Hunter 38 one and only piece of exterior wood

[quadrille38]

Have a 2008 38 and have always been bugged as to why Hunter put one piece of exterior wood on the companionway hatch slider. I figured it was Hunters way of tormenting owners. LOL

After many years where I’ve removed, sanded, varnished, and reinstalled I finally had it. So I ordered a piece of black Starboard to replace the piece of wood. Very pleased with how it looks, and now my varnishing days are done. For you traditionalist, yes wood is prettier and gives the boat character, BUT with everything else on the boat being stainless or low maintenance, I was really done when the varnish peeled off again

 

[BigEasy]

I have a wooden grab rail on my slider. Three coats of cetol lasts 4-5 years; I’m OK with that. In fact, it’s on the “to do” list!

 

[quadrille38]

I have a wooden grab rail on my slider. Three coats of cetol lasts 4-5 years; I’m OK with that. In fact, it’s on the “to do” list!

That’s what I had and got tired of it.
I don’t care for Cetol. Used it on the wood hand rails, coaming box trim, hatch boards and a decorative trim thats often called eye brows on my previous boat (Catalina 34). Looks great at first but after years of use and periodic refinish it began to get opaque looking and blistered. Getting it off to start over was a nightmare.

One of them many reasons why we bought new boat was to get stainless handrails and NO exterior wood. So this one grab rail was a minor but constant irritant. Especially when it began to blister again which meant removal, sanding and refinishing.

As I said though wood on a boat is pretty but I’d rather be sailing than finishing.

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

Of all the exterior wood on boats, I would think something under the dodger would weather the least but if that’s all there is, i Would certainly replace it too.

 

[gfrazzle]

Ditto on the Starboard! I used white- looks good, lasts along time!

 

[MFD]

I have always taken a bit of shameful pride in that the companion way hatch handle is the only piece of exterior woodwork I need to maintain.

Perhaps my guests and friends are a little bit jaded?

Meanwhile, my boat Hunter 41DS, does have crappy thin teak for those aft seats. A friend of mine was out of work some years ago and has a big powerboat and small budget so I paid her to revarnish the them all. She told me she could just cut 1/4” starboard, and that would be better. Another made some canvas to go on top of those seats and teased me why in the middle of the sun baked ocean I left the covers on.

This year, covers off for the summer, and some more sanding and varnishing is needed in a few spots.

If I was going to do something for the hatch slide cover, i think starboard with a router and a clumsy bit of craftsmanship would work fine.

 

[quadrille38]

I should have mentioned that I ordered the piece from Boat Outfitters. Called, gave them the dimensions I needed and what it was to be used for. We Discussed the rounding on all the edges needed to give it the nice finished look.


The perfect looking piece arrived less than a week later.

 

[Sailboz]

I went through the same thing as you folks. I had a 2005 Hunter 36 with the teak strips on the stern rail seats and the trim piece on the companionway hatch. I now have a 2005 Hunter 41 AC with the same seats and trim -- only the seats are bigger so bigger teak strips!

I bought the 36 in 2007 and in about 2012, I'd finally had enough sanding and varnishing and found a company called "PlasTEAK". They do all kinds of faux wood stuff using recycled materials. It's obviously not a perfect substitute for teak, but it looks nice and tidy and NEVER needs any attention. Here's the website -- Custom Handrails, Boat Hatches, Custom Sink Covers, Boat Platform Inserts and More - PlasTEAK Inc.. I bought the 41 in 2019 and a few years later, I did the same thing and it's been a good-looking, no-maintenance addition to the boat.

All I needed to do was unscrew the teak trim pieces, package them up, and send them to PlasTEAK. A few weeks later, they sent the new and the old back to me. I used the same screws and lined them up on the seats with blue painters tape and drilled some pilot holes into them and screwed them on. I also used the opportunity to power wash and really clean the plain stern rail seats. Everything looked brand new when I was done. I don't remember the exact cost, but it wasn't that bad. I would definitely recommend them to keep the teak look.