This is the port companionway door I am trying to remove varnish from. We have never varnished these doors since we owned the boat. So that is about twelve years. They do not get much sun but are looking old and the varnish is a bit dinged up.
May 2020 - We were anchored in
the Bahia de Navidad Lagoon, Mexico
First I went around an area with an X-Acto knife to remove old varnish etc.
I thought this was glass. It turned out to be some kind of Plexiglass.
So I brushed on some paint remover thinking it was glass. Got a bit on the not-glass surface.
Now to get it off.
The paint remover worked well to get the varnish off arround the edge of the not-glass. I was afraid of using a heat gun as it could crack the glass. As it turned out the heat gun could have warped the Plexiglass.
Thinking it was glass I put soap and water on it as a lubricant and used a razor blade to get off the paint remover. Not so good as it scratched up the Plexiglass. At this point I realized it was Plexiglass. But it was too late.
Note:
These doors are only found on the 1978 Islander Freeport. After 1978 they put the glass in with molding that is the same as around the windows. It does not look as nice but these took a lot of work to produce.
So now we need to buff or do whatever to get some scratches out. We do not have a buffer. Possibly the guys at the super market who wash your car (Mexico) while you shop (and will buff out your headlight covers to make them like new again) could do it?
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