waterbased or oilbased

[melp64]

I have read and watched more videos on teak oil, oilbased varnish, waterbased varnish. There must be thousands of options on which to use. Oilbased varnish is about 115.00 dollars a gallon, which is easily found. Waterbased I cannot find anywhere even at a paint store. After all the videos and articles I have read this is what I know, Oilbase you have to use thinner to clean up and it leaves an amber tint to the finish. Waterbased cleans up with water and leaves a clear finish. If I use the oilbase am I really going to notice the amber tint from it??

[Noah]

Are you talking interior or exterior teak? Caveat I am a longtime oil-based varnish user, with little experience with water-based.
My boat is oiled inside and varnished outside.

Tips on Interior:
On a 1986 boat it started out as an oiled finish, not varnish. That may have been changed by previous owners over the years.  But, whether it is oiled now or not, you want to know about varnish so, here is my two cents:

I would not attempt to use water-based, over oiled finish, as it won't stick very well unless you strip or sand off the old oil finish. One "thing" that makes a good oil-based varnish golden or darker upon coat build-up are the UV filters. There are some brands that are "clearer" than others and/or make a specifically finish dubbed "clear". I am a fan of Epifinaes Brand. Caution: if you do sand interior to bare wood, be very gentle on the bulkheads as the thin veneer. All other "furniture" should be solid enough to take plenty of sanding. If bulkheads are water stained, you can use wood bleach. 

Tips on Exterior:
I would only use oil-based varnish with high UV protection.
Good luck

[Jim Hardesty]

Waterbased I cannot find anywhere even at a paint store.

Look here it's what Catalina used on Shamrock
https://www.targetcoatings.com/product/em8000cv-wb-conversion-varnish/

Here is my experience with it.  I liked it.
https://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,11319.0.html

If you use the search, there's a lot more information here. 
Jim

[Ron Hill]

Dan : Like Noah said your boat came from the factory with a oil stained teak interior and exterior.  I've changed to Cetol (oil based with UV protection) on the exterior, but first I cleaned the teak with lacquer thinner to make sure most of the oil is off the teak.

If my interior was dark and dingy, I'd clean it with lacquer thinner and re-oil with either dark or light teak oil!!

A few thoughts

[melp64]

Thanks Ron
I have taken all the doors and drawers to my house and cleaned them with turpentine. It worked really well, after all the work I've put into it I didn't want to put the wrong varnish on it.
I really appreciate this site because everyone here is working on a Catalina and not a table or a bench.

[KWKloeber]

Dan

I don't believe there is no truly ALL water-based varnish. Conventional varnish uses an oil-based vehicle to deliver the coating that cures.  Water-based varnish - the coding is emulsified in the water vehicle which then evaporates Just like the oil based vehicle.

See Minwax Polycrylic "water-based" varnish - I bought  a small can at Lowe's to fix some furniture scratches (Ashley uses polycrylic for its finish.)  I haven't used it yet but it looks very clear.

Interior wise, I exclusively use Minwax Helmsman semi gloss on teak and it's very clear and I do not notice it imparting any  tinge to the teak like my original (84) teak has.  Any coating will darken wood as it is wetted out but Helmsman doesn't discolor the teak like that awful Cetol does.  The other problem with Cetol is that it is a soft finish.  Any wear location (shelf edge, table edge, fiddle tops) the finish will wear off.  Been there, and tried that, and got rid of the awful stuff.  Yes you can overcoat the Cetol, but then what's the point because the easy application and easy recoating benefit is lost. You might as well simply use varnish in the first place and do away with the orange tinge.

Pick up a small can of the Helmsman to try, I'm confident you'll like the result 

The left bulkhead is 84 tesk, overcoated w/ Helmsman, the drawers are new teak.

[Craig Illman]

This is a good reference book: https://books.google.com/books/about/Brightwork.html?id=sTP1ndssg0AC

Brightwork: The Art of Finishing Wood by Rebecca Whittman