I’m about to refinish all the teak on the outside of my Nonsuch 26, and I’m leaning towards teak oil, but would be curious to hear from the collective. Some say leave it bare, others say varnish, and some use oil.
Great question but I do not think there is a great answer. It's a matter of preference. If your boat is a real eye catcher I tend to think varnish is the way to go. However, depending on where you keep the boat, you could lose 3 - 7 coats or more of varnish each year. Then there is the teak oil treatment process. Not a bad look but to do it properly and to maintain it requires some effort, I've included this site for your review: https://www.doityourself.com/stry/how-to-restore-teak-on-your-boat . Then there is Sikkens Cetol. I don't like this stuff, but it is easy to use. When I bought my boat, all teak work was coated with it and I continue to use it. Does not look bad but surely does not look as sharp as varnish. And finally there is the do nothing look. Makes sense to me but I prefer the golden brown look vs. the grey appearance.
If you do choose a coating of some sort I suggest that you make every effort to protect the rest of the boat from getting hit with the stuff you use especially in the nonskid areas. If your wood work is pristine after you finish but you left a mess on the deck and cabin top, you wasted all of your efforts.
Your question reminded me that I need to get that damn Cetol out and touch up a few places.
Good luck. Let us know what you chose.
Butch
Butch Garren
Nonsuch 30 #196
Whiskers II,
Solomons, MD
Given that I’m seeing this a full 30 minutes after it was posted, I’m surprised there aren’t already a thousand responses.
I’m guessing that you’ll find advocates for all those alternatives.
Which will work best for you really depends on where you keep the boat, how often you want to do the work, how much work you like to do yourself vs. pay for, how much you want to spend, and what your preferences are regarding aesthetics.
Varnished boats are beautiful to look at; for myself, I’m glad that other people want to do it, but don’t myself. Where I keep my boat, in Southern California, the year-round sun exposure makes varnish or oil an excessive time and money commitment. One thing to keep in mind is that it’s hard to prep wood for a quality job of oiling or varnish without sanding it first. Our boats are getting older, and the wood loses some thickness every time it’s sanded.
On my own boat, the cabintop grabrails had been sanded for varnishing and/or oiling so many times over the years that they were 3/4ths to 7/8ths of an inch thick, and consequently hard to grip. The eyebrow around the cabintop has been sanded down so far that the plugs covering the screws have fallen out.
I just replaced my handrails with 1 & 3/8ths inch thick PlasTeak artificial wood rails, and I’ve used the same material to make new hatchboards. I plan to post about this in detail when I’ve had them a bit longer, but my preliminary impression is that they’re great. The one problem is that they make the rest of the wood look dingy, a problem with my choice of leaving the remaining wood bare.
– Bob
Solar Wind
Nonsuch 26C, #143
Have used SEMCO Teak Sealer throughout all of my Nonsuch years. Awesome stuff. Doesn’t flake, chip or bubble up and none of the varnish maintenance hassles. Once a year it’s just a matter of washing the teak with a soap detergent and reapplying another coat. Looks nice, protects the teak and very easy. Good reviews too.
Doug Hodgkins
Several owners have talked about the advantages of PlasTeak. I’m impressed. Right now, on the average, it costs me about $600.00 a year paying someone to keep my teak varnished in perfect condition.
Joe Valinoti
S/V IL Gatto NS30U #221
Sea Harbour YC
Oriental, NC USA
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ (_ ~ (_ ~ (_~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ (_ ~ (_ ~ (_~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Thanks all for your responses! I’m going to sand, and test with oil. If it looks good, I’ll do everything with oil. Otherwise I’ll use a nice high gloss varnish, Epiphanes with UV protection. Used it on my Naiad and it looks like glass!
We use “Honey Teak” Applied as they recommend it lasts 8 plus years on the Great Lakes and looks like 10 coats of varnish.
Val,
If you are going with teak oil stat by sanding the wood back to a very smooth finish. You will want all new wood showing. Work you way down to 300 or 400 grit. When you apply the oil protect all the surrounding surfaces and the deck. The oil will penetrate the gel coat and is difficult to remove if you don’t catch it instantly. When applying sand it in with 600 grit paper. Apply at least as many coats as the manufacturer recommends. You will have a beautiful satin look when you are done. Then once a month or more frequently wash the teak and apply another coat of oil to keep it looking good.
If that scares you away from oil you can use traditional varnish. Sand back to new wood with 220 grit paper. Wipe down the wood with paint thinner or the varnish manufacturer’s proprietary thinners. Tape all of the surrounding areas. You can use an expensive badger hair brush or disposable foam brushes. Apply as recommended by the manufacturer. Apply at least two coats more than they recommend. Then two or three times a year wipe down the teak, mask the surrounding areas, give a light sanding with 220 grit paper and apply another coat of varnish. It is a pleasant way to spend a half of a sunny warm day when sitting at anchor in a quiet bay. If you don’t keep at it the surface will break down and the repair will be a lot of work. About every 10 years you will have to take it back to bare wood and start over.
You can use Cetol or another synthetic oil product. The more tint they have the better they protect the wood and the more loudly they look. They, like oil are not particularly sensitive to application temperature or humidity. They are not as hard as varnish and sun tan lotion tends to remove them.
You could go to a two part finish such as suggested by Thor and sell the boat before you have to remove the old finish. They are extremely hard and therefore difficult to remove if you let the coating break down. It is important to try to keep water from getting underneath the coating which can be an issue with the eyebrow. Bristol Finish recommends sealing the edge between the wood and the gel coat with a paintable caulking to keep the water out. Practical Sailor does not recommend Bristol Finish. If you do an internet search under Partical Sailor Exterior wood finishes you can find a number of tests with their recommendations. In 2015 they announced the start of a new series of tests but I can’t find any subsequent reports on the results.
