Bristol-Blue Lake Michigan Sailing Adventures

Sometimes refinishing is not the way to go. Our Mirage 24's teak handrails have been in pretty rough shape and I decided it was time to do something before I get a splinter in my hand. While they seem sturdy enough they are starting to crack and show their age I removed one and started to sand it but by the time I get it looking good, It will be pretty thin in some areas. It is time for them to go. One of the things about owning a boat is sometimes you can't just find the part you need right off the shelf.  I went down to Wolf's Marina and they had several of these grab handles in stock but none of them fit my boat so It's time to fabricate something.   For $15.00 I found this teak block in Wolf's scrap area. A crazy bargain for this bock. I was able to get my brother to rip it down on his table saw into pieces for me.     Next, I set up my belt sander and band saw and got to work. The pieces started taking shape pretty quickly.  To get the hand grip...

This year I have decided to switch up not just my bottom paint but I'm starting to phase out the varnish for teak oil.  The varnish does a nice job but it tends to have some difficulties holding up on horizontal services and the toe rails.  The other problem I tend to run into with the varnish is the need to have several good warm days to apply it.  My plan is to have the boat in the water sometime in the next week and frankly we've only had a few days that would have been warm enough to varnish. This season, I have moved to a mixed medium; some areas varnish and some teak oil.  By next season I expect all of the wood work on the boat will be switched over.  I have been pleasantly surprised how well the two have worked in combination.  The teak oil color matches very well and two coats of oil bring the sheen right up to the same level of the remaining varnish. Starting sanding of the rails. Nicely scuffed up peeling and flaking removed. Ho...