Teak Question

[regis57]

I have a 43' Young Sun Cutter Rigged Sailboat, with lots of Teak on Deck, including bow sprit, taft rail and more.....it is quite weathered, flaking, stained and I have been vigerously sanding, bleaching, acetoning, and Cetoling....

Thus far, I have 3 coats of the Cetol on the wood that was badly weathered and it looks good!

My question is this: Do I have to apply 2-3 coats of the clear, or can I leave the cetol on the teak, and if so, how long will it last?

I have read on other forums, other boat owners not clearing the finished/cetol'ed wood...their rational was that if there are "repair" areas in the future, they can just sand the immediate area, and cetol to match/blend the color, verses having to sand/remove all of the clear, and get the cetol to "bite" and match....If a few of the experts could please chime-in and give shed a few "pearls of wisdom", I would be grateful, as your input will assist me in making an informed decision.

Thanks!

Regis

[zeehag]

i have a formosa 41. i use sea water and teak or tung oil on mine--clean wood, apply oil after wood is clean. takes 6 hours yearly and looks good--like wood should, and i can stand on it without sliding when it is sea water wet at sea , unlike varnish or cetol. oh yes--i have 110 feet of teak rail-cap plus taff. i have some coach house wood also.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by zeehag

i have a formosa 41. i use sea water and teak or tung oil on mine--clean wood, apply oil after wood is clean. takes 6 hours yearly and looks good--like wood should, and i can stand on it without sliding when it is sea water wet at sea , unlike varnish or cetol. oh yes--i have 110 feet of teak rail-cap plus taff. i have some coach house wood also.

Zee, do you use tung oil on your teak decks? We've been oiling our brightwork, and we too have a lot of teak. Rails, cockpit, ratlines, etc. But I've left our deck au-natural. Washed down with water only.

[zeehag]

use no oil on decking of teak. salt water only, use much and use daily. do not wash em in fresh water--is bad for teak. use sea water or salt water. if you are in fresh water, use rock salt on deck to preserve it.

[Mike OReilly]

No salt water for us. Rock salt? Toss it on, and wash it off?

[zeehag]

pack it in the salt.....dont wash off the rock salt --it will eventually go away then ye need more. is akin to what was done in old wood boats--packed hull with salt when in fresh water.
teak needs salt water to keep from shrinking. is an oily wood that loves salt water.
when you stay on board--make a brine wash for decks.
do you cover your boat from sunshine?? if you do , leave the salt on decks when you leave boat--will be covered and happy salty.