You can pick a paint or a wood stain that goes with the colour of your shear stripe and save a lot of work. You can replace the wood with plastek or other synthetic teak or stainless steel. Intial costs are high but ongoing maintenance is low.
You can let the teak go natural and wash it periodically with salt water to keep black mold from forming.
Good luck with your choice.
Mark Powers
La Reina 26C (looking good with traditional varnish)
Vancouver, B.C.
Val -
While most contributors have mentioned protecting the surrounding gelcoat, etc. … nobody has commented on how to protect it. Mask MORE, not less. If there is a chance in hell that a bit of product will spill or ooze from the masking tape, it WILL happen. Use wide masking tape - like 1.5 inches wide. Do not use any green lo-tack masking tape. Yes, it’s lo-tack and you can pull it off easily even if it’s been on for a while. But, this tape lets stuff ooze out of it.
I am no expert on tapes but 3M Blue painters tape sticks better, gives a far crisper and cleaner edge and prevents leaking and oozing. Don’t tape then paint days later - tape, ideally, just before coating. Then, remove the stuff as soon as the paint has stiffened up - the longer you wait the greater the chance of tape residue remaining and/or tape tearing and making a mess. The sun has a bad habit of getting masking tape to stick forever and resist coming up easily.
Like painting almost anything, a lot of the finesse is in the prep. Hopefully, someone with a LOT of experience working with masking tape will weigh in on this to advise us all.
And … do not cheap out on the brushes. Experts weigh in please ??
Thanks,
Ernie A. in Toronto
On a prior boat of mine, the previous owner had kept teak bare, he simply washed it twice a season with SUDSY AMMONIA. It renewed the great teak look and gradually faded to gray. It was a great solution (pardon the pun) for me.
Joe
Chesapeake Bay
1986 - 22 Nonsuch ob #023 FOR SALE (see listings)
almost own
1985 26 Nonsuch Classic #156
Well, having read all the comments, I guess someone has to step up and speak for Cetol. I’m a big fan of Cetol and have been for years. No, it doesn’t look like a new car finish but it looks much better for the amount of work I’m willing to put in than varnish, oil, or any other finish I’ve run across in my time in boats.
Of course the active phrase there is “for the amount of work I’m willing to put in”. I’m just too old and too lazy to play the finish game any more than I must and too cheap to pay someone else to. I admire the finely varnished boats but I’m very comfortable with mine too.
… just my opinion…
Paul M
NS30U #211, Sandpiper
Cowichan Bay,B.C.
Concerto was beautifully varnished when we bought her, possibly a good sales technique. I personally love the look but it is certainly a major chore to keep up. If you do choose varnish though, I say that as long as you get Jen brand foam brushes you will get great results. I’m not saying that badger hair brushes are bad at all but foamies just make the job so much more pleasant for cleanup. Jen brand brushes are clearly labeled on each brush. They may not look better at first - but they are and not much more if any more expensive. A friend of mine varnished much of the winter away for a commercial marina - Jen brushes. My decision came when I bought a book to start varnishing, written by a lady whose full time occupation was marine varnishing who used and recommend nothing but Jen foam.
Fred Rachwitz
Concerto
NS 30 U #445
Harbor Springs, Michigan
Northern Lake Michigan (where my season is over)
I agree with the use of foam brushes. They’re great!
Joe Valinoti
S/V IL Gatto NS30U #221
Sea Harbour YC
Oriental, NC USA
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ (_ ~ (_ ~ (_~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ (_ ~ (_ ~ (_~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I just refinished my rub rails and bowsprit, and after a lot of research and a stop in at Gibson Island Marina, decided to go ‘hard.’ I used a 2-part West System epoxy 105 & 207 (2 coats) and then a 2-part polyurethane Bristol Finish (3 coats). It has better UV protection than varnish, goes on rather easily (can be accomplished in 2 days after sanding) and we’ll see how long it lasts. I bed all the screws in Dolphinite to waterproof them, and set a bead of silicone on the top edge between the gelcoat and wood. It looks really good after refinishing. I’ll let you know after 10 years....
Couple of points on teak, it does not sand easily and it has a ton of oil in it. Both qualities conspire to make the job of finishing a challenge.
Sanding will remove more soft grains than the hard ones (same for teak cleaners). Over time the teak gets a rough surface. Home Depot sells carbide scrapers that make short work of old finishes, leaves a flat and smooth surface in half the time sanding will. Concave and flat blades are available. One blade will do the whole boat. Custom furniture makers rarely sand , they use scrapers as it yields a finer surface without the dust clogging the wood.
Cleaning, an alcohol wipe is needed to remove oil and dirt prior to finishing.
Marc is correct the Honey Teak is hard as nails, But the last refinish we did was with the scraper and it was a breeze. Sandpaper will not make a dent in it.
We did try the Bristol finish but is was not satisfactory. IMHO Honey Teak, or Epifanes for those who anchor out and varnish to pass the time.
One reason I like HT is is goes on well in very cool weather , 40F is just fine! So it makes a great off season job. 2 coats a day, 3 - 4 days and you are done for 8 years 
Easy for me Debbie does it all !!
Wow! Great info on scraping vs sanding. Will definitely try.
Brooks Bridges
NS22OB #24 An B’ad
Cambridge, MD
Very insightful indeed! I’ve decided to use teak oil from Star Brite. Looks great and I really like the flat finish.