Old boat fun means old boat work!

[CalebD]

I was under the impression that most of the cabinetry in our cabin was teak but would not be at all surprised to find some mahogany. They are both attractive and nautical looking.
You probably all ready know this but while the T27 while designed by the venerable S&S (Sparkman & Stevens) they were actually built by Douglass McLeod and a few hulls were made by the W.D. Schock. To complicate matters further there were some significant changes to the way the boats were made from year to year. The icing on the cake is how previous owners may have customized their own boats. The result: no two Tartan 27s are exactly alike, which is probably true for most 'production' boats.
I am pretty sure you are 100% correct about Linseed oil darkening the wood. Tung oil would be a good choice instead as it darkens less.
Tung oil - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I've never seen a Tung tree which is no surprise since it grows in SE Asia.

[daydreamer92]

Yeah, it is. But it's short.

I learned something today, so am sharing for any other wood noobs here.

I noticed that those locker covers (isn't the lazarette the cover on the stern/transom? Anyhoo...) that were a nice golden color on the top had darkened. A lot. I expected some darkening, but some parts are now almost black.

Curious. So I did a little bit of researching. I found that the black areas are likely caused by moisture hiding within the wood. When I oiled it, the spots darkened right up.

I don't think this is a big deal 'cause the oil won't last a long time anyway and I can start anew. For now I will just set them in the sun and let nature do as it will. But now I know that any moisture in the wood will thwart beautifying plans. So next time, I'll have to make extra extra sure it's dry. Amazon's (the teak people) have a product they say will draw any residual moisture out so you don't get those spots. I'm sure there must be other products that do that. As would lying in the sun and air for longer than I let them, I guess.

[CalebD]

As promised a few photos of our 'antlers' or grab rails undergoing treatment with Bristol Finish.
Having previously used varnish and Cetol this was my first attempt to use a 2 part urathane finish on my exterior wood. I will say that both varnish and Cetol are easier to work with.
Once I had cleaned off the old finish satisfactorily I opted to try the 'wet on wet' method to build up a bunch of coats quickly as the label suggests 6 or more coats in order to get the best longevity out of this product. The 'wet on wet' method allows you to put on a coat, let it dry a few hours and re-coat it without sanding between coats.
I mixed up about 4 ounces of BF at the 8:1 ratio suggested and began. It smells like nail polish. I used a clean cottage cheese container for the BF and sealed the lid between coats. By the time I had 4 coats on it the finish began to develop 'zits'; whether this was from using partially cured product or the result of lots of pollen in the air I don't know. I let the pieces cure for a day and sanded it with #220 grit paper. This stuff seemed more the consistency of partially dried snot and clumped into little pills or boogers after sanding. Wiping them off with a rag with denatured alcohol seemed to get them smooth enough for re-coating after sanding (see pics).
It is easy to get runs and irregularities with this finish and it probably did not help that these pieces are not in the least bit flat.
After the last coat I applied in these pics I re-installed the grab rails back on the cabin top as we launched the boat yesterday. I will have to put another coat or two of this stuff on with the grab rails on the boat which I was hoping to avoid.
My boat now has a mix of exterior wood finishes that will include Bristol Finish and Cetol and will be a living experiment to see how these finishes stack up against each other. Time will tell.

[bljones]

Caleb, I wonder if your zit problem might not be the finish material, but air trapped in the brush that transferred to the finish. Bristol finish does NOT like to sand until it is fully cured. Were you periodically cleaning your brush? i keep a dip cup of turpentine/ laquer thinner handy, and after every fourth finish stroke i clean my brush.

[CalebD]

blj,
I suspect that you are correct. I used the same brush for my first 4 coats, keeping it wrapped in a plastic bag between bouts. I also used my original batch of BF for each subsequent coating which probably did not help as the stuff slowly cured in the pot and perhaps got a bit lumpy. I should have mixed up separate (smaller) batches of the snotty goo and cleaned my brush thoroughly between coats.
Good advice.

[vega1860]

...with the hand rails. I broke one in three pieces getting it off

The boat was 35 years old at the time and the rails had been sanded pretty thin over the years. I had to make new ones.

Over the twenty years I have owned her (The first 17 in Hawaii's tropical sun) I have learned to love Cetol Marine.

