A conclusion on Cetol

BCC Forum
1

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to follow up to a posting I made a
while back about Cetol not working. Well, I did
manage to find out something for what its worth to
anyone.

My BCC, Godspeed, is Mahagony with Teak bits,
rather than all Teak. When I noticed the dark spots
on the wood, I kept applying Cetol but the spots just
kept coming in faster and faster. It was definitely
some type of mildew or rot, I was never sure exactly
what. Probably a little of both. After 3 years, I finally
stripped off all the Cetol, down to bare wood, with a
chemical stripper and a scraper. I then switched to
varnish.

I’ve concluded that Cetol penetrated the Teak
and sealed it very well. It was almost impossible
to strip off the Cetol. However, it seems that Cetol
doesn’t work well at all on Mahagony. The Cetol came
off very easy, in big strips. It seemed to be just
laying on the surface of the Mahagony with little
if any saturation at all.

Yes, I did follow the Cetol directions exactly, every
time I applied it.

Well, needless to say, Godspeed is now up to 5 coats
of good old fashion Schooner Varnish and the wood is,
without a doubt, very well sealed.

Mark Gearhart
S/V Godspeed

2

Has anyone out there tried either of two products that were reported on
in Practical Sailor recently? The products are Honey Teak by Signature
Finish and a product by Smith Company called Five Year Clear
Polyurethane Finish. Both products received excellent reviews after a
30 month test period. Basically, they both use a base coat(s) of
penetrating epoxy and then several top coats of a polyurethane finish.
I sent for the literature on both products. They are pricey and seem
complicated to use, but might be worth it if the durability is as
claimed and reported by Practical Sailor.

3

Hello All,

This winter, I refinished my (teak) forward hatch with Cetol. Recently,
I’ve noticed that some of my wood plugs have swollen, and are now in relief
to the surface. I’ve heard that Cetol is a water vapor permeable finish. I
probably should have reseated my plugs with epoxy before finishing with
Cetol. I believe Mahogany is much less happy when “wet”, which might make
Cetol a bad choice. I have not yet tried coating any Mahogany with Cetol.
I have done my mast (Spruce) and gallows (white oak, I think). I’ll let you
know if anything nasty develops.

Regards,

Jeremy

-----Original Message-----
From: MRGEARHA@yahoo.com [SMTP:MRGEARHA@yahoo.com ]
Sent: Thursday, July 15, 1999 6:10 PM
To: bcc@eGroups.com
Subject: [bcc] A conclusion on Cetol

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to follow up to a posting I made a
while back about Cetol not working. Well, I did
manage to find out something for what its worth to
anyone.

My BCC, Godspeed, is Mahagony with Teak bits,
rather than all Teak. When I noticed the dark spots
on the wood, I kept applying Cetol but the spots just
kept coming in faster and faster. It was definitely
some type of mildew or rot, I was never sure exactly
what. Probably a little of both. After 3 years, I finally
stripped off all the Cetol, down to bare wood, with a
chemical stripper and a scraper. I then switched to
varnish.

I’ve concluded that Cetol penetrated the Teak
and sealed it very well. It was almost impossible
to strip off the Cetol. However, it seems that Cetol
doesn’t work well at all on Mahagony. The Cetol came
off very easy, in big strips. It seemed to be just
laying on the surface of the Mahagony with little
if any saturation at all.

Yes, I did follow the Cetol directions exactly, every
time I applied it.

Well, needless to say, Godspeed is now up to 5 coats
of good old fashion Schooner Varnish and the wood is,
without a doubt, very well sealed.

Mark Gearhart
S/V Godspeed

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