The risers on the traveler beam are from Garhauer Marine - an awesome deal at $160 plus shipping for the pair. They even included full sized stainless backing plates.
All of the wood is new. I bought sapele wood from my local hardwood supplier and made all the parts myself using a borrowed table saw and a cheap hand router. I've never done woodwork before so it was a bit of a challenge, but I just worked slowly and carefully and measured everything about 6 times. Except for the companionway boards themselves all the wood on the exterior of the boat is now new and all made from the same wood. The frame around the companionway, all the handholds, the main hatch rails and the traveler beam are all made from sapele. The finish is simply a few coats of spar varnish over the wood - no staining. These are some pictures from when the work was in progress over the last few months.
No. In the Florida sun though it only takes about 3 weeks to tell you that you didn't put as many coats on as you should have. On a couple of the hand holds I only put two coats of varnish on and they started getting lighter in color in about 3 weeks. It was no big deal. I put a couple more coats on and it came right back to the right shade. Sapele is really nice to work with. It is very machinable and doesn't tend to split very easily. It cuts easily but is very strong. And the wood just lights up when you put varnish on it. It has a really rich look. I put about 4 coats on all the wood with 4 hours+ (or sometimes 3 weeks
) between coats. I guess I'll find out if it stands up as well as teak...
