Transom refinish

Some 'pretty-work today. The Transom is all grey and faded out, so I decided to go ahead and start refinishing it. Foolishly, I forgot to take a picture before I started, but here's a picture with just the bottom foot or so rough-sanded, showing the state it was all in to begin with....

And here's a close-up showing how the wood cleans up...

The discoloration, though, was just on the surface, so it didn't take much to get it nice. I sanded it first with 120 grit, then 180, and finished off with 220.

I decided to go with a two-part tinted varnish from "Signature Finish", in their honey teak color, since it's a nice light color. Here it is with the first coat applied.

And here after a second. I used an ultra-fine 3M polishing pad between coats, not sure what the grit technically is.

This picture looks darker, but the varnish is still wet. The color is paler than this. So, finally, here it is all finished, dry, and on a sunny day.

And here's another picture of it finished off, showing a nice gloss.