. I got some time ahead of me until I will need them, need to lose 100#/46kg of waterlogging in the foams...

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[Doug SC]

Sometimes I wonder if repairing and maintaining boats are secretly why we sail!