Gentlemen, break out your fenders!!

[Bay29]

'79 Bayfield 29 here. Your wood looks little worse than mine and nothing has fallen off in the 5 years that we have owned her. Previous owner Cetol'd all the exterior wood at some point. I very briefly contemplated stripping the finish off and then very quickly came to my senses. Happy to keep using that product, gives me more time to spend on all the other things that require attention on a +30 year old boat. Oiling all the wood down below is enough for me.


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[Stu Jackson]

Welcome, nice boat.

Don't sand anything until you use this stuff or a comparable product.

WEST MARINE Heavy Duty Teak Cleaner Kit | West Marine

Buy and read Don Casey's This Old Boat and save yourself tons of $$.

[DuaneGraham]

Hmm thanks all for the advice, I think the general concensus is that it's probably not a worth while decision. So I'll check out some of the products mentioned for refinishing it and maybe only if I find myself terribly bored over the next half year of winter will I get too into replacing the really bad sections.

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[Seacod]

Hi Duane congrats on your vessel they're sturdy sailors! Agree with others most of the teak looks fine all needs a serious cleaning. Some of the turnings may have checked abit but after cleaning you can evaluate whether to replace or fill and seal as some suggested. Don't go crazy with expensive teak cleaners and treatments, west marine or local hardware sells oxalic acid crystals which can mixed in a garden sprayer at varying concentrations to remove stains and restore uniformity to teak also helps remove grime on the decks so rinse well but don't be afraid of it. There is also a concentrated cleaner call "LA Awesome" available at dollar stores which mixed 1 to 5 with water will restore richer color to the teak after the oxalic treatments if needed and is a super general degreaser for the boat. (I do a fair amount of boat woodwork and these are now my old reliables for consistent results. Experiment and observe

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[Seacod]

/ avoid abrasives or coarse brushes but finer scotchbrite good for cleaning fairing or. Blending. There are several tropical hardwoods equally resistant to rot. iroko heart wood is often chosen as a teak sub but most will not match in close comparison. purpleheart is hard as nails incredibly strong heavy resistant to rot and difficult to work. It appeals to all when purple but the color cannot be retained with exterior exposure for any satisfactory length of time. Think of it as "Greywood" My pulpit is purple heart and every time I do the teak I scrub it down, treat it to draw the tannins and it stays purple less than a weak. All finishes prove ineffective. Anyway you've got plenty of teak. Each finds his own limits with brightwork may your choices leave time for sailing! Have fun

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[Oceandeep]

As a fellow Canadian, I wanted to weigh in on this one...

Teak is the most beautiful wood you can use on the exterior of your boat. 1/16 of an inch below that grey exterior is a rich grain just waiting for you. Sorry that's 0.0015678 mm in Canuk terms. ( sorry couldn't resist)
Old sailors have a lot of collective wisdom from making lots of mistakes over the years. Teak is the "defacto" exterior trim wood on boats for good reasons. It's very durable and very forgiving.

Do yourself a favor and focus on one small piece. Sand it carefully with the grain . Start with 80 grit and move up to 120 as the finish improves. Don't forget to tape off the surrounding area with masking tape. If it's really bad you could use one of those 2 part teak cleaner/ brightener kits to give you a head start. Pretty soon the gray will be gone and you'll start to feel the rich oily texture of freshly sanded teak. When its as good as you can make it, the next step is to put on a few layers of varnish, sanding between coats with a scuff pad. If the teak has imperfections you can repair it with two part epoxy with some teak sawdust mixed in as already suggested. You can even try Cetol natural as a finish instead of varnish if the sanded wood is still less than perfect. A few coats of Cetol Natural followed by a few coats of Cetol gloss and your teak will look brand new. Hopefully that first experiment will encourage you to bring all of your teak back piece by piece. You will be amazed. Send us an after picture!!

[jeffjd]

Buy and read Don Casey's This Old Boat and save yourself tons of $$


+1. 85% of the book is spot on. Armed with this book, reading this forum and time you will be up to speed in no time.



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[DuaneGraham]

Thanks all for the advice, I think I'll take a little bit from each of you and put it to work on my boat. Fortunately for those with work to do the winter is long, and unfortunate for those with sailing to do.

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[HopCar]

I've used bits of purple heart in a couple of boats I've built. Seems to work fine. It's also an interesting color choice if you can keep it from weathering.

[HappyMdRSailor]

Originally Posted by Oceandeep

As a fellow Canadian, I wanted to weigh in on this one...

1/16 of an inch below that grey exterior is a rich grain just waiting for you. Sorry that's 0.0015678 mm in Canuk terms.
Do yourself a favor and focus on one small piece. Sand it carefully with the grain . Start with 80 grit and move up to 120 as the finish improves.

1/16" = 1.58mm
I would hesitate to use 80 ...

[Prairie Chicken]

Oh man, I cringe when someone suggests varnishing teak! It looks beautiful when natural, clean & bright! And once you go down the path of varnishing/staining and so on it is a continuous battle. Many of the big, beautiful yachts leave their teak natural. It's completely acceptable. Why take on all that pain?

PS, congrats on the new boat.
From the Right Coast of Canada ...

[Tortuga's Lie]

As mentioned in an earlier post, purpleheart is very dense, much more so than teak and the extra weight (if you're planning on replacing a lot of the teak) could affect the performance on a 25 foot boat, even though it is a heavy cruising boat. Also, purpleheart develops what I call micro-checks, the grain opens up just a bit such that you wouldn't be able keep any sort of hard finish on it without it being compromised. Purpleheart is rot resistant and very strong, so there is that.

Good luck on the boat restoration and have fun while learning!

[DuaneGraham]

Wow its good to be in the company of all you experienced sailors, there isn't another forum that I've ever been on for any topic that's been as quick and open to help the newbies. Muchly appreciated. And yes the purpleheart has stopped tickling my fancy, any wood that I do replace will be with teak.

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[Oceandeep]

Originally Posted by HappyMdRSailor

1/16" = 1.58mm
I would hesitate to use 80 ...

I was trying to be ironical... About 1972 Canada and the US decided to implement the metric system. Canada went first and although there was a bit of pushback from the population Pierre Elliott Trudeau - the PM of Canada only wanted all things European and France in particular.

When it came time for the US to implement the metric system the response was something like " you can take my yardstick when you pry it from my dead hand" or words to that effect. Most politicians spotted this one as a loser and that was the end of the US metric system. It's been a sore point with Canadians ever since who are stuck in two worlds. just ask a Canadian how many miles to the gallon he gets and his face will turn red and he'll start scratching his head and start spouting klicks and liters and maybe hectares for good measure.

Oh forget it . If you have to explain a joke it's probably not that funny

[HappyMdRSailor]

Originally Posted by Oceandeep

I was trying to be ironical... About 1972 Canada and the US decided to implement the metric system. Canada went first and although there was a bit of pushback from the population Pierre Elliott Trudeau - the PM of Canada only wanted all things European and France in particular.

When it came time for the US to implement the metric system the response was something like " you can take my yardstick when you pry it from my dead hand" or words to that effect. Most politicians spotted this one as a loser and that was the end of the US metric system. It's been a sore point with Canadians ever since who are stuck in two worlds. just ask a Canadian how many miles to the gallon he gets and his face will turn red and he'll start scratching his head and start spouting klicks and liters and maybe hectares for good measure.

Oh forget it . If you have to explain a joke it's probably not that funny

I Gotchya!