Teak deck replacement

Hi Mike

Ronar M has a teak deck and I have some experience of replacing parts of it. The deck is lovely but is my biggest concern because to replace it all in proper teak would cost more than the boat is worth and so I treat it very carefully – never scrub it, definitely never pressure wash it. I regularly sluice it down with salt water and clean it annually with soap and water and a soft sponge.

Anyway I have had some parts replaced – the odd plank here and there – where the originals have worn too thin. I use a local shipwright from Fowey, Cornwall, who is very good. The planks were originally glued to the fibreglass deck underneath. From what we can gather the underside of the teak was kept deliberately rough (to aid adhesion?) and so the epoxy underneath is lumpy where it squidged into roughnesses in the wood. So my shipwright uses a router to machine the substate flat (this wrecks the cutter so I have to buy him a new one each time). He then uses epoxy to stick down the new planking making sure it is slightly thicker than necessary. Once the glue is dry he uses a belt sander to thin the planks flush with the deck. In fact with recent repairs we have deliberately left the planks a fraction higher than the rest surrounding deck. Once the seams are done (with sikaflex) you do not notice this slight step. The logic behind this is that slowly, as more of the deck is replaced in the future) I will end up with a thicker deck.

I have a friend who owns a Tradewind 33. He bought it cheaply as the teak deck was wrecked (by Mediterranean sun and over zealous Turkish shipyard workers and their pressure washer). The Tradewind has a flush deck so there was acres of cracked and curling teak. He decided to do away with the teak altogether – he couldn’t afford to replace it. All the deck fittings had to come off and then he got the old teak up (the worst part of the job), sanded off the fibreglass underneath and then put a few layers of cloth and resin on top. A final sanding before painting with non slip paint and it looks very good – not as traditional as teak but very practical. I think this cost him about £9000 (doing much of the work himself) as opposed to some £35000 for teak.

If you go to http://www.navigo-sailing.co.uk there are some pictures of Ronar M, some of which give you glimses of the deck.

Good luck, Cheers, Trevor

ps There is teak and teak. Select your timber carefully. Close grained wood is much better and avoids the ridged effect some wooden decks develop as they weather.