Removing cockpit coamings

[barfwinkle]

Good morning to all

Well I am about to finish installing Rhapsody's new traveller, which brings this subject to mind. I have removed the teak trim that spans the upright aft portion of the cockpit for several years (for touch up). I also removed the teak trim under the old traveller for clean up, repair and some modification. This started me thinking. This stuff is a lot easier to refinish when its off the boat. The aforementioned trim was easy to remove (except the screws on the traveller) and I wondering if the coamings would come of as easily. Does anyone know what they are bedded with? If its the same stuff the other two were bedded with it should be easy (I know! Famous last words when it comes to boat projects)!

If I decide to follow through with this project, it'll be a project for next winter and I know owners that do this on a regular basis.

Fair winds

[Steve Laume]

I used to take them off on the TY as all the fasteners were exposed. I only ever bedded around the screw holes and didn't even bother to caulk the seam between the comping and deck. This made it all fairly easy and the time was re cooped by being able to lay the things out on the bench for finishing.

On Raven I never felt it would not be worth it. I have two sets of solid winch blocks on screwed to the combings and all of the fasteners are plugged. The first trick would be to get them off without any damage. I could then finish them on the bench and reinstall them. Now the problem arises in that all the plugs would have to be reinstalled, sanded flush and finished. That means building up the same number of coats on each plug or the finish would quickly fail. It just never seemed worth it to me.

Maybe it would make sense on a one time basis to be able to sand all the hard to reach places and seal the unexposed surfaces but not on a regular basis. If you wanted to go with exposed fasteners it might make more sense. It might also be a practical idea if your boat was unaccessible to you on a regular basis. If it was a 4 hour drive to put on a coat of finish you might want to bringing everything home and then deal with the bungs at the boat.

Teak is a love hate relationship, Steve.

[bhartley]

Bill,

I recently removed the coamings and aft cockpit trim on Whisper. The boat is all original and the coamings had never been removed. Assuming you have the factory install... In the cabin you have to remove the plastic plugs in the line on starboard side of the cabin to access the screws holding the perpendicular "stub" portion of the coaming. On the port side, you will likely have to remove you electrical panel (Whisper is #91 and has a different panel than Pyxis #184) to access the screws. Removing the coamings on our Ty was much faster (and simpler).

The "stub" portion of the coaming was bedded with something other than straight polysulfide. I don't want to say it was 5200 but I was sure saying it at the time! I had to use copious amounts of Antibond. I removed all of the plugs and screws and then used a metal putty knife and mallet pver several days (after periodic soaking with Antibond) to gently remove the remainder. Do not try to unscrew the stub from the rest of the coaming. It was not designed to come apart that way. The bedding between the coamings and the side of the cockpit was pretty compromised and did not impact removal at all.

If you opt to remove your winches also (it is an endless spiral), the access panel for the bolts for the starboard winch is behind an oval teak panel in the quarter berth.

Bly

[Jeff D]

I have had two very diffierent experiences in removing coamings. On a CD 22 that I once owned they popped off once I removed the screws. Buoyed by this success I decided to remove the coamings on my then new to me Ty Daysailer that a PO had done a really bad job of varnishing (I think he used a roller). No matter what I tried (Antibond, oscilating saw, hack saw blades, wire, all varieties of putty knives) I could not break the seal - I think that it was 5200. I ended up splitting the coamings in my attempt to make a nice easy winter project. While the new coamings look really nice 18' of 9" teak is not cheap. I would recommend that you tread lightly.

[oldragbaggers]

I am reviving this old thread because I wish I had read it before we attempted to remove our coamings. It would have saved us a lot of unnecessary work removing all the bungs and screws only to discover that we would need to blast them off with dynamite. After quite a bit of effort we finally came to the conclusion that we were risking splitting something if we continued trying so we will just be putting the screws and bungs back in and I will have to strip and refinish them in place. I have a lot of work to do on them so I had truly hoped to be able to bring them home and do them on a bench, but it is not to be. I also think that they are bedded in 5200.

[adamganz]

I've been avoiding this same project for two years. The only major difference for me is that the teak is in really bad shape and needs to be replaced, which simplifies the removal, but complicates the rest of the project.

Assuming I can get the coaming boards off in one piece, or close to one piece, I'll trace a template for new pieces. Just curious, do templates already exist somewhere hidden on this site?

Adam

[Astronomertoo]

I will be doing this work later this year, so I am looking for more suggestions. I have also been looking at some other boats, for their condition. It appears some have not gotten the side boards up tight, leaving big gaps that leak water into the seating area. Also the correct caulk is definitely not a permanent caulk. Mine has a small gap in between it and the cockpit fiberglass, into which a PO has used silicone sealant, which is very hard to totally remove, and which does not accept paints or varnish. It also gums up sandpaper. I shall fix that as I make the wood look good again, and sand thru all the mohogany stain which I hate on teakwood. I believe my answer how to make the boards tight to the sides will be to cut a couple of 2x4's and a couple 1x6 pieces such that after the forward end is tightened, as I go back I will force the wood boards out wider, using the smaller 1x6s to keep the hammered 2x4s from denting the wood. I will use a removeable caulk where needed, and will be taking and considering suggestions for the right product. I will force/wedge the comings apart to make them tight against the fiberglass, and put in the correct screws as I go aft, making the whole thing snug. I will seal up the outside joint after this is all done. That caulk will also be a removeable caulk since this is never a permanent arrangement. I will add more screws if necessary, and not use any flat heads as they do tend to crack/split the wood, as I have witnessed on other boats. This will be done this winter since the weather down here is more conducive to boat work under my shed than in the summer, especially this hot one.
I will continue to watch here for other suggestions, and envy those who are sailing.
BobC

[Skeep]

On BaggyWrinkles I removed everything but the toe and rub rails. Everything else came off and went home to the garage during the winter so I had plenty of time and space to work freely. As for what was underneath; there were all sorts of interesting attempts at bedding caulk but nothing so devoted as to keep my naïve hands from pulling it off. More often than not, nothing was embedded so securely that it required a muscle man type of ordeal.

Plus, this gave me some more insight on how previous owners handled or mishandled certain areas aboard, thus making me a bit more conscious about doing the same thing so I do not read this comment about me later in life on this board. Ah hem...!

When I recaulked I used the 4500 series I believe (the flexible semi-permanent) will have to check my blog, and I did use this between the deck and the outer coamings because I found water did make a mess as it travelled across the deck and under my cushions before seeping back to the dark depths below...

[oldragbaggers]

I tried to get my sea hood off yesterday. NO WAY. There is a white substance under it that I strongly suspect is 5200. At any rate, it isn't coming off....no way, no how. We tried everything and finally came to the conclusion that to persist would just end up breaking off the lip of it. I really needed to get the wood hatch slides off too because they need some serious repair, which I will now have to do in place. I have no idea what I would have done if I wanted to replace instead of repair them. It would be impossible. It is going to bother me greatly that I can't clean and paint under there. Hopefully someday I'll forget about it.

[Jim Walsh]

I tried to get my sea hood off yesterday. NO WAY.

I was lucky the PO just used some type of silicone on mine. It wasn't the good stuff either because it came off pretty easily. I painted the underside of my sea hood (only me and a couple seagulls know it's done since it can't be seen unless you remove it) and I painted the underside of my companionway sliding hatch. That was at the urging of Steve Laume and it makes a HUGE difference. I used white Interlux Bilgekote which is super durable. A really great paint.
My sea hood is bedded in Life-calk. It lasts a few years and is easy to remove and apply.