[Public-List] Glassed in coamings?

[crufone at comcast.net]

James, 

If I were you and don't want to mess up the boat but are looking for less maintenance for replacement coamings I would consider mfg them from some type of teak substitute. If you were to mfg. them exactly as the originals were made and fasten them in the same way they could be removed by her future owner, after you, if they wished to have the original teak installed. Thus you wouldn't be changing the boat so substantially that she couldn't be fairly easily returned to original. 

  

I for one would not purchase an Alberg 30 modified as you have suggested. There are so many reasons why I LOVE my Alberg 30. One of them is that she has enough wood trim and details to be attractive, but not so much as to become my MASTER of slavery over a continuum of wood maintenance. 

  

If you like the white appearance of firbeglass coamings  of the same period, Star Board is available in thicknesses to replicate the Alberg 30 Coamings. The original coamings don't have to be all that structural. The major stress would be from the winches and they are mainly supported by their own towers. I believe that Star board would be strong enough. If you wish the wood look then I wonder if a product like Plasteak comes thick enough. I have heard though that Plasteak is almost as expensive as the teak it is substituting. 



Many have replaced their toe rails with Plasteak with good results. A MAJOR advantage is that the Plasteak will conform to the curve of the toe rail without having to steam or splice pieces together. 



I would say that making the modification as you originally discussed would reduce the value of the boat to someone who was looking specifically for an Alberg 30. I also believe as others have suggested that your "fix" might cause more maintenance problems down the line, let's say in six to ten  years or so.   



Michael #133 



----- Original Message -----




From: "James Almond" <okeebc at gmail.com> 
To: public-list at lists.alberg30.org 
Sent: Thursday, June 7, 2012 8:41:31 PM 
Subject: [Public-List] Glassed in coamings? 

The teak coamings on (now off) of my boat are not in very good shape. They 
appear to have been cleaned, sanded, varnished and weathered to a fraction 
of they're former self. Each came off in two pieces and are thin. Each spot 
that was formerly covered by a hardware washer stands a good 1/16" proud of 
the surrounding wood. 

The cost of new teak coamings, protruding nuts/bolts and maintenance all 
have me thinking to replace with 3/4" (or 1/2") marine plywood glassed in 
with bronze hardware countersunk and/or embedded. The problem I have with 
this idea is boat flex and what that might do to the new glass connections 
and surrounding unfortified deck. 

I want strength, a little added height, low maintenance and no bolts in my 
back. I do not want to F up the boat either though. 

Good or bad idea? Alternatives? 

Thanks in advance for weighing in, 
Jim 
http://svcookie.blogspot.com/ 
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