Teak Cockpit Grate

[Breault5]

As a winter project I going to attempt to build a cockpit grate for Halia. Has anyone built one before and if so, do you know of a good source on some plans or information on the proper construction methods? Does anyone have any pics? I appreciate any and all feedback. Dave Breault

[Oswego John]

Breault5

This last September I completed building a teak grate. It is probably not a grate that you would have in mind to build for yourself. The grate that I built is for a CD85 D hull #1. (only kidding) My grate is about 4 1/2 feet long from fore to aft, and about 5 feet wide. I made it using full dimensional, not nominal, 2" x 4" teak boards. This grate was made for the prow of a schooner in order to stand on when working the foresails and anchoring.

The techniques that I used could be used on a smaller scale to make a cockpit grate for yourself. I imagine that you would make cutouts halfway through the tops and bottoms of the pieces of wood used in order to make a crosshatch or checkerboard design of the grate.

I found that it was easier and more accurate for me to measure and lay out the cuts to be made on the wood strips. I then used a radial arm saw with a dado blade to cut the notches half way through the tops and bottoms so that the pieces of wood that run in opposite directions to each other would interlock and be glued flush. A borderwas made of the same wood, fastened with lap joints, and will also be notched out in order to anchor the body of the grid to it.

Besides gluing the pieces to each other, I also drilled pilot holes and then countersunk the holes in order to fasten the pieces with silicon bronze screws blind from underneath.

A word of caution, when you drill the pilot holes, use a stop on the drill bit so that it only goes through the lower half lap piece of wood and part way into the top piece. This prevents accidently punching through the top surface of the grid.

I advise you to practise laying out and making the cuts with cheaper stock until you feel confident to make cuts with the good $$$ wood.

Good luck with your project.
O J

[mattlydon]

Dave,

Don Casey has some fairly good instructions for cockpit grates in both "The sailboat owners mainainence manual" and "this old boat" both of which are excellent resources.

I'm able to get both through my library system, you may be able to do the same, although the 'manual' is well worth buying to have it handy. He's got a new edition of 'this old boat' coming out in January, so I'd avoid buying the old one.

Matt

[Judith]

Glen Rountree has a few pix of the grate he built for his 270. A couple of them show pretty clearly how the grate fits around the base of the tiller, something that might be useful to look at.

This link to his website is on the "Owners' Websites" page:
http://www.rountree-inc.com/cd270/cd270.html

I considered building a grate when we first bought Morveren--a project which has since dropped to the bottom of the list--so I contacted him and received a nice explanation of his construction methods. (Unfortunately, I can no longer find that email or I'd send that information along to you.)

P.S. As I recall, his explanation was quite similar to OJ's.

[Neil Gordon]

I have one but it was built by the former owner. Here are the details:

It's built of 1"x1" stock milled to interlock every inch (so the holes in the grate are square. You can buy the stock that way or DIY if you have the tools and skills.

Each crossover is secured with a screw, from the bottom of the grate. The number of screws is probably overkill.

The grate is bordered with 2"x1" stock all around. I'm not sure what the joints are from the grate to the border.

The grate was done in two sections, the forward part about 2/3 of the cockpit and vice versa. The after section has a hole cut so that it goes over the tiller. That's part of the reason for the two sections as it takes some twisting and turning to clear both the tiller and the engine controls. Add a winch pocket, etc., and it would be even more difficult. The sections also break up the weight.

I suggest that you construct a pattern from plywood, including any holes you might need for tiller, etc., and fit it carefully to the cockpit before you start cutting teak. To be extra careful, tack some 1" stock underneath to make sure length, height and width all work. Then build the grate on top of the pattern.

[Stan W.]

You might want to get a quote from www.thaiteakmarine.com before you go too far down this road. Even with shipping from Thailand, their prices often are comparable to what it would cost you to do it yourself here.

[bhartley]

We had a nice cockpit grate for our SS23 which we recut after much careful measuring for our 25D. The modification was very minor. We used several paper templates to make sure it could come out easily for pumpout and had a cutout underneath to accomodate the pumpout lid.

What we failed to look at was the camber of the cockpit sole. The sole was not flat and had a slight ridge in the middle. It took lots of shimming and fussing to get it to sit flat and it never was quite right. It's going back to the SS23 and I am going to build a new one for the 25D.

