Megayacht interior wood finish?

[Billy Bones]

Hello all,

I have been approached to tackle some woodwork repairs and minor rebuilding on a megayacht sort of boat here in the caribbean.

What sort of finish does best under tropical conditions against uv and so on? The existing finish I'll be trying to match is high-gloss and quite deep, having filled in and rounded all inside radii quite a bit. It has lasted well, considering its age (10 years) but is beginning to show white at the base.

I am a professional woodworker but my specialty is museum repairs on antique furniture--thin, delicate and hand-applied finishes. This deep polymer stuff is new to me.

Thanks for any suggestions.

[hansp77]

Billy,
I probably can't help you, but a bit more info might be good.
you say it is showing white at the base,
Are you going to refinish the lot, or just match in what you have repaired?
What has originally been used for this finish?
If you don't know, maybe if you state the type of boat and the wood etc, someone might tell you.
I assume you would go for something like a two pack marine varnish. But I really don't know,
Pictures may help.

[Billy Bones]

Good idea, hans.

Attached, hopefully, are some images of a sister ship although the interior isn't an exact match it is close.

There is a counter that had a pop-up tv (now replaced with flatscreen elsewhere) which I intend simply to replace. I mentioned the white hazing simply as a clue to the style of existing finish, I doubt that there is anything to be done to repair it, and it wouldn't be cost effective to refinish 10 y/o cabinets, as they aren't anything great inandof themselves, and the hardware is no longer available and patterns have changed so nothing new will work without sustantial (costly) mods.

The captain's intent is to keep the bloom on the rose a while longer until a refit or sale come to pass--either are likely within the next year--I understand there is an intention to trade up to something >100'

[Oyster]

What sort of finish does best under tropical conditions against uv and so on? The existing finish I'll be trying to match is high-gloss and quite deep, having filled in and rounded all inside radii quite a bit. It has lasted well, considering its age (10 years) but is beginning to show white at the base.

In the beginning, this almost sounds like you have a searail along your countertop, and the raised area carries a thick layer of this finish? I bet that in the beginning, there was some form of an epoxy layer applied on the wood. If you are saying that the boat is 10 years old, and is such a large megayacht, its also possible that an epoxy style finish simular to Stephani sp? was used and sprayed on the wood. I bet if you with your trained eye can view this at an angle and tell if this is also the case. Whether you can now do this with the complete interior in, is up for further discussion.

This product was fairly popular in that era, and was used simply because it was completely clear in color. This was a criteria for much of the wood being used when teak was being discontinued and many of the burl maples and some ash was becoming popular for inteiriors. If you can send me some interior shots to my personal mail, if thats possible, then do so.


Also if you can have access to scratch the surface of the finish, the residue should be white when you sand it. If this is the case, then you will also have a very hard surface to sand, or even strip in areas that you may end up just refinishing. Follow up if you would like by direct mail. As I do have much time and do not get on this or any other forums much anymore.