[MarcHall]

The first couple of times I re-did the cabin sole on Crazy Fish I used Varuthane.
Light sanding by hand using 240 grit and then something like 400 grit.

This would have been a winter project (San Diego) and I would have left the electric space heater running all night while it dried - something I typically do for any brightwork done down below.

Last time I used Epifanes varnish and it seems to held up well. Probably redo this winter after 3 years. 3 coats of varnish, applied 1 coat per day.

May at some point completely replace the cabin sole as after 25 years it has a few dings in it. I would probably replace it with solid teak left unvarnished and bleach it from time to time. I have seen this done a charter fishing boat and really liked the look.

Regards
Marc Hall
Crazy Fish - Maintaining, Upgrading and Sailing a Crealock 37

 

[MarcHall]

Hi guys i have a question myself especially for MarcHall, my sole is thankfully solid teak which i sanded down to raw wood after i bought the boat and refinished with Cetol. Yes i know this is the wrong product for the job, but i sort of jumped to the job without doing much research prior. To my surprise it has held up very well for close to a year now, and although very shiny it is not slipery even with wet feet. I noticed you said something about just bleaching the bare wood every so often, and just leaving it bare which i would love because not only does bare teak look good but feels great under your feet. Any sugestions on how to take care of a bare teak and holly sole with out finishing it with varnish, verathane, or any other sealant?

Thanks
Alen

Alen

I don't have much experience with teak decks as the only boat I have owned is Crazy Fish and fortunately Greg Bourque at Pacific Seacraft talked me out of teak decks for the build of Crazy Fish. I knew next to nothing about sailboats at that time.

The authority I would reference is Rebecca Wittman's Brightwork: The Art of Finishing Wood and I believe she mentions as well probably other sources that the best thing for teak decks is to leave them bare and rinse them with them down with saltwater - avoid brushes and probably use 3M pads if any scrubing needs to be done.

I have seen the inside of of 60+ foot charter fishing boat use bare teak decks for the salon/galley area and it look nice and felt good under foot. So I think if I were to replace the teak and holly veneer cabin sole on Crazy Fish with I would look at doing it like a teak deck, no holly just strips of teak and white caulking/sealent. I normally used 2 part Teka to bleach the teak before applying the first coat of varnish so that could be use on rare occasion to bleach out any stains on the teak sole.

I may try it first on the cockpit sole as when I replaced the wheel with the tiller I filled in the holes left behind from removal of the pedestal with West System epoxy and have yet to do any thing else. But there are other cockpit items/decsions need to made planned. Offshore racing requirements call for 4 3/4" drains in the cockpit so I may modify the cockpit sole to add those.

Thinking also of adding a teak grate rather then a teak deck on the cockpit sole probably in two pieces and add a lip on the inside of the cockpit well so that the teak grate could sit in a second position that would be flush with the cockpit seats. Bring both pieces up and turn the cockpit into one large seat high surface that could be used for sleeping at anchor. Bring the aft piece up while underway and store the a liferaft under it while underway. Leave both pieces down when entertaining quests or sailing with a number of people on board.

Marc Hall