Floorboard/brightwork maintenance

[BillHerrick]

Not really specific to just DS1's, but what's the best way to keep my original wood in good condition? Teak oil? Cetol?
What do the rest of you do?
Thanks.

[GreenLake]

This is a bit of a perennial topic on this forum. You may want to dig through older threads and posts for a complete picture.

Earlier, I tried polyurethane (without cross linker) by itself and on top of Benite(which is a hardening oil for sealing wood), and the results are not to be recommended (for a longer description, see some of my older posts).

Recently, I used 2-3 layers of epoxy (Clear Coat by SystemThree) followed by 3-4 coats of crosslinked polyurethane (same manuf). After one full year and one summer, the coamings and thwarts thus treated look good.

I plan on treating the floorboards the same way, next time I get around to them; because epoxy-coating must fully enclose the wood, I plan to disassemble them, so I can get to all sides of all the pieces.

That leaves the little shelf below the rear deck. Complete disassembly is too much work, and it's pretty protected (shaded and not sitting in the water). I may continue maintenance coats of PU.

My goal is something that will last multiple seasons before I need to give it additional attention. If you're the kind of person who constantly putters about with a can of paint and a brush, then oil or cetol may be more suitable. The need to be refreshed regularly, but doing so is in a way more painless, because you don't first have to remove what's already there.

Practical Sailor reviewed the various finishes (other than epoxy) in a relatively recent issue.

[UCanoe_2]

A previous owner finished my floorboards with Cetol, and they seem to have held up well for several years. He left the underside unfinished, which was a big mistake. I put on 4 coats of linseed oil thinned with turpentine. I figured it could do no harm, seal the wood from water absorbtion, and I can still put on some other finish eventually.

[kkearns]

Lots of personal preferences on this topic. Personally, I finished by coamings with about 10 coats of Helmsman varnish. Two seasons, they look like I just did them, but I should note that my boat is covered when not in use.

On the floorboards, I personally don't like the feel of varnish or poly under foot. Probably no evidence to back this up, but I just feel like the footing might not be solid if it has water from spray on it. Others disagree and they are probably right. Nonetheless, I personally prefer just to treat the boards once per year with teak oil. I like that feel under foot and the look is very traditional.

Kevin

[dannyb9]

i just started using cetol about 2 years ago. i like it. no more varnish for me. does anybody paint their wood trim? ive seen some boats with wood painted in colors similar to wood that were very handsome

[GreenLake]

I know a painter who used Cetol for a railing and had some weird failure (tiny black spots). Just goes to show you, no wood treatment is perfect.