Split Teak Coaming

[adamganz]

In a previous thread on teak care [bare, oil, cetol, varnish] I mentioned the condition of the teak on my CD28 - the condition is not great. I plan to sand and varnish a few of the main elements, including the cockpit coamings. One of the coamings is split - see photos. Before I go through the cleaning/sanding process, I'd like to try to determine whether this coaming board has any life left. My only plan now is to try to epoxy the split but I'd love to hear from anyone who has had the same issue, or has any thoughts or ideas.

All the best.

Adam

[nessie]

I would get some scrap teak, run it through a belt sander, save the dust and mix it with West System Epoxy and putty knife the stuff into the cracks. Let cure, sand and Cetol everything. If that coaming board is split all the way through and wobbles, or worse and you can remove it, you could try a puting biscuits in the cracked joint and clamping it back together or use it as a template to carve out a new one.

Best of luck!

[Astronomertoo]

In a previous thread on teak care [bare, oil, cetol, varnish] I mentioned the condition of the teak on my CD28 - the condition is not great. I plan to sand and varnish a few of the main elements, including the cockpit coamings. One of the coamings is split - see photos. Before I go through the cleaning/sanding process, I'd like to try to determine whether this coaming board has any life left. My only plan now is to try to epoxy the split but I'd love to hear from anyone who has had the same issue, or has any thoughts or ideas.
All the best.
Adam

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I would wait for the experts to chime in here but my opinion is teak is a very stiff wood, not very flexible, and this does not happen until the board gets very thin, old, and weathered as yours shows from many acid cleanings. In this condition I do not believe you can keep it from re-cracking if you do try to fix it.
One of the advantages of varnishing is if you perform good maintenance of the surfaces with regular sanding and recoating (taking off one or two layers of varnish, and add the same number back on), and do not let it get too rough, then you keep much more of the board thickness, which is strong enough not to flex, and crack.
Perhaps someone else knows of a miracle cure, but I do not. Try asking Lackey sailing for expert guidance. He will help you.
Best wishes.
BobC

[ariasis]

I'd go with Nessie on this one mixing dust into west system is great for cosmetic stuff and super strong. Just don't mix to much in. I'd be worried for the structural strength. My concern is that your winches are attached to that board. I'd hate to be on board if it split away under a load. How far forward does the crack go, is it all the way through the board ?

[Gulf Coast Greg]

I also have a crack in the port side cockpit combing on Amazing Grace. I have taken her out of service as the combings are worn thin and the loads from the jib sheets and crew are too high to risk continued use. I have used Iroko(African Teak) to construct combings for a CD25 I restored and am in the process of sourcing some now. The challenge is finding boards wide enough or skarfing in wood for the extra width.

[Bristol14]

i had a similar problem with the coamings on my Typhoon, due to its age and likely multiple teak sandings over the years. I solved the problem by drilling thin holes perpendicular to the cracks, partially filling the holes with West System epoxy, placing narrow screws into the holes and topping with a mixture of epoxy and teak sawdust. I also filled the cracks with the sawdust epoxy mixture. Everything seems to be holding up well, at least for now. I'd prefer not to replace the coaming and have thought about laminating a thin piece of teak to further strengthen the coaming.

[Ben Thomas]

Similar issues on both my 30's coamings a number of years ago. Full width cracks from aft end to the winch stands and forward. I replaced them with new constructs (teak) It was harder to remove then replace, someone had used perminate adhesive chalking on them, had to chisel them off in small pieces.
On new coamings I used 3/4" teak with molded top/outboard piece attached from aft end to cleats to strengthen it. Also drilled 1/4" holes top to 1" from bottom and worked 1/4" stainless round bar into holes for lateral strength, capped with teak bungs at 10 OC. spacing. Finished with Honey Teak.



I would line up the cracked coaming with clamps then drill holes for long screws or round bar, epoxy along crack with added teak dust in mix. You can use wax paper between epoxied surface and clamps to prevent set up errors.
Good luck!

[tjr818]

Those coaming boards are pretty big ($$$$). The last time I priced teak it was going for $30.00 a board foot and wide boards commanded a premium
Where can you find teak to replace them? What substitute species have others used?

[Astronomertoo]

Similar issues on both my 30's coamings a number of years ago. Full width cracks from aft end to the winch stands and forward. I replaced them with new constructs (teak) It was harder to remove then replace, someone had used perminate adhesive chalking on them, had to chisel them off in small pieces.
On new coamings I used 3/4" teak with molded top/outboard piece attached from aft end to cleats to strengthen it. Also drilled 1/4" holes top to 1" from bottom and worked 1/4" stainless round bar into holes for lateral strength, capped with teak bungs at 10 OC. spacing. Finished with Honey Teak.



I would line up the cracked coaming with clamps then drill holes for long screws or round bar, epoxy along crack with added teak dust in mix. You can use wax paper between epoxied surface and clamps to prevent set up errors.
Good luck!

---------------
Wow, Milagro looks like a brand new boat there, with some more hardware remaining to attach. Your treatment of the teakwood was a very good idea, and I will likely copy some of your ideas.
Best wishes
BobC

[Ben Thomas]

I would hate to think of the cost in todays teak $$. But back in the day (11 years ago) a good friend (retired cabinet maker) had a friend who was a lumber broker.. he gave us a heads up re: price increases, so we each got about 200 board ft. of teak and 150 board ft. of mahogany at rock bottom costs in thickness of 8/4" to 4/4" 7' lengths, 6 to 12" wide before costs went thru the roof.
I have used it sparingly, saving even the shavings, dust and trimmings as I approach the end of the cache.

[Jeff and Sarah]

You can try cutting teak of the same thickness as the foaming boards into hour glass shapes. Trace the pieces onto the boards straddling the crack (with the crack compressed back together), cut out the tracing, drive in your teak pieces, sand and finish. That would be my course of action. Anything is worth a try if you are even considering replacing them- the worst that can happen in that case is you scrap the old foaming boards.

[Jim Walsh]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nMcXwmoOExI

Here's a video on a bowtie/dutchman/butterfly repair explained in detail. Your coaming is certainly worth the effort. Good luck.
P.S.
I'm not a woodworker but I think this is what Jeff and Sarah are referring to as an hourglass repair.

[adamganz]

Thanks everyone.

The crack starts just aft of the winch. I have self tailing winches there isn't as much load on the coaming board as there might be if I still used the standard cleats. I do want to get this resolved before next season.

I'd be game to try any repair. The crack isn't clean, meaning that it can't be clamped for a perfectly tight fit. That said, I think some combination of epoxy, rods and joinery could do the trick. A couple of folks mentioned drilling holes perp to the crack. What size bit/dowel/rod was used? I'd need a bit that's about 7-8" long and can't imagine anything larger that 1/8" but maybe I'm being too cautious.

Adam

[Paul D.]

I'd use the butterfly key approach if it isn't a clean crack and you want to reuse the teak coaming. It is a permanent repair and gives a bit of "character" when visible. You might be able to do it on the side against the cockpit though so it wouldn't be seen. From the picture of the split you could do two of them to divide the length of the split in thirds.

I used this method to repair the long slat cherry center seat on my dinghy and it hasn't budged for a decade. Here is an example from a table repair. It would be a fun project if you can get the coaming off the boat and onto a good flat bench to work on it. Good luck!

[Dick Villamil]

I am not an expert on teak repair but I did scarf new sections into an older Typhoon toe rail. Make sure that the teak is wiped down with acetone just prior to adding epoxy. The acetone removes the teak oils from the surface allowing the epoxy to do its work. Even old dry teak has a lot of oil so treat it the same way.