I have discovered the hard (& dumb) way that varnish is just stupid for gunwales unless you love to spend your life on upkeep. The PO of my boat used boiled linseed oil, but it ended up so dark you could barely tell it was timber, but there must be other oil finishes that are more suitable. Being gunwales, they don't have to gleam like French polished antiques, but I do want to have a wooden finish that looks reasonably nice and is (relatively) low maintenance. I don't want the grey paling-fence look, even though this is the easiest.
Coelan gets great rave reviews, but it would cost nearly $500 for the materials to do my 2 x 7m gunwales. I would really like to hear what others use. I'm in Melbourne so the UV load is significant, but not like FNQ.
Cheers, Graeme
You will get as many opinions as there are sailors no doubt. But a product I have found easy to use and gives a good finish is the Australian Bote-Cote 2 part epoxy. A light sand with a 320 paper each year or two followed by a thin coat has kept the timber brightwork looking good.
Hi Wong.
We use Sikkens on our cockpit spray boards. It rejuvenated them from the dry, grey paling
fence look to nice looking varnish like finish. Tough and UV proof, however you will need four or five
coats to achieve the finish.
Outdoor furniture oil or decking oil. Apply as much as the wood will take. Touch up or recoat as necessary.
As Sam and Ramona say, use an oil, other than linseed. 
I have used Sikkens Cetol 7 Mahogany. It comes with light stains in it too I believe. UV resistance is very good which is more down to the stain component rather than the oil I think.
It is very viscous and will run like crazy. If it is your gunwale cap rail, you will need to mask it off very well with top quality tape on the edge and then mask again with the tape that has 1 meter wide plastic that folds out of the dispenser.
If you have weathered/oxidised gel coat and you have runs on it from Cetol stain, think 600 grit wet and dry paper to get rid of it.
Have you thought about replacing the teak capping strip with bronze half round strip?? An occasional rub with stainless steel wool is about all it needs.
we previously used sikkens on our gunwales and toe rails which i was fairly happy with though never seemed to get around to doing the necessary coat every 4 months the rest of the boat was varnish (bondall with goldspar for the final ) with a necessary recoat every 12 months but now use allwood by awlcraft a moisture cure polyurethane as 5 years is the norm for lifespan
sikkens may still be a good call for you as some people prefer regular recoating to cover minor dings to blingy look that varnish gives
+1 for Bondall Marine Varnish. I am using it on my UV exposed window frames. Four coats of it gives a beautiful deep lustre however I don't think it would be tough enough for cap and toe rails.
It is an Australian product. They only make timber treatment products I am told. I bought a 1 litre tin of it at Bunnings for $30 which is half the price of most other brands.
I looked up Awlwood and it looks like a good product. They certainly talk it up big. I noticed it comes from Akzo Nobel. They seem to own most of the marine paint brands.
For everybody's info:- www.awlgrip.com/region-selection?destination=products/varnishes/awlwood
ako nobel bought it off a kiwi company 6 years ago that had developed it for alloy yachts who built all the super yachts in aukland we have been using it at the slip for 6 years but have none about it for 10 and it definitely lives up to the hype 6 coats on my mast 6 years ago and we only recoated it before gladstone some fading but still good gloss retention it also brushes out real well the only catch is the cost but when applying it professionally that is knocked back by reduction in labour so not the product for everyone but ideal for some
As far as oils go I'm a fan of deks Olje, it was made in Australia by the flood company but no longer tho its still possible to find old stock, otherwise Owatrol is the same thing I use it on all bright work and timber masts and spars the # 1 gives a mat finish and the #2 is a gloss to equal varnish without all the fuss that a good varnish requires. If the directions are followed its far superior to to household deck oils
Varnishes and oils need re-coating regularly, a 2 pack poly will easily last 10+ years even in marine environment.
Only downside is it has to be applied on clean wood.
www.norglass.com.au/products/northane-clear-gloss
DESCRIPTION:
NORTHANE CLEAR GLOSS
A 2 pack, non-yellowing, polyurethane with outstanding chemical
and abrasion resistance. Water clear when cured.
Excellent gloss retention and fade resistance under extreme weather
conditions.
USES:
Aircraft exteriors, boats, buses, earthmoving equipment, anti-graffiti applications,
hospital walls and floors, furniture, fish ponds and food surfaces.
Ideal on timber, steel, aluminium and fibreglass as a durable waterproof,
finish coat.
