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[logoman]

I've a boat I'm restoring, and after a recent test in water I noticed that the varnish had turned milky where it had been in contact with water for some time.
I assume that this is because the varnish is not waterproof.
I think stripping the varnish with a chemical paint remover will be too harsh on the old timber, and so I hope to be able to give the hull a light sanding and put a few layers of waterproof varnish over the old.

will this work? what varnish should I use (I prefer spray cans)?

[aslo44]

Hi logoman, if I was you I'd try using T-cut to remove old varnish,( try it on an area that's isn't seen first) it's less abrasive and I recently used it to remove
the varnish of an old table "worked for me". Regards  Alan.

[logoman]

Thanks Alan,
any more advice on the right varnish to use?

[unbuiltnautilus]

I had a bad experience painting a Stingray Submarine about 4 years ago for a friend. I painted the various blues and silvers onto the model using Halfords automotive acrylics, and finished off by airbrushing a gloss Tamiya acrylic varnish. When it hit the water for the first time, as it dried out after the run it developed light blotchy patches all over the model, most noticable on the dark blue. This resulted in a fair amount of cursing on my behalf. My intention had been to keep all the paint acrylic on the model. In the end I airbrushed a gloss ENAMEL varnish on the model, this proved to be waterproof and it maintained its gloss finish through many dunkings. I have also hand brushed gloss varnishes recently, as I find the process of thinning the paint for spraying  introduces a slight matting down of the finish. Despite being a devout 'airbrusher' I find that you can still get quite spectacular finishes by hand brushing.
Good Luck with your restoration.