Teak and other problems.

Buck420 · Mar 19, 2011

ED,

I feel your pain...
I've got one piece of teak on my "Coke bottle"... the hand rail on my companionway hatch... and for the 2d time in ten years I'm gonna have to take it off and refinish it's varnish .... damn it ... the hassels, they never end !

Bill1565 · Mar 19, 2011

Keep it. I have a friend who has a 380. they sail lousy.

Fix youself a hot butterd rum, elevate you feet, and think of all the things that don't have to be finished in order to sail.

Be glad you don't live in Maine, sometimes they go years waiting for temperatures above 60

med2463 · Mar 19, 2011

Ed Schenck said:
Ten years! It must live under the bimini/dodger. My Florida trip almost destroyed my teak, seventeen months in NC and another seventeen in Florida. I got one or two coats of varnish on everything in that time. Now nothing left.

When we bought our boat it was overwhelming because of projects. It had really been neglected, don't think the teak had every been varnished. Now have 8 coats varnish on all teak. Decided it would never be "done" so am eating the elephant one bite at a time, and not thinking about being done.

rardiH36 · Mar 19, 2011

Ed: Very clean and attractive engine space. Is it just the photo angle or are you space challenged horizontally in there? On my H36, with the 2QM20, I've got a reasonable amount of clearance between the engine and the port side bulkhead. And the starboard side is quickly removable. Are any of your engine room walls removable?

My teak handrails are long term stored in my basement -- to eventually pass to some future owner that may want to restore my boat closer to its original look. I've posted before the look of my alternative handrails (again below).

The rest of my external teak, which really is just the companion way wood framing and two decorative pieces on the cockpit comings around the primary winches, I've painted the same as the port and hatch frames in the picture. Every couple of years, just a few minutes of sanding, then a paint-over gets it looking good again. Unlike for clear finish (varnish etc.) there is no need to strip down to bare wood first for a good result. And I can change the color for added variety.

Anyway, maintenance and up-keep is reduced with SS hand rails and painted teak.

rhythmsurfer · Mar 19, 2011

Ed, I was going to tell you to use sunbrella to protect your handrails, but since you went stainless....Well they are nice and shiny. Have you tried one of those industrial style heaters built for automotive shops? They sell a smaller version at Lowes/Home Depot. Please check out my post on H36 bottom paint. Any ideas?

rardiH36 · Mar 19, 2011

Hi Ed:

I originally removed the teak handrails because the cabin top gelcoat needed painting (I used Interlux Perfection by brush). Also the purchase surveyor suspected core rot at the most forward area under the hand rails. Turned out this area is hollow by design. With the teak already removed, and that I knew I wouldn't be too enthusiastic about doing bright work every couple of years, I decided to go the SS route. The teak rails were just wood-screwed into the FRP and into the wood core (which I now know is plywood squares). So I just repeated the same to fasten the replacement stainless steel handrail fittings. I did fill each hole with epoxy penetrating solution to provide some moisture ingress protection.

With two screws for each of the end fittings, I would expect that this installation would be comparable to the teak handrails.

As to where I got them. It's just off-the-shelf stuff. The rails themselves are 1" SS tubing which I cut to size with a hacksaw. The end fittings are 60 degree angles types. I got them at Svenson's Marine in Alameda, CA for about $8 each. (West Marine this year is charging $28 each!) The only difficulty (and not much of one other than time) is that since the cabin top surface is curved, the bottom of the fittings needed to be ground concave to match.

regards,
rardi

Bill1565 · Mar 19, 2011

It's the rum and the feet up.

Jim Legere · Mar 19, 2011

Re: Teak and other problems

I figure God meant for sailboats to be made of wood. Somehow I always find all those boats in WoodenBoat magazine are always the most beautiful boats I have ever seen. The varnish/cetol/insert-your-preference-here brightwork on our Hunters is just the penance we sinners must do for owning the Devil's plastic boats!

Honestly, I enjoy the teak and would never consider replacing it with starboard, stainless steel, etc.

sandpiper10471 · Mar 20, 2011

Ed - it is still far too cold for you to be sailing. I am still skiing in N. Ontario. Haven't even thought about the boat yet. Count your blessings. Yes, it takes a lot of time to do a bang up varnish job - but it will be soooooo nice when done. May as well enjoy that job while it is still too cold to sail. If it were July, I would say *#%@ the varnish and sail.

rardiH36 · Mar 20, 2011

Ed Schenck said:
You have my attention Rardi. I found this site where 1" stainless is $22.00 a foot. I figure three sections a side, each four foot long. The same site has these ends for $10. each(http://www.buyrailings.com/pd-productid-1019-k-flush_end_post.htm#). The center is 2 1/8" from base which seems about right. And three hole mounting. I have a local supplier where I can probably get the tubing a little cheaper. You got me thinking, a dangerous proposition.

