: I have a boat I built for my daughter that is skinned with #10 duck. The
: canvas is on and shrunk, but the weather has not cooperated (I work
: outside). I am getting close to vacation and the boat does not have the
: first coat yet.

: How many coats are required before the boat can be used? I would like to let
: my daughter use it during vacation and do more coats later if needed.

: The plan is to use water based varnish (Min-Wax Waterbased Polycrylic
: semi-gloss) and we have only 6 days left before we had hoped to use the
: boat. I have access to a damp garage that can be used if the weather
: doesn't cooperate, but it isn't as convenient.

: Any suggestions on how to speed the process or tips for dealing with the wet
: weather.

How bad is the weather? Most exterior latex paints will dry in humid conditions as long as they are not directly rained on. The first coat of your paint or varnish has the advantage of being exposed to air on both sides, as some of the solvent or thinner in it (the water base) can diffuse through the canvas. That should dry fairly quickly. The later coats will provide more protection, and if they are applied thinly they will dry faster. Spraying the coating on thinly will also help it dry faster. A good deal of the base evaporates when the coating is released as a high -pressure mist.

Perhaps you could change coating materials and save that varnish for later coats. some coatings, such as roofing coatings, are designed for use under less-than-ideal conditions.

If you can drop a plastic tarp over the boat you can gently heat the boat with a hair dryer to raise the temperature under the tarp and reduce the relative humidity, speeding drying. you can also set several (4 to 10) electric light bulbs under the tarp-covered boat. Wire them up and turn them ao and they will provide radiant heat that does the same thing. keep them at least 2 feet from the boat, though as they can get fairly hot.

Non-waterbased coatings can be formulated with some solvents which will evaporate very quickly under even the most severe conditions. I'd be leery of some due to health realted issues, but with a respirator they should be safe.

Or, as an extreme, re-skin the boat with something which is already waterproofed. If you carefuly remove the existing skin yo can save it for another year.

Install a PVC reinforced vinyl fabric (check Mcmaster-Carr at www.mcmaster.com and seach for "vinyl laminated" and go to the catalog page.) or you can also find neoprene coated nylon and polyurethane coated nylon there, too. A 10-foot long section at $3 to $4 a foot and the appropriate glue/solvent would be under $50. From a ten-foot length of the 60 inch wide fabric you could cut two triangles to cover the hull with a seam of insignificant thickness located somewhere near the cockpit. Check to see if they can ship this to you in 24 to 48 hours. That would give you enough time to install it before the trip. These materials come in several colors, too. That would save the painting time completely.

The deck can be covered with your existing canvas which is NOT coated, (when it gets wet it will repel water naturally for a while) or you can cover the deck with a waxbased material used for waterproofing tents.

There are many old-fashioned recipes for this. A typical material like this can be made at home from the parafin wax used for sealing jellies and preserves. Buy it at your grocery store. Use a vegetable peeler to shave a block of wax into thin shavings, gather these in a metal can or glass container, and add naptha to dissolve the wax. Stir until it is dissolved. Spread this over the canvas and the mixture will soak in. The naptha will evaporate leaving the wax behind, to seal the canvs and repel water. Some people use gasoline instead of naptha, but the danger level increases. Obviously you should do this in a very well ventilated area which is far from any source of sparks or flame.

Thompson's water seal will do something similar, if you want to buy a commercially prepared product. It is not that great for hulls, but it would work for a deck. Once you put on a waxy coating you are committed. You'll have a very hard time finding any other coating that will go over it later.

Just some thoughts. Hope this helps.

PGJ