teak transom

[REBrueckner]

I haven't owned a wood boat in many years but I still remember finding some African mahogany in the bottom of a pile of dusty old wood in a lumber yard in New Rochelle, NY.....the yard was going out of business......many years ago....

the people there did not even know what kind of wood it was (you had to rub the dust off to get an idea) and sold me some lengths real cheap....it was old growth, maybe center cut, flawless, no knots, rock hard, thin growth rings, perfect...some of the cleanest wood I had seen in a looooong time. I kept that stored in my parents garage for at least ten years before I sold the boat and gave the new owner the planks....do you know enough to select quality teak..or trust someone who does????

I have not kept up with wood sources, types, and quality in many years....But use great care when selecting teak..."inexpensive" poor quality wood will kill you with flaws....Know how ugly one plug looks when popped???

Also, teak will be HOT in tropical sun...too hot to walk on.....unlike white or cream color glass....spray on water too cool it??? I would think that would adversely affect whatever finish you have apllied....

To reduce cockpit teak floor maintenance by 80% or more: keep a shade cover up whenever the boat is not idle...

[SeaEric]

I added a teak overlay transom to a Viking SF that used to own. It worked out beautifully. I used 5/8" thick boards that were carefully chosen for grain match. 5/8" was the thinnest that I thought I could easily keep a plug in over the screws. I then had the boards milled and edge joined to a width that made sense for the height of the transom. I think I did it in 4 boards. That boat had a swim platform, so I only took the teak down to just above the platform. I rolled the bottom edge of the bottom board into the existing transom. Likewise the top edge was scribed and cut to the arc at the top below the rub rail and rolled in there, along with the sides. We coated the back of the teak with WEST, then bedded the boards in WEST with the fiber additive- to each other and to the boat one at a time starting from the top and working down. Plugged, set, sanded and varnished 10 coats. Then a hand applied 24k gold leaf name with machine turning and One Shot "Fire Red" outline. As you may imagine, It turned out great. The fit and install was done in one day by me and a helper.

BTW, it is much easier to maintain vertical teak (like a transom), than horizontal teak (like on a deck).