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Old 05-10-2019, 02:49 PM   #3
debbiet
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City: Seattle, WA
Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 22
My husband and I used Epifanes for a number of years. He actually took a multi-week course at the Center for Wooden Boats here in Seattle so he could learn and pick the brains of people who know these things :-).

What we've learned is that it's not something do you and then let be for a year or so - the initial application starts with sanding to raise the wood grain (by hand or w/power sander). Then it was recommended that 10 -12 thin coats (thin w/mineral spirits) be applied. And scuff sand by hand in between each coat. After that, maintain annually by scuff sanding and applying 2-3 thin coats.

It's not that much work (our boat is 34' and we have cap rail, two doors, and brightwork on the eyebrow and flying bridge) - once you get the initial work done. The big problem, which you'll no doubt deal with being in BC, is the lovely wet weather we have in the Pac NW. Each coat could take a day to dry, and you can't rush it.

Epifanes does come in both high gloss and satin, by the way.

We found something else last year that you might want to look into: Bristol Finish. It dries super-fast and also comes in a high-gloss finish. We tried it and it weathered last winter (we don't moor under cover) fairly well. However we will still do the scuff-sand + 2 or 3 coats this year. The difference is we can do that in a day b/c it dries so quickly. It looks just as nice as the Epifanes did, in our opinion anyway.

Frankly - I'm ready to go for a Camano or Ranger Tug that has 0 brightwork. It looks so beautiful but it's kind of a pain.
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