Cockpit coaming/seat backs

[gareth harris]

Has anyone pulled the teak off their decks, meanwhile successfully keeping the pieces intact to put back on? Where were the attachment points?
Mine are so covered in varnish that I am not sure if I have found all the screws, and since they are also glued down, do not want to go in with a crowbar until I have all the screws out.

Does anyone know a source for large pieces of teak in New York/New England?

Gareth
Freyja E35 #241 1972

 

[chrism]

Our Dyer Dow was refinished a couple of years ago by a friend, and although GIANT pieces weren't used, I'm pretty sure a few big pieces were. He bought them from the lumber yard in Hingham, MA. Their contact info is below, if you want to see if they still cary it/have big enough pieces.

165 Chief Justice Cushing Highway (Route 3A)
Cohasset, MA (Their new location)
Local: (781) 749-4200
Toll Free: 888-8 HINGHAM

 

[hinters]

Hi again Gareth
It sounds like you are doing all the same things as me!!
I took my seat backs off (not easy..lots of twisting and grunting) and managed to find them all.
On mine (hull 244) there are 11 bolts through the starboard side and 10 on the port side.
I will try to explain the locations. Starting forward on the stbd side there are two above and below each other near the middle of the forward end accessable from the inside of the lazarette. Moving aft the next two are just forward of the first storage bin accessable through the bin. Then there are two more between the fwd and aft bin and three more along the base of the wood aft of the rear bin. All these are accessable by reaching through the bins or through the aft locker.
The port side has only 10 bolts on my boat for some reason. All are in the same locations with the exception of the two aft of the fwd storage bin where there is only one on the port side! The access is the same except for the forward two where I could not find any access to the nuts from inside without cutting into the liner. I ended up just tearing the bolt heads through the wood to get it off and I will have to figure a repair of the holes left when I go to replace the boards. I have them varnished up now so the replacement will come soon. They sure do look good in my basement though!
Did you have to repair your chainplates too?
Let me know how you make out.
Cheers
Pat
Lions Den
E-35 II #244
ps This is probably clear as mud!

 

[gareth harris]

Thankyou both. Pat - did you need a crowbar to break the pieces away, or were they just stuck down with caulking?
I hate to remove all the varnish I so painstakingly put on, but I guess I may need to to see all the screws.

I have had new chainplates made up, twice the thickness of the old ones. Cost me $100, apperently the cost of steel is still rocketing upwards with the boom in the Chinese economy. I was going to keep the twisted remains of the old ones as a museum piece, but ended up having them cut into backing plates.

Gareth
Freyja E35 #241 1972

 

[hinters]

cockpit coamings

Gareth
Mine were stuck down with caulking, 4200 or 5200 or more likely som predecessor of those. I managed to pry them off without damage, other than the two bolts I couldn't get at. The caulking was just around the perimiter of the boards and it was probably 32 years old, so it came off without too much trouble. Good luck with it....buying teak these days is not something you want to do if you can avoid it!
Cheers
Pat

 

[JORGE]

seat back coamings

I first removed, the flat head steel screws(no. 12?), by using a 1/2" forestner bit on the teak wood. I think these were poxied in, then cleaned out the remaining wood with a small screwdriver. To lift the boards, I used a large 6" wide flat steel scrapper with a round steel handle used for paint removal . It's the non-flexible type very heavy duty, the sealant(s)were ancient, mostly around the top edges. I beveled the scrapper and used wood shims so as not to damage the fiberglass.. My deck is in bad shape, besides. Some lengthwise area of the coaming-- towards the stern looked as though they were joined with screws and dowels, and one seam actually separated. The boards were in BAD shape, and looked as though a gorilla grooved finger nails along the length. So I stripped off as much of the old coating, used an electric plane and belt sander.

Soon, I'll finish sand, use oxalic acid(wood bleach), and coat with probably Sikens. The replacement teak plugs will be cut using a wood plug cutter and a piece of teak, when installing watch for grain direction and small amount of epoxy around the edge of the plug. For your selection of wood in the New York area , I know of one lumber yard, Wood-ply, but there are others, like Woodworkerssource, however, the color and dimensions should be evaluated because there are variations based on where the wood was grown.

 

[Loren Beach]

The Radical Approach

I suppose I shall be pummeled with pieces of broken teak for suggesting this, but.... did you consider going with a new panel made from G10 paneling? Not cheap, but stable, and can be coated with either gel coat or LPU. Or just go with regular foam core with several layers of roving on both sides. Finishing to a slick surface might take enough time to justify the cost of the G10.
Second thought: Use a core material like foam, with a thin (and more affordable) layer of G10 on each side. The edges would have the core stop 3/8 inch short, and the gap filled with thickened epoxy. Then route the edge to the right shape.

Seems like I have seen oodles of seat backs in the cockpits of older Cals and Ericsons for years now, the surfaces looking as furrowed as the surface of Mars -- even when covered in shiny new varnish.

Since the rest of the boat is made of FRP, why not this area also? If you just *have* to varnish something, you can always put more time into those long handrails and teak hatch frames....


Loren
[ Ducking and running... ]

 

[JORGE]

Coamings and goings

Change can be good, except without teak wood coamings, the classic look would probably suffer, and diminish the resale and the character of this proud boat. Besides once the coamings are coated 5x the maintenance with the sikkens would be reduced too a much easier task, than regular spar.
(I guess you can tell I love wood.)
I say, if anyone were going to restore structural parts, do it right. Besides, I could have bought a glass tub but I opted for a beauty.

 

[redwing]

I replaced the hatchboards on my last boat with Starboard. This material machines like wood and only needs an ocasional washing. This may not be the look you want but it is maintenance free.