trouble with wood trim on my typhoon daysailer

[eggman2001]

I have a 1981 Typhoon daysailer and have been cleaning the teak trim every spring and applying 2 coats of oil to it. However, it seems that the wood has actually erroded in some spots as well as separated in the starboard side at the stern. I know that I can't get the wood to grow back, but can I get new trim put on? Does anyone have any experience with this?

Here are a few photos showing the trouble spots:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/209/5079 ... a107_b.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/221/5079 ... 80ba_b.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/225/5079 ... 2e13_b.jpg

[Dick Villamil]

I too had the same problems on several previous boats. When I rstoref my 1976 typhoon I replaced the rub rails with new teak - fabricated in my friends shop. The old teak I sanded to new wood and then I used Cetol Light - 3 coats. The teak now always looks new with just a fresh coat every year. Turns out that every time you clean teak the strong cleaner not only dissolves away the dirt but also takes toe softer wood away leaving the harder finer grained wood cells. What is left are the annual growth rings from the winter or dry season. Cleaning teak is a destructive process. Therefore wither dont clean it or apply a protective surface. Many use Epifanes varnish - I use Cetol and have applied it on my other boats as well.

[Ed Haley]

Believe it or not, your teak is in OK condition - you just need to make it look better. You can bring it back to great looks if you apply a filler between the teak trim and the fiberglass, clean and sand the teak to 100 grit and then apply a protective finish. You can apply traditional varnish if you'd like to put on 2 or 3 coats every year or you can apply Cetol if you'd like one 1 coat a year. If it were me, I would use Captain's Varnish (7 - 10 coats) applied with a good bristle brush since we're not talking about a lot of teak here. But the teak must be cleaned (10% clorox solution) and sanded (only to 100 grit) and justify what you're expecting it to look like. I think it would look beautiful!

To apply a filler (such as mahogany or black colored 3M 4200) I would remove the teak trim strip along the sides by taking out the plugs and screws. The bronze (not brass) screws will be seen to have an hour glass shape where the center is corroded and weak. Half will break. Clean and sand the fiberglass underneath and apply the adhesive/filler into the voids of the upper teak gunwale and then attach the lower with enough 4200 to fill the voids and spaces of the lower trim piece. Attach with new screws and either teak or mahogany hole plugs. It will take a week or more to set up and dry so that you can sand it the way you like. For wide voids, you can even use oil paint to apply stripes that imitate growth rings before applying finish.

The final look will reflect the time in preparation - the longer the better. Think of it as making love to your boat. If this is your first restoration, take the time to do it well and you will get ultimate satisfaction. And so will everyone who looks at your Typhoon.

[eggman2001]

Sorry for the delayed response...

I'm a bit of a novice when it comes to maintenance, so I apologize for all the questions:
- I've always used teak oil, applying 2 coats after cleaning. How is Cetol different from that?
- What is a rub rail?
- I'm trying to learn more about the cleaning. Dick - you say Wither, don't clean, but I don't know what that means. Ed - you say that I should use a 10% clorox solution to clean, but would you use a brush to clean it? I don't quite understand how you can get all the dirt out of the wood without scrubbing.

Applying a filler sounds good, but that's probably more something for my marina to do rather than me

Thanks for the advice!

[RIKanaka]

- What is a rub rail?

The teak rails on the sides that would rub against another boat or the dock if you didn't use bumpers. Their deck counterpart and adjacent structure are the toe rails which let your feet know when they're about to step overboard.

[Ed Haley]

To bring your teak back to near showroom condition, you'll have to smooth out the wood and remove as much of the dinginess to the wood as possible.

If it was my boat, I would:
1. use a sharp wood scraper and slowly remove the standing grain of the wood.
2. Sand the wood (60 grit then 100 grit)
3. Apply 10% clorox-water solution to brighten the wood and kill mildew/mold (this does not remove dirt. Just wipe on and let it dry.
4. Apply another clorox application and let dry.
5. Wipe wood with acetone to remove residual moisture
6. Sand again lightly with 100 grit. You don't need to use anything finer.
7. Vacuum up the dust on the wood using a shop vac
8. Wipe wood lightly with a tack cloth to remove any remaining dust particles adhering to the grain
9. Start the finishing process, whatever you're going to use.

Preparation is the key to good looks, durability and longevity. This is 90% of the work. Cutting corners on preparation will show up in your final restoration job.

[Dick Villamil]

Follow ed haley's suggestions carefully - excellent recommendations. Every time you use the traditional "Teak Cleaners" you are using a strong phosphoric acid reagent followed by an alkali to neutralize the acid. This is a destructive process. Not only does it release unneeded phosphate to the water ecosystem it also degrades the spring wood fibers in the teak. The removal of the softer wood leaves the summer wood proud- hence the ridges. Sanding these ridges off over time will reduce the teak trim to a mere shadow of its original thickness. Therefore I have resorted to the use of a protective coating - Cetol Light. After three initial coats (after preparing the teak as Ed Haley describes, you only need an additional coat each year.

[eggman2001]

Ed and Dick,

Thanks for your suggestions. In subsequent years after the cleaning, sanding and 3 coats of cetol light, how do you clean the wood before applying an additional coat?

Do you do the same thing on the seats? (I'm actually not sure what kind of wood the seats are on my typhoon)

Do you happen to have any photos of what the finished product might look like?

Thanks again!