1. Use the full 4 digit year for everything you are asking your question about. Example: 1962, 1988, 2000, 2011
2. Include the correct name of your Whaler model. Example: Montauk 17, Montauk 170, Outrage 26, Outrage 260
3. Include the length when necessary. Example: 16, 17, 18, 20, 22
4. Do not post your email address anywhere on this site as it is already in your user profile.

Lakefront Retirement?
Dragonscape	#21  Posted on 03/21/13 - 8:49 PM
Member Personal Page Posts: 12 Comments: 0 Joined: 03/09/13	Dad just bought a place on Lake Rousseau; west of Ocala 8 miles from the gulf...very quiet, not a lot of traffic, limited lake access and lots of stumps, so not used by jet skiers and speed boats, fishing supposed to be coming back but will be end of April before I get to try it out
Monty Hartman	#22  Posted on 03/22/13 - 8:36 AM
Member Posts: 5 Comments: 0 Joined: 03/15/13	Hi, could not help but notice the quality of the finish on your mahogany. I recently put 5 coats of Captains Z Spar on the wood out of a 1970 13 footer but does not look near as nice as yours. Do you put it on with a quality brush or use one of the foam type applicators and how do you keep the ever present dust out of the picture? Thank you, Monty
Mambo Minnow	#23  Posted on 03/22/13 - 3:01 PM
Member Posts: 64 Comments: 7 Joined: 10/31/05	I bought a place in 2004 on the St. Johns river. It's pretty wide and has direct access to several lakes. Close by is St. Augustine and the Intercoastal Waterway - you can almost circumnavigate between the two bodies of water. Climate has a slight change of season in winter compared to south Florida and real estate prices are more reasonable. I plan to live/boat Cape Cod in summer and Florida the rest of the year.
tedious	#24  Posted on 03/25/13 - 11:57 AM
Member Personal Page Posts: 1072 Comments: 2 Joined: 09/07/08	Monty Hartman wrote: Hi, could not help but notice the quality of the finish on your mahogany. I recently put 5 coats of Captains Z Spar on the wood out of a 1970 13 footer but does not look near as nice as yours. Do you put it on with a quality brush or use one of the foam type applicators and how do you keep the ever present dust out of the picture? Thank you, Monty Thanks Monty! It came out OK - certainly not flawless, but it has held up well. I used the Z-spar Flagship for most of it - just using junky chip brushes. The Flagship built up quickly (I think I used 5 or 6 coats) but it was not really easy to apply - you had to lay it on really heavy, which meant I could only do horizontal surfaces or it would drip. Flagship is very thick, almost like honey, and it tended to leave brush marks with the junky brushes, but if I was careful it leveled out OK. For the final coat I used a decent brush and a different varnish, just a basic spar varnish from my local HW store. It was thinner and leveled out more easily. I scuff-sanded lightly between coats, and just dusted off afterwards. I did not seem to pick up too much dust; I wasn't terribly fussy about it and I'm sure there is some. Tim
Monty Hartman	#25  Posted on 03/27/13 - 7:06 AM
Member Posts: 5 Comments: 0 Joined: 03/15/13	Thanks for the info Tim.. You seem to finish about the same as I do.I met a quality furniture maker recently and he told me to use a sealer or filler before putting on the varnish and never use a bristle brush because it tends to brush the varnish out of the grain.He uses a better quality foam type applicator and his finished product looked flawless and just like glass. I love to buy the older Whalers with the mahogany in them and fix them up to sell. Will let you know when I try his method. Monty
fishrswim	#26  Posted on 03/27/13 - 10:39 AM
Member Posts: 168 Comments: 7 Joined: 05/25/11	A couple of tips for varnish. Depending on temp and humidity you should thin enough to get a smooth application and good leveling. Practice makes perfect here, but for a half cup of varnish you might use a half capful of thinner. Sand between coats with about 220 to level the surface. Use a tack cloth before applying the varnish. If you have a little dust settle on your work (and you will) just polish the varnish with a damp cloth AFTER it dries at least two days. Do not work from the varnish can. Never put thinned varnish back in the can. Chip brushes lose bristles in your finish. Use either a good brush or foam. Discard the foam ones after each use. Be aware that varnish is habit forming and once hooked it's almost impossible to kick the habit. I speak from experience.
Joe Kriz	#27  Posted on 03/27/13 - 11:28 AM
Site Owner Personal Page Personal Album Photo Albums Project Albums Posts: 11447 Comments: 452 Joined: 03/18/05	Funny how the conversation went from "Lakefront Retirement" to "Varnish".
Monty Hartman	#28  Posted on 03/27/13 - 2:00 PM
Member Posts: 5 Comments: 0 Joined: 03/15/13	I caused that. How about this. I do all my varnish work on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay in Yorktown Va. This area is also a great place to retire with access to the bay, the ocean , and many inland rivers as well as lakes. If you happen to be retired from the military there are many bases such as Langley, Fort Eustis, Fort Monroe and a large Navy presence. You can fish close to the shore in the bay and catch as many as 10 or 12 varieties of fish most of which are good to eat.The rockfish population in booming and it is common to catch 50 pounders as well as 300 lb bluefin tuna right outside the Che's. Bay Bridge Tunnel in the late season and you can do that in a 17 ft whaler on most days. Hope this helps. Didn't mean to side track everyone..
Joe Kriz	#29  Posted on 03/27/13 - 2:44 PM
Site Owner Personal Page Personal Album Photo Albums Project Albums Posts: 11447 Comments: 452 Joined: 03/18/05	I was stationed in Fort Eustis back in the days. Went to Virginia Beach several weekends and even popped in a few Bars in Norfolk. Another trip was to visit Williamsburg. Nice state. I wish I had a boat available to me back then.
tedious	#30  Posted on 03/28/13 - 5:15 AM
Member Personal Page Posts: 1072 Comments: 2 Joined: 09/07/08	Without gong too far back to the varnish subject, I did forget to mention that the cheapo chip brushes do tend to lose bristles, so you have to be prepared to pluck them out. Clearly not the thing for a final coat, but I found them to work very well for the build coats. Regarding the place to retire, I have been in negotiations with my wife, and so far, she's not happy with the idea of leaving New England. Pointing out that living lakeside down south compares favorably to living in a shack and eating cat food in New England so far has had little effect, but I am working on it. Tim
Mambo Minnow	#31  Posted on 03/31/13 - 8:54 AM
Member Posts: 64 Comments: 7 Joined: 10/31/05	Tedious, I understand your pain. I am the only one in my family that has left Mass. and the only way I got around that problem was marrying a Virginian. There is certainly a lot of money to be made in the Northeast, but the high cost of living offsets. We are a colloquial lot of people, and you can't get folks to think of leaving without a stick of dynamite. At best, get her to think of being a snow bird. So many Bostonians go to Ft Myers/Naples area and follow the Red Sox down. "Truck Day" when the team equipment trucks leave Fenway for Florida is a celebrated city event!