Hi Ed:

Recall that one of the reasons I made the switch to SS rails was because I needed to repaint the cabin top. So with the teak rails removed, it was relatively convenient at the time to fill the (teak rail ) holes with epoxy, fair smooth and then paint over along with the rest of the cabin top.

In your case, you aren't painting your gelcoat. So you would need to fill the existing holes, fair (without damaging the adjacent gelcoat), prime, and then try to match the final color.

Considering these extra steps, and that you are well along with your teak refinishing project, and that newly finished teak really does look good on a boat --- don't get diverted by my SS rantings.

As part of my cabin top repainting, I also removed the teak eyebrow trim which was split in a few places and who's mounting screws probably needed removal and rebedding anyway. Consider that if the eyebrows remain on your boat, this traditional feature might visually clash with SS hand rails right above them.

Re your website link. The fittings I used have a 60 degree angle (from the horizontal). The is important so lines (such as the jib sheet) ride up over and don't get snagged. The 90 degree end fitting illustrated on your linked site I think would not be suitable. Also consider that the site's SS grade may not stay rust stain free in a salt water environment.

Re the length of each sub rail. On my boat, the forward most of the three (on each side) is shorter, the next one aft a bit longer and the aft one longer yet. This is to provide visual balance to match the fact that the cabin top curves from narrow to wider from bow towards aft. Much like the forward ports are smaller than the aft ones -- gives balance to the cabin top shape.

regards,

Bill1565 · Mar 20, 2011

We are lurking on this thread . Eyebrows on our boat are worn to almost nothing in some places. Haven't a clue what to do about it, but plasteak and tape come across as not recommended.

rardiH36 · Mar 20, 2011

Ed Schenck said:
Our boats are different in that my rails mount on the non-skid. You can see the blue tape covering the mounting holes in the picture. Simple matter to fill the holes and paint over with my Interlux Interdeck. But I will continue to see how much progress I make with the teak before I abandon. Thanks for warning me about the 90 degrees, that would be a problem.

Ed:

Our different models share much the same. But I keep forgetting that much also is different.

Yes, making disappear the teak hand rail holes will be much easier on the non-skid. Also, it looks from you picture that you would have little if any surface curvature to deal with, regarding the need to grind concave the bottom of the fittings to match.

When I first bought my boat, I started a folder to keep receipts for repair/upgrade/maintenance items that I bought. Boy is it thick.

However, I found fairly quickly the receipt that contained the end-fittings.

So if you do decide sacrifice the original/traditional look for SS, the end fittings are Sea-Dog brand part number 285161-1 for 1" tubing. And this site's host carries them! $9.61 Here's the url: http://shop.sailboatowners.com/prod.php?9019. Four years on, my end fittings are still shiny and stain free. So they seem to be very good quality.

rardiH36 · Mar 20, 2011

Bill1565 said:
We are lurking on this thread . Eyebrows on our boat are worn to almost nothing in some places. Haven't a clue what to do about it, but plasteak and tape come across as not recommended.

Bill:

Its raining hard in California today. I'm not much of a watch sports on TV person. So the college basketball tournament isn't holding my interest. What to do? Opine about sailboat eyebrows on this forum!

Besides the method of repair, its also about personal preferences for appearance and also about maintaining or not all the elements of the original Cherubini/Hunter design.

For me, I love the overall lines of my Cherubini. But also, I thought that the boat to my eyes would still look great with SS hand rails and not replacing the teak eyebrows.

The picture Ed posted (with the blue painters tape), I think gives an indication of how the cabin top might look without the eyebrows. The expanse of smooth gelcoat is still bisected visually by the molded ridge in the gelcoat that runs the entire length of the cabin top right above where the eyebrow is affixed. I've also attached another picture of my cabin top below which shows visual effect of the ridge without the teak eyebrow.

If you think the look would be ok for you. Here's an idea which I might have considered if I hadn't needed to repaint my cabin top but had to do something about the damaged teak eyebrow.

After removing the eyebrow, clean/compound the gelcoat underneath. The color might be different for a while until UV causes the freshly exposed gelcoat to weather to the same as the rest.

For the screw holes, maybe find the most beautiful SS screws you can find. Maybe ones with a star bit head, or allen head. Put these in the holes as decorative elements. They need not be for fastening anything. Sort of like on some high tech alloy wheels screw heads are added just to enhance the appearance. If the silver SS color doesn't look right, then painting the screw heads white would probably correct.

Just a thought.

Teak and other problems.

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