cetol on dunphy hull-help!

[northwoods]

I just bought a 16 foot dunphy robalo to flyfish for muskies and northerns. The guy i bought it from coated the hull with sikkens cetol. I assume i have to remove that. Should I glass the hull or seal in some other way and paint? I want the boat to look nice and perform well but i am not going to get crazy about original restore. Any help would be appreciated.

[PAR]

Cetol is translucent paint. It lets some of the wood grain show through, but has much higher UV protection then more traditional clear finishes. Personally, I hate the look of Cetol, but some like it.

If you're looking for a good looking, easy to care for boat, paint it. Clear finishes are very difficult to keep looking good. Paint is a much better protection system.

You can 'glass over the hull, but it's a lot of effort to get a smooth finish, which then has to be painted (unless you use very light weight fabric). If you're going to 'glass the boat, then all the finishes, paint varnish, everything in the 'glassed areas has to come off the boat. This in itself should dissuade you from attempting it, as it's a lot of scraping, sanding and smoothing.

For river fishing, where rocks, dragging over the shoals and other "mishaps" are likely, paint will be the easiest to fix and keep looking good.

[northwoods]

Thanks for the quick response PAR. I agree that the color seems a little red and I wouldn't finish my furniture with it but I can live with it if it will perform. I read a post elsewhere that stated to only use it above waterline. Can I paint over it or do I have to strip first? Northwoods

[PAR]

Yep, you can paint over it if it's in good shape. Just scuff the gloss off and prime. I don't use the stuff, but I imagine it's much like most single part polyurethanes and doesn't like to live under water.