Possibly a little off topic here but fairly relevant... I'm looking at replacing the timber rub-rail / gunwhale strip on my top hat 25.
The current timber is likely a species of teak and has rotted away in some areas and is brittle in other areas. I'm considering replacing it with spotted gum. The local hardwood supplier (Ironwood, Rozelle) has stock lengths of 40mm x 40mm for $17.50/m which should be easy to add a bullnose and machine down to 40 x 30mm...
Anyone had any experience with spotted gum or can anyone direct me to a decent alternate hardwood and where I can buy some?
Cheers 
Select to expand quoteToyboata said..
Possibly a little off topic here but fairly relevant... I'm looking at replacing the timber rub-rail / gunwhale strip on my top hat 25.
The current timber is likely a species of teak and has rotted away in some areas and is brittle in other areas. I'm considering replacing it with spotted gum. The local hardwood supplier (Ironwood, Rozelle) has stock lengths of 40mm x 40mm for $17.50/m which should be easy to add a bullnose and machine down to 40 x 30mm...
Anyone had any experience with spotted gum or can anyone direct me to a decent alternate hardwood and where I can buy some?
Cheers
I put a lot of spotted gum into my fishing vessel years ago. I bought a truck load from the local mill green. They cut it for me while I waited. Easy to work and bend green but it is very hard when it dries. Shinkage is not bad compared to other hardwoods. It was cheap, I cant remember what I paid for it but the truck I had at the time struggled to carry it. Few years later I replaced the cappings and gunwhales with the top grade treated pine. Sections of the spotted gum had rotted.
Select to expand quoteToyboata said..
Possibly a little off topic here but fairly relevant... I'm looking at replacing the timber rub-rail / gunwhale strip on my top hat 25.
The current timber is likely a species of teak and has rotted away in some areas and is brittle in other areas. I'm considering replacing it with spotted gum. The local hardwood supplier (Ironwood, Rozelle) has stock lengths of 40mm x 40mm for $17.50/m which should be easy to add a bullnose and machine down to 40 x 30mm...
Anyone had any experience with spotted gum or can anyone direct me to a decent alternate hardwood and where I can buy some?
Cheers
great stuff make sure you seal it well as it will bleed timber stain
Select to expand quotecisco said..
+1 for Bondall Marine Varnish. I am using it on my UV exposed window frames. Four coats of it gives a beautiful deep lustre however I don't think it would be tough enough for cap and toe rails.
It is an Australian product. They only make timber treatment products I am told. I bought a 1 litre tin of it at Bunnings for $30 which is half the price of most other brands.
Only just last week I found a 500ml tin of Bondall Marine Varnish in the cabin locker under the galley ( sink) .Never heard of it so decided to try it out on the badly worn tiller .
Sanded it back to bare wood ,three coats with light sand between and it now looks great.
Hi All,
I never followed through with the spotted gum. I'm seriously considering Teak but just got a quote for $700 for 18lm of dressed timber in a suitable size which i would bullnose and recess myself...
What does everyone think of Beech (white) as a more cost effective alternative? I would be oiling the finished product rather than varnish or paint... Comparatively about $300 for supply of dressed material.
Select to expand quoteToyboata said..
Hi All,
I never followed through with the spotted gum. I'm seriously considering Teak but just got a quote for $700 for 18lm of dressed timber in a suitable size which i would bullnose and recess myself...
What does everyone think of Beech (white) as a more cost effective alternative? I would be oiling the finished product rather than varnish or paint... Comparatively about $300 for supply of dressed material.
love qld beech though a little softer wears more evenly and 1/4 the price also ages to silver instead of dirty grey
Hi, I am restoring the brightwork on my Westsail 32. Removing the old Cetol has been some work but almost all sanded back to 240 grit now.
Next step, and hoping for the forum's experience and advice, how to finish?
I've liked the two-pack polyurethane advice above as seems lowest maintenance however I cannot find a similar product where I am in the Caribbean.
Would two coats of clear epoxy resin be worthwhile then a top coat of automotive enamel?
Or is it best to stay with trialed and true, varnish/cetol/oil?
Appreciate the advice!
Josh
My experience is do not use a two part epoxy......look great for a few years, but with the full sun you get blisters. It is extremely hard to remove, a heat gun and sanding was the only laborious solution.
I just use multiple coats of Cabots decking oil. Easy to apply, water soluble it washes out brushes, spillages etc. recoat every year or two or even more often as it is quick to apply, use with OO or O steel wool with a cotton pad is agoog potion.
