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

[George Dinwiddie via Public-List]

FWIW, I do have a liner boat, and the previous owner replaced the 
plywood inserts with solid teak. Eventually water got under that, 
causing it to warp and crack. One board popped out altogether.

  - George

On 2/2/17 12:07 PM, Wes Gardner via Public-List wrote:
> 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.
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
>> 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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   When I remember bygone days                         George Dinwiddie
   I think how evening follows morn;            gdinwiddie at alberg30.org
   So many I loved were not yet dead,           http://www.Alberg30.org
   So many I love were not yet born.                          also see:
                'The Middle' by Ogden Nash     http://idiacomputing.com
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