Another little job checked off the list today.
I decided to use Epifanes high-gloss varnish to seal La Sirena’s toerails for the season. This definitely wasn’t a full restoration job — no stripping everything back to bare wood, hours of sanding and ten coats of varnish. That can wait.
Instead, I gave the wood a light rub down, dealt with the rough areas and put on enough fresh varnish to seal things up and help the water run off through the coming wet season. Where the old varnish was still holding up well, I left it alone rather than removing something that was already doing its job.
It reminded me of a conversation I had in Ketchikan, Alaska, earlier this summer.
I’d bumped into a couple at the dock who have been living full-time on their sailboat in Alaska year-round for many years, their boat also has a lot of exterior teak. It looked really, really good, so naturally I asked how they maintained it.
Their answer was refreshingly simple:
“We just sand down the rough patches each year and patch them.”
That stuck with me.
There’s sometimes a temptation with an old boat to believe that every job has to become a complete restoration. Strip it down, rebuild it, make it perfect.
But sometimes maintenance is simply maintenance.
Protect what’s already good. Repair what needs attention. Keep the weather out. Move on to the next job.
So that’s exactly what I’ve done.
A couple of hours in the sunshine with Birnie consulting, a little sanding, some Epifanes and another job off the list.
The full restoration can wait.
For now, La Sirena’s toerails are sealed and ready for another season.
