I was not impressed by the construction or finish of the Sawyer brand of oars. They are ok but it is fairly easy to build your own and end up with a much nicer oar from superior materials. One thing I noticed was the finish ,a standard spar urathane varnish. I have built traditional archery equipement for a number of years and have learned to master epoxies and lamination. Here is how to make a superior finish. Take any two part quick cure epoxy. If its a small job like a set of row boat oars or a rail on a boat you can just buy the double hypo of 2 ton for $1.97 at lowes. Pour the correct proportions of epoxy into an old glass mayo jar. Then mix acetone 4 to 1 or 5 to 1 with the epoxy and stir it up. You now have a finish that goes on smooth and will dry in just a few minutes. You do not have to sand inbetween coats. One thing you do have to do is work quickly and depending on the temp you may not even be able to go back over your fist brush stroke before it becomes tacky dry. You can use a foam brush or standard paint brush. The fumes are strong so ventilate. Put a layer of saran wrap on the jar before you put the lid on and it will store for weeks if not months. I mix up no more than I will use. 4 or 5 coats of this finish and you have a bomb proof finish on your oars. You can touch them up anytime without sanding.

King-- I don't know about your particular epoxy blend, but epoxy used for boats needs to be covered by a UV-inhibiting finish. It can be a clear finish, but it must be there. I'm guessing the goo you're using is the same.

I've been tinkering with rebuilding a small boat a little bit at a time, and I've noticed that sunlight is no friend to epoxy. I'm starting to get some peeling and flaking of unfinished epoxy coatings. Of course, the boat sits in the weather and in full sun, so it would show there quicker than on oars that are stored. This phenomenon isn't something that just I have seen; it's common enough that there are warnings about it on wooden boat building sites.

Keith

KJ,

I have it on archery gear that is 12 years old it does not yellow or crack. I have researched it a bunch on boats its being blamed on UV but my guess is that it is more the expansion and contraction of large surfaces do too temp and moisture reuptake. Think about it. Wood is hydroscopic. You remove it from an environment that it has stabilized at 8 to 10% MC and stick it in the water and get it real wet. The MC doubles or more even on the most sealed surfaces. Then you put it back in an enviornment that brings the MC down again. I have epoxy based paints on metalic surfaces with no real issues that you see on wooden structures. Just MHO. I also think that you need to touch up the surface every year on rails ,oras etc that get dinged.

I dunno, y'know.

The only experience I have with it is on my semi-completed project boat, and that certainly could be suffering from exposed wood and the re-hydration effect. Many stitch-and-glue boat designs are built around the idea that the wood is fully encapsulated by epoxy, so that moisture from the interior isn't an issue or shouldn't be an issue. I have noticed that on a couple of rods (stored outside-- I really need a shop!) with what are supposed to be epoxy wraps that there is a whitish discoloration appearing on the side exposed to light. I'm guessing your archery gear was stored inside, so that may be why it's not showing. And we could be talking about different epoxies as well... and the stuff you are using has UV inhibitors added, like most paints do.

My guess is that it will be a non-issue if you don't store your oars outside 24/7. If you do, you'll probably find out in a year.

Good luck on the boat-- sounds like a blast.

Keith