Varnishing Teak - Yuk!

Unless you're someone who enjoys working tirelessly around your house so that you can win the "Yard of the Month" award, you probably wouldn't enjoy the yearly task of varnishing all the exterior teak on your boat.  Some captains have a lot to dread, but in our case the Hunter 410 only has a few small pieces of exterior teak.  This past weekend, the companionway hatch handles received a good sanding and four coats of varnish.  We constantly have people commenting that C-Time doesn't look like a 15 year-old boat, and I think that small efforts like this one are worth the effort to get those compliments.  Of course when we finally leave for the Caribbean, we'll have to trash her and make her look undesirable so we don't have a problem with theft.

I read in a cruiser's blog last week about a couple who painted their dinghy's outboard motor bright yellow to deter thieves.  Our first sailboat, a 14' enclosed bow boat, was yellow, and we never had a problem with someone trying to steal her.  Maybe that's the answer.  Paint everything yellow so no one else wants it.  Nah.  We prefer the compliments.