[Public-List] Teak inlay in cockpit seats and hatch cover

[Wes Gardner via Public-List]

I think I would follow Mike's comments and suggestions to the letter. I believe, as Mike points out, that the seats are problematic because of the flex. I also agree that plywood may not be the answer here over the long term. My boat is a non-liner boat so doesn't have those issues, it has solid wood seats and a plywood main hatch, which did fail and was rebuilt/reinforced with solid wood exterior ribs and then glassed over and painted.

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> On Feb 2, 2017, at 12:02 PM, Mike Lehman via Public-List <public-list at lists.alberg30.org> wrote:
> 
> Stephen,
> 
> I have been through this a number of times on several Albergs. The bad part
> about teak veneer plywood, is 1. over the years the veneer wears off and
> you see the opposing grain for the layers below. 2. Particularly on the
> seats, the perimeter leaks and water gets under the plywood and with
> freeze-thaw the plywood eventually gets loose and comes out.
> 
> For the main hatch and the lazarette the fix I did on our boat #505 (Liner
> boat) was similar to what Larry Morris did. I removed the plywood entirely
> and installed solid teak strips with epoxy beneath and epoxy between the
> joints in the strips. For the epoxy between the strips was I added a white
> coloring to make it look like teak and holly. I keep my hatches finished
> with Cetol Natural (now using AwlWood MA) and they look great and have held
> up for 20+ years without a problem. More recently, on other boats I have
> repaired, I milled 5/4 teak the strips to have an edge overlap the
> perimeter all the way around, so water cannot get into the edges between
> the wood and the fiberglass edges. This lip makes the wood about 1/4" proud
> of the fiberglass, but has worked out well and survived the test of time.
> 
> The seats are a different story. I was perplexed why these repairs failed
> around the edges and let water get under the wood and eventually pop up.
> This is not the case with the seats that have to overlap on later repairs,
> but did happen on my original fix. So, I once again remove the wood and
> this time installed rubber imitation teak and holly on the seats, like you
> find on many more modern boats. Two problems with this 1. water still found
> its way under the rubber and 2. while it looked good at first, after a few
> years it looked like shit (nautical term). So why do the seats fail? I
> concluded that is it because we stand on the seats and that cause the seal
> around the perimeter to fail. So, my permanent fix for the seat, which has
> now held up for 10 years without and problems...I glassed them over. I dug
> out everything; cut pieces of Coosa Board
> http://www.coosacomposites.com/bluewater.htm and epoxied that in the seats
> for strength. Then glassed over the Coosa Board, ground it smooth, and
> painted it with KIWI Grip. Okay, so it takes some of the wood-look away,
> but the Albergs have teak coamings and toe rails and hatches so it still
> looks good. The seats are now strong, you can jump on them, they do not
> need periodic refinishing, and the KIWI grip gives a very nice non-skid
> finish so no more busting your ass while slipping on wet varnish wood.
> 
> Hope this helps.
> 
> 
> 
> On Wed, Feb 1, 2017 at 5:00 PM, Stephen Gwyn via Public-List <
> public-list at lists.alberg30.org> wrote:
> 
>> 
>> Hi,
>> 
>> My boat (Hull #495) has teak plywood inset into fibreglass for both
>> the cockpit seats / locker lids and the sliding hatch. After only 45 years,
>> the teak is starting to rot. The depression in the cockpit seats
>> is 3/4" deep. The depression on the sliding hatch cover is 3/8" deep.
>> This piece of teak has fore-and-aft cuts on the bottom side so
>> the plywood can bend to meet the curve.
>> 
>> I'd like to switch to teak battens, with black sealant in between.
>> 
>> Has anybody done this?
>> 
>> SG
>> 
>> 
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> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Mike Lehman
> ~~~_/)_/)~~_/)~~~
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