Varnish, to do a very specific job.

[Allan]

Hi all,
I'm just about to make some new floorboards for my Avon dinghy. The boards will be made from 9mm marine ply. I would like to coat them with something to protect the ply. Obviously they could spend time immersed in seawater or freshwater. Are there any recent products that I could use? Skipper says "nothing must come off on clothing". Apart from that I'm open to thoughts.
Allan

 

[dansaskip]

Perhaps give them 2 or 3 coats of epoxy first - that should seal them then varnish or paint to finish.

 

[Crazy-Diamond]

International Woodskin would be my choice. I've found it better than the other yacht varnishes, and as it keeps some flexibility it will not crack off. Super easy to coat over in the future too.

 

[[70521]]

I replaced my wooden floorboards years ago with plastic ones. Zero maintenance and they don't rot.

 

[Rum Run]

Perhaps give them 2 or 3 coats of epoxy first - that should seal them then varnish or paint to finish.

This is what I did. Take particular care to put multiple coats of epoxy on the edges as there is end grain which sucks up water.
Did it years ago and still OK.
9mm Birch ply is plenty good enough, and most "marine" ply is as marine as packaging cardboard unless bought from Robbins at proper yacht prices

 

[jdc]

I use grey Danboline on my new boards - made from 9mm ply just like yours. Seems fine after a year of the usual intermittent use.

I agree that ordinary ply from Travis-Perkins will be fine but I'm not sure it's worth a great deal of time or fancy paints; they take only a few minutes to make with a jig saw and router so simply replacing them every 4 years or so is rather less cost and effort.

 

[Allan]

Many thanks for your replies. I had hoped someone may had said "this new product is the dog's danglies" but it seems things are still as they have been for a while. Never mind I'll get some old stuff out of the box!
Many thanks again.
Allan