Topside Wood Restoral

[e38Aiea]

Hello All-

The PO of my E38 did some really great work on the interior of Lehua but did not get around to the topside. I am wanting to restore the wood topside as a place to start and was looking for suggestions. I am unsure of the wood type topside but I believe it is original. The wood above the cover on the seat aft of the pedestal needs to be completly replaced but I am not sure with what. I figure I will sand down the weathering and stain/protect it but do not know what to use to do so as this will be my first go at it. Any tips etc would be welcome. And yes I did a variety of searches for wood/pretectorant etc but didn't come up with much.

Thanks,
Marshall

 

[rwthomas1]

You have several options:
Leave it alone. Some like the natural Teak look. Clean it with Teak cleaner and oil it regularly for a traditional look. Sand it lightly and apply a product like Cetol for a fairly low maintenance finish. Sand it, seal it, varnish it, repeat. All of the finish options will require attention, some more frequently than others. How much do you like wood? How much time do you want to invest maintaining wood instead of sailing? I'm a carpenter and I hate the stuff! If that were my boat I would replace the deck rails with stainless, the cockpit trim with Starboard or G10 (painted) but I would leave the companionway boards, trim with a Cetol finish.

I'm letting the wood go on my E38 with anticipation of doing exactly what I describe. IMHO, wood has no place on the exterior of a modern sailboat. Unless you can afford to pay someone else to fuss over it.

RT