I've sustained some varnish damage over winter. A section of decking varnish has turned yellow and bubbly. It looks unattractive but can I leave it in this condition for a while, without doing permanent damage to the wood?

I'd rather keep sailing for now than dry her out and re-varnish. 

Thanks

Peter

I used to get this on my wooden Firefly (I now have a non-wooden Merlin!).

What's happened is that the varnish has blistered where frozen surfaces were in contact with it over the winter. Because the varnish is no longer attached to the wood, water will get in underneath once you start sailing.

The danger is that the ply on the decks will get damp and start separating, although this probably won't happen straight away unless the varnish is really cracked and flaky. In any case, unless you have a covered and preferably heated workplace, I wouldn't embark on any re-varnishing until the weather's a lot warmer and drier.

Hmmm it will want doing before next winter but you should get away with it for now. If it goes black scrape the varnish off, even if you can't redo it properly just yet.

If it was up to me, I'd get that bit off and touch in a patch, if you're not that bothered what it looks like.  It would be far better than leaving it.  Don't let water get to it as it'll only become more of a problem, and take more time to repair.

Got the samne problem, left boat bow up with what i thought was a good cover but it was non breathing pvc and obviously trapped ice under it. what is galling is that last spring i stripped the decks back to bare wood, then 3 coats of UCP 2 coats of 2 pack and 2 coats of one pack and still it has penetrated, o well looks like another excuse to spend a week in the garage

Thanks Guys,

Someone at the club recommended a layer of bubble wrap between the cover and the deck to give protection over the winter. Bit late for me this year.

I think I might rough in a temporary patch until summer comes along. I am planning on using single pot original varnish, which normally needs warmer weather for application, but I guess a few coats of badly applied varnish will be better than what's there now.

Thanks

Peter