[daydreamer92]

Hm. I was intrigued by the Bristol stuff, until words like "snot" and "little boogers" appeared in the review. I think I'll stick to teak oil!

Thanks for the photos, Caleb; did the Bristol impart any color to the teak, or just shine up what was already there?

re: the Cetol-d wood on your boat. Was that a recent application? Got any pics of that? I'm curious to see what Cetol treated wood looks like.

I only fiddled around with the tiller this weekend so I have no rambling stories to tell. Stained it with some MinWax Ipswich Pine stain (Home Depot claims this is no longer available, so hey! I have a bunch of 'rare' Ipswich Pine stain. Whoo!), then applied some spar varnish via a spray can. Yeah, a spray can. I wanted to see how it would come out.

With no more available boat projects (not entirely true, but I have to save something for next week) at home, I attacked my dining room and kitchen walls, stripping wallpaper, washing, spackling, sanding, pulling off baseboards, and painting both some test colors and a "for real" color. I dunno why I waited 9 years to do this, this is easier than boat wood stuff.

[tomwatt]

Everything is easier than boat stuff to do...
I suspect my weatherboards (which you admire so much) are probably Cetol.

[CalebD]

Daydreamer92,
The Bristol Finish only imparts the slightest coloration to the handrails - as if you wet the surface with water or spit. The real color comes from the teak oil which soaks in. Before finishing any oiled wood I always wipe it down with Acetone to remove any surface oils.

I don't think these are really great photos of my 'Lazaret' covers and aft hatch but they were covered in 3 coats of Cetol Natural Teak. I took these photos to show the modification we made for our old traveler set up not intending to show how good (or bad) our brightwork looked. While Bristol Finish is clear, Cetol Natural Teak does impart an amber hue to the wood. I guess that is one reason why folks say to use 3 coats of the Natural Teak followed by 2 coats of the Clear Gloss as too many coats of Natural Teak can obscure the wood grain.

Our tiller is varnished as well (Schooner) and has held up fairly well. The more coats of varnish the better (6 +).

I will highly recommend that you apply whatever finish you have chosen while you have your wood already off your boat and in a 'shop' environment. While it is easy enough to apply your finishes with the wood still attached to the boat (in situ) I am always amazed at how much dust lingers on my boat even on a mooring. Beyond the dust we get a fair compliment of 'ships spiders' who take up residence once on the mooring. It is a bit of a mystery how they get there but they do and I am pretty sure they do not know the difference between Cetol and water.

[daydreamer92]

I like the color of those teak covers, Caleb. I waffled all over with treating the teak, but now I'm leaning back towards Cetol Natural Teak stuff.

Anyway, lest any of you think "Oh, she got bored/scared f the work and stopped working on the boat", tis not true. There was a lull of a few weeks where weather (rain) or work (husband overtime) got in the way of any Old Boat Work

Instead I painted my kitchen and most of my dining room. Like the Tartan, the house is in a state of "this will look better when we're done, RIGHT?"

I also have gone from almost fours years of unemployed and indecisive ("What do I want to do? What CAN I do?") to going into business for myself and working as a freelance writer. A lot of the last month has been me trying to make that happen. Seems to be working, actually, I've got five jobs in the last two weeks. We're not talking big money zomg-gonna-go-buy-a-new-boat or anything, or even zomg-gonna-buy-a-used-canoe, but it beats zero.

We've had a couple weekends down at the yard, including this just past Saturday. Progress is slowly being made. We're not anywhere near to be able to move or launch her (sigh if only money would fall out of the sky) but we're moving forward. Slowly. A whole slew of boats are no longer in the yard and no doubt bobbing happily in the harbor and my poor Tartan sits. Someone bought or got rid of the Hunter a couple boats to the left of me (it was a super cheapie) and now there's an enclosed launch of some kind next to the "gosh I wish someone would buy and restore this" wooden launch instead.

Anyway I have some pictures to post about the ongoing chainplate knee saga (and a lesson about why husbands should always listen to their wives: WE ARE RIGHT) and other Tigress working adventures such as cleaning the interior and hull stuff. Of course as we did this, something else had to break. Hee. But nothing major.

Rambling stories to come soon, though not so many pictures as I'd have liked. Forgot the bring camera Saturday. Pity 'cause we finally got one chainplate knee out. Woot.