Teak Question

[peterb]

I just pulled the boat into my driveway this weekend in hopes of starting my pre-April 1 launch work. Unfortunately, it got vey cold and windy today. Therefore, the only thing of consequence that I did today was cut out two teak hatches for the rear ice boxes/bait wells.

I have a quick question for the team. Does teak ever swell at all during a hot summer day? I am asking becuase I have a snug fit with the current cut, and am concerned about it swelling shut on a hot humid day.

Thanks

[Michael Vezzosi]

Interesting question Pete. First, I spent last winter replacing the original mahogoney of my 1982 BW 15. I think it came out furniture grade. But it is NOT teak. I used MAS Epoxy to seal wood with two coats, two part. It sealed it faster than multi- layers of varnish. Then applied 12 coats of Captains Spar for really nice finish. I can e-mail pix if you want. My question is why would you build such close tolerances, contacts, as my dentist would say? Can you machine to allow for finish, or do you plan to simply oil a couple times this season?

[CapeBoater1]

Peter, I just pulled the teak out of my 74 20 sf to refinish it. all I do is use a teak cleaner and oil afterwards. You have to do it about every other year and a couple times a season you can oil the teak to keep it from graying. I have never had a problem with the teak swelling myself. If the teak hatches are original I think you will be fine. I personally like using oil vs. varnish and or polyurathane simply because it is much easier to refinish. I had a whaler that had been varnished and it was very difficult to refinish and the varnish always seems to split and fade. A lot of people do like it however and it does look nice.