Well, your first paragraph is at odds with the findings referred to in my posts above. I have used porous woodstains, mostly Sikkens Nova for 10 years or more on a variety of timbers - teak, iroko, mahogany and Douglas fir on a 50 year old boat that I have owned for 35 years. It has way outperformed any other coatings - the mast was last stripped about 12 years ago and has been coated in Sikkens with just one refresher in that time. It is in perfect condition, the paint film is still firmly attached with no cracking. The only downside is that the Sikkens has a heavy tint so looks muddy. I am in the process of stripping all the wood on the boat and using Woodskin, which I understand is a very similar formulation, but little tint and single pack. Just finished the boom and it looks great, as do the mahogany toerails, rubbing strakes and teak trim.
