Hope this is not too silly of a varish question?

T

toofast

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So the story is that I have 0 experience with "varish" and boats.

I have a old dinghy, that has a hard bottom wood floor. It has shown it's age, so over the winter I've reglued all the edges, and sanding is smooth again.

Question is, can I get "away" with using regular varish and polyurethane like you buy at home depot (I have the perfect color left over from a job at home) or do I really need to buy a $40 can of "marine varish" and then a $40 can of marine polyurethane...combined worth more than the dinghy.

What is the worse that would happen...just wear quicker ? Or would I have a gooey mess on my hands?

I rarely use the dinghy and it get's stored every weekend, so the wood would only be exposed to wet feet when boarding back and forth from the beach, 5-6 times a year.

Thanks for the feedback!
 
I'd just use the poly you have. The more coats the better.

You don't normally put poly on top of varnish.
 
Ok...got it.

Will just put the polyurethane I have, directly on the wood.
 
I can understand your problem but marine varnish is loaded with anti UV stabilizers that will keep the varnish from prematurely deteriorating. Regular varnish will probably peel within a year. If you insist on using varnish from Bill's Dollar Store, just keep it covered. As for the paint, any good exterior paint would be fine. I have had really good experience with Sherwin-Williams. If it is exposed to a lot of moisture, put some of their anti mildew stuff in each can.
 
Don't even bother with varnish if you won't do it right. Not being flippant, but varnish applied incorrectly will lift in under a year (as opposed to 8+ years done right) and is not worth the time you put into it (or don't put into it).

Better to use something else if you just want to put a coat on and let it be. Try cetol. As others said, the marine products are UV stabilized and that matters. If regular polyeurethane worked in marine environments with little fanfare, even for only a year or two, everyone would be using it.

If its out of the sunlight and out of the moisture for all but that 5 or 6 days a year, you will get away with much more. Otherwise, don't waste your time as you will just end up doing it over and the stripping is the worst part of it. No easy way to do it.
 
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