A sailing buddy came to me looking for advice. He had inadvertently left a portlight open and a combination of rain and snow had blown into the cabin near the nav station. The finish on the teak and holly cabin sole had been compromised. The surface had stained dark in areas and the finish bubbled white in others. As a fastidious boat owner, he was hoping to re-finish the sole to factory condition. Failing that, the second choice would be replacing the teak and holly veneer with a similar product and hope that the same tint of teak and holly was available with similar stripe width.
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Compliments – I’m doing the same job on the sole of a Wauquiez Centurion 38 of ’87, and the original varnish must be some 2-component epoxy which is impossible to sand (it took me more than 1 hour @ girt 120 for a 30 x 40 cm piece), no chemical stripping possible, so I had to resort to the heat gun, and the damned varnish is “boiling up” when heated, then it re-melts and gets very hard to be stripped. The result is a dark-spotted sole which I try to uniform as much as possible using 5 layers of Epfinaes Hard Wood Varnish with two layers of Epifanes Auqa Marine Urethane sealing matt finish. Not comparable with your good job. I’m deeply envious … chapeau to your good work!
Thanks for the comment. Refinishing a factory sole is always a chancy gamble. I got very lucky with this project. I believe on the Centurion the sole is permanently fastened to the hull, not screwed down. You can’t replace individual boards like more modern soles (that squeak when trod upon!). On my own boat I refinished the cabin sole by laying another sole overtop, 1/4″ thick. I used oak with mahogany strips, the interior of the Islander is mahogany. It worked out very well but it was a lot of work. Good luck on your project!
Nice work! Articles like this are great for keeping the “practical” in Practical Sailor magazine.
What might it cost to replace the veneer with real teak and holly?
Good question. With the exorbitant cost of teak, and the milling that will be required to trim it to size, I suspect that most boat owners would reject that option out of hand. In this particular incident, trying to match the rest of the sole would have been near impossible. To look good the entire sole would have to be replaced. In western Canada teak runs around $85 a board foot.
I got a price of $30,000 from my local yard to add a teak and holly tongue and groove layer on top of my existing salon/galley sole on my ’85 Morgan 43, which is almost as much as I paid for the boat! The same width new veneer is not available to match my boat, so I am in the process of moving good veneer from the galley to replace damaged spots in the salon-new teak was not going to match the old teak color anyhow. Then I’m going to completely replace the galley sole with a beautiful compass rose floor medallion from some wood artisans in Ukraine that I found on Etsy. I have had good luck very carefully sanding the existing finish off with a good quality (brushless motor) orbital sander starting with 80 grit.
Excellent idea Todd. I’ve also seen the worn out teak & holly in the galley replaced with a rubber type non-skid sole like Treadmaster, the same material used on the decks and cockpits. It looked pretty sharp as well. But your idea is something I’m going to look into. Never thought of that avenue. Thanks for the comment.
Timely article for me; I will need to refinish my floor this Winter. Thanks for the detailed guide.
Thanks for the comment George. I’ve been away sailing and just got back. Good luck on the refurbish on the sole. Hopefully any damage is not too deep and salvageable. Patience is the key! I’d be interested in seeing the results if you can send me photos at bvermeer@shaw.ca.