I would recommend a plywood or other rigid material template to see how it will lie when complete.

[John Laton]

My 25D came with one that looks very professional. It was made in 2 sections as a port and starboard set. I believe this eliminates the need to allow for the very slight bevel in the center of the cockpit. The bottom of the grate is notched along every member so no water remains in any of the 1" holes and drains freely into the scuppers. There are 2 very thin trim pieces of teak that screw into the cockpit fore and aft to hold them securely in place. Whoever built it did an exceptional job.

Here is a link to a pic..

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25703536@N05/2527831874/

John
sy/Paradox

[mattlydon]

The only issue I have with a grate is that it LOOKS like it would be uncomfortable for bare feet.....I think I'd prefer slats.

Comments?

[John Laton]

To be honest there were 2 reasons I thought I would not like the grate. One was comfort on bare feet and the other was the fact that the cd25d cockpit is not all that deep and I would miss the extra inch. Truth is after the first day of sailing I had become so used to it that I would miss it if it were gone. They are quite comfortable on bare feet when constructed in the proper manner as mine was .. and I'm sorry I can't help but say 'they do look 'grate' !

John
sy/Paradox

[paul marko]

I made a grate cut from 2x6 Trex decking. It seems to be holding up ok after a couple of seasons exposed to the Florida sun. I have lost the plans but I built a jig for my table saw that allowed me to make 1" strips noched with a dado blade on 3/4 centers it all fit so tight that I only had to screw the edege pieces together.

If you google teak grate I think you can find the plans for the jig and grate assembly details.

good luck

Paul Marko

[Steve Laume]

I have considered making up cockpit grates but was also worried about stubbed toes. My biggest concern is that all sorts of crud would accumulate under there and make cleaning much more difficult. Any dirt or sand that makes it to the boat usually ends up there. We eat and snack in the cockpit all the time. Wouldn't those tortilla chips and nut shells tend to accumulate with the occasional fish scale that washes back into the boat? The final concern would be our dog guests. Matted dog hair under your cockpit grates is soooo un yacht like.

For those of you with grates installed, just how often do you pull them up and scrub the sole? It would have to be very easy to be able to do it often enough for our boat.

I have also looked at some cork decking material that is extremely nice, Steve.

[Bill Cochrane]

Steve and Matt make some good points. I built a 1x1 teak grate (1" slats dadoed with 1" wide grooves 1/2" deep and 1" spacing, routed channels for drainage) for my last boat...a Tartan 30...and was not all that happy with it for the reasons cited...it's hell on bare feet, and needs to be pulled up frequently for cleaning.

I've toyed with the idea of building one for Phoenix; I think I'd use fore-and-aft slats about 3" wide with 1/4" spacing. It would be split fore and aft in the middle to go around the steering pedestal and for easy removal for cleaning. The slats would have their top edges radiused about 1/8" and would be affixed to, and raised off the fiberglass sole by, about 1/2" thick athwartship supports, well grooved for drainage. The slats would probably remain unfinished to take advantage of the natural nonskid properties of teak.

This would solve the comfort problem and, while you'd still need to pull the grate for cleaning, you wouldn't be able to see all the gunk as easily!

[Neil Gordon]

For those of you with grates installed, just how often do you pull them up and scrub the sole?

We sail with a grate + 2 labrador retrievers. Dog hair accumulates under the grate in quantities that are beyond belief.

I lift the grate and use a large sponge to clean the hair and accumulated gunk quite often. Less often I scrub the sole, at the same rate that I scrub the cockpit as a whole. The good news is that with a grate, sand and the like will not get ground into the sole. It just sits there until it either drains out or is cleaned.

[Oswego John]

Hi Neil,

Most of our dogs could be considered short haired. On the other hand, our Alaskan Malemute has an unbelievably heavy coat of hair.

I'm wondering if shedded dog's hair causes you or other readers any problem with your scupper and self bailing system?

Fortunately for us, the Malemute doesn't like going on the boat. I bet she would make excellent ballast if she could learn to hike out.

Have fun,
O J
PS: The cats are no problem with the scuppers. It seems that all of their shedded hair sticks to our clothing.