Sikkens Cetol maintenance coat after 46 months!

[capt_nemo]

With the boat nestled snugly in a friend's garage (Man Cave) for hull polishing/waxing and other maintenance tasks, I decided to seize the opportunity and apply a few maintenance coats of Sikkens Cetol Marine Light to the exterior Teak on Sun Cat "Frisky". I coated the virgin teak with several coats of Cetol Marine Light 46 months ago when the NEW boat arrived from the factory. NO GLOSS WAS USED.

Here are 3 BEFORE photos. Looking pretty good after 46 months.










And here are the 3 AFTER photos. Looking even better, especially up close.











Yes, there does not appear to be much difference other than a fresh shine or sheen to the 2 maintenance coats recently applied.

The point of this post is to demonstrate that the longevity of the initial coatings is attributable to three (3) major factors. First, thorough and proper preparation of the teakwood surface prior to application. Not only is a clean smooth surface necessary but one that has been rubbed with clean rags soaked in copious amounts of fast evaporating Acetone TO DISSOLVE AND REMOVE THE SURFACE OILS FROM THE WOOD AND PROVIDE A DRY CLEAN FRIENDLY POROUS SURFACE TO WHICH THE CETOL CAN TENACIOUSLY ATTACH. Second, proper application according to the manufacturer's instructions. And third, the teak, as well as the entire boat was protected by a WHITE Polytarp at all times when not in use. Keeping the UV Rays and weather off the wood works wonders for extending the useful life of a Cetol coating, or any coating for that matter. Although it may first appear to be a pain to cover and recover the teak, think about it again!

[Cevin c Taylor]

Very nice!  Right now I use teak oil.  I might try cetol next time. 

[brackish]

It is very nice, however, I would suggest that the major factor in your finishing plan is the cover.  My boat stays in the water all the time exposed to the elements.  The UV takes it's toll.  I've even noticed that the woodwork on the side of the boat that is exposed to the west sun deteriorates twice as fast as the other side that has a little protection for several hours a day from an adjacent dock roof.  I use Bristol two part poly and I get maybe two years with visible deterioration after one year.  My buddy who has a Caribiana sea skiff keeps his shaded and covered and he has never had a break in his Bristol.  Puts on a maintenance coat every two or three years to bring up the gloss.

I've considered a cover, but devising one that would pick up all the teak and would be relatively easy to put on and off on a 23 on the water has been a challenge.  I've also considered all those individual covers for each piece of teak and concluded putting them on and off each time I go sailing would be much more time consuming than just refinishing more often.

My plan is to have two sets of everything except the drop boards.  Refinish set A during the winter, then change it out removing set B in the spring.  I would much rather finish my teak off the boat than to go through the masking process.  The eyebrows will go natural and be oil only.  The drop boards can be refinished each time by putting in my temporary plywood drop board. With all the teak off, if it is too bad, I can take it to a guy in Ocean Springs that has a strip dip tank and just start over for the winter finishing.   For the second set, I've found handrails for about $60 total and I'm making the rest.

Whenever the debate rages over what is the best finish for teak the opinions vary widely.  Some folks hate a particular coating while other love it, making it very confusing.  I think if you add into the debate hours of UV exposure per annum per boat, you would get some statistical relevance to the debate.

[Spartan]

Brackish,
Having two sets is an interesting idea, my boat sits in the water during sailing season, then in a parking lot at the State Park over the winter, and teak oil didn't last the whole summer.  My tiller which has spray varnish has lasted much better, but taking the wooden bits on and off to recoat is not very easy when I don't have the boat at my disposal .... have to give your idea some thought. 

[Salty19]

I agree with Brackish.  

UV is the main factor in deterioration of finishes.  Cover the boat if left outside or plan on refinishing every 2-3 years.
Up here in cloudy Ohio (40 degrees parallel), that's about as long as cetol lasts when the boat is left in the slip 6 months out of the year.
If my boat was inside or covered except when sailing, I bet the finish would last more than 5 years, save the occasional scratch to touch up, as Nemo's has.

My tiller, which is covered all the time except when sailing, looks great after 4 years...might need to touch it up next year. I've scratched it a bit which shows noticeably.

I'm considering switching the wood over to a Poly material for never-touch-it-again maintenance plan.   Too much $ and time I'm spending on the house lately, so this may just wait a bit.  

[capt_nemo]

Guys,

Couldn't agree with you more about the importance of a cover to protect ANY finish coating from UV rays. And, the "Two Sets" of teak sounds like a good idea.

When I bought "Frisky" NEW I thought about the "to cover or not to cover" issue and the trouble it might be to uncover and recover after each use. However, since I don't relish refinishing teak any more often than is really necessary, I opted to protect it from SW Florida UV Rays along with the rest of my NEW trailerable boat, with a cover.

It has been an interesting and challenging adventure developing a cover that wouldn't be a PITA to use frequently. Necessity has truly been the mother of invention in the trial and error development of a technique that only takes several MINUTES to uncover and recover the trailered boat. Key to the technique is the use of large used plastic containers 1/2 to 3/4 full of water (or rocks) with hooks attached which quickly unhook or rehook to the grommets of the cover to hold it down. NO TIME CONSUMING LINES TO ROUTE WITH KNOTS TO TIE. The ends got equal attention to quick line routing and quick release ties.

If I had a larger boat stored in or out of the water I'd develop a quick efficient cover system for the majority of the teak to protect it from UV and weather and thus prolong the useful life of whatever coating is used.

capt_nemo