1953 Penn Yan 12′ Swift CZT Hull Preservation Milestone

Yes, our bad. We’ve been silent on our preservation of this incredibly original 1953 Penn Yan 12’ Swift CZT for several weeks.

Our defense? Applying coats of Pettit Easypoxy jade green topside paint to her canvas exterior, while other crew climb beneath her flipped hull to strip, clean and apply multiple coats of Sikkens Cetol Marine varnish to her interior surfaces is just not the stuff of informative video reporting. However, this morning we blew through this milestone and have flipped her aright so our attention can turn to her decks, gunwales and transom trim.

Anthony has been preserving all of the released interior seating and other components while we have been attending to the hull.

Our next task involves folding small strips of 80 grit paper in half and sanding every seam just enough – so that we have nicely sharp edges and have cleared all old varnish and stripper residue from them.

Would it be “OK” to just sand the surfaces fair, run the vacuum along the seams and call it good?

No. Doing so means shortcutting, something we will not do. More critical, however, is leaving all that residue in the seams risks spreading contamination throughout the varnish.

Once we’ve cleaned the seam channels and sanded the decks and all related surfaces fair, they will be bleached, stained and then sealed with at least three coats of Smith’s Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer (CPES).

Varnishing is next. In that connection, Pettit has updated its product line and replaced its EZ-Poxy Hi-Build varnish with 2015 Z Spar Flagship High Guild Varnish. We cannot see much, if any difference between the old standard and this new product, but Pettit seems to believe it has reinvented the wheel, particularly as regards UV protection:

2015 Flagship Varnish is considered the traditional standard in the marine industry, with reliable service, versatile application and tough yet flexible durability.

Flagship’s blend of resins and oils achieves excellent brushing performance that levels and sands with the same outstanding characteristics as 1015 Captains Varnish. Flagship boasts the highest screening of damaging UV rays for longer varnish life. This is accomplished through an ultraviolet light filter in conjunction with a hindered amine light stabilizer.

These filters warm woodwork to a light amber hue which will enhance the rich, classic brightwork appearance. A deep rich mirror-like finish increases with each coat of Flagship Varnish, which has the highest build and film depth per coat. Each coat also increase the outstanding abrasion resistance of Flagship Varnish.