eyebrow length?

[brackish]

Anyone happen to know the eyebrow length on the 23?  I can measure next time I go up to the boat, but if someone knows the length I can call some places I may be close to next week to see if they have any teak that long.  

I'm in the middle of doing my teak, late of course and have had an epiphany.  I'm going to make a second set of everything except the bowsprit and the drop boards.  Then I can do this right and at my leisure.  For instance, if I had time, I would just take it all to a guy who has a furniture strip tank and start over.  If I had a second set ready to go, I could just swap it out and the boat is not out of service while I'm finishing set A, sitting around with tape over holes. Already made a temp drop board, so that's not a problem, and I think the bowsprit too troublesome to take off each time.

Have not taken the eyebrows off yet.  Going to make and finish a new set before I do that.  I've heard they sometimes tear up coming off, although the rest of the components came off easy, some the first removal.  The factory did not use 5200 as some have suggested, looks more like Boatlife caulk or something like it.

[Cruzin]

They are 87.5" and these came from Hutchins factory. I don't recall the cost, but it was expensive I recall. I have not installed them yet, but will soon. Are you planning to try and utilize the same holes? I have read somewhere on here that it might be best to seal the factory holes and drill new ones as it is very difficult to fit them in old holes. Mine did not appear to have any adhesive on them at all. Good luck on your project.
Dale

[brackish]

They are 87.5" and these came from Hutchins factory. I don't recall the cost, but it was expensive I recall. I have not installed them yet, but will soon. Are you planning to try and utilize the same holes? I have read somewhere on here that it might be best to seal the factory holes and drill new ones as it is very difficult to fit them in old holes. Mine did not appear to have any adhesive on them at all. Good luck on your project.
Dale

Thanks.  Haven't decided on the holes.  If the originals come off intact and I can lay one on top of the other to match drill, I may try to use the factory holes.  we'll see.

[Bob23]

After I first got my 23, I embarked on a teak restoration project. I removed grab rails, guides, the bow pulpit and the winch pads. When it came to the eyebrows, I figured no problemo. Wrong! The port side came off in pieces So I made a new one. The original starboad remains to this day. They both get Cetol instead of varnish...can't seem to get varnish to last and I'm not the only one to experience that.
Bob23

[brackish]

I removed grab rails, guides, the bow pulpit and the winch pads.

Bob, or any others that have done so, how hard was it to remove the teak insert in the bowsprit?  I have imagined that it would be difficult with the forestay tang coming up through it, but I have never looked at it closely.  Can it be removed with the mast up and the furler on?

Going up to the boat today to reinstall all that I've refinished, may take a second look at that piece for removal.  It is not difficult to finish on the boat, however, it will not last because water sits on the edge between the SS band and the wood and the finish begins to fail at that point then spreads out.  Would be better to wrap the finish around the edge so as not to create an easy break point.

[Greene]

That bowsprit wood comes off quite easily.  Just a few screws, no adhesives and it is slotted around the tang for easy removal.  No need to remove the tang or forestay. Of all the teak it was probably the easiest piece to remove when I did the 23 last year.  Remove about 6 wood screws and tap upward with a rubber mallet.  Have fun refinishing.

Mike

[Bob23]

Brack:
   You must remove the furler but the mast will stay up without it...sorta. I'd tie and auxilary line from the masthead (jib sheet?) down to the foredeck cleat. Mike Greene is correct...it is the easiest piece of teak to remove....and easiest to refinish. When I initally removed it, it was in rough shape. Where the grooves were, I routed 3/8" wide by 1/4" deep grooves and inlaid some white oak. Kinda mimicked the teak and holly sole in the cabin.
Have fun!
Bob23

[mike gartland]

Since I was working on my 23 this morning I thought I would take a moment to see what my eyebrows measured.  The stbd brow was 87 1/4 and the port brow was an even 87 inches.  I suspect some of the difference could be due to different shrinkage rates from different pieces of wood over the years...mine is a 23-3 and is 24 years old so a quarter inch difference over 87 inches seems like a possibility.  These slight differences don't really make any difference unless you are trying to hit the old screw holes.  Since they are not accessible from the inside of the cabin (whereby you could spot through the existing holes into the new eyebrow) an exact match with newly drilled holes seems like something of a long shot.  I think the suggestion above to fill the existing holes and redrill new ones might save time and frustration in the long run.  I also noticed that my 24 yr-old brows were cracked in a couple of places where they were penetrated by screws so I have little hope that they would survive removal to properly restore and varnish.  I just spend a couple of hours every year using a roll or two of blue painters masking tape and revarnish everything in place.  The job looks perfect from more than a couple of feet away so it's good enough for me without the risk of breaking expensive teak pieces or, even worse, finding new places for water to leak into the cabin if the screws aren't reset properly.  My two cents worth.

Mike