Teak Oil on gunwales

[dermot]

I’m in the process of taking the gunwales (and cockpit rails and centreboard capping) on my BR20 back to bare wood. I believe the previous coating was cetol, and it had been looking scruffy for some time and IMO beyond touching up (I also didn’t know which colour). I believe the wood is utile.

My intention is to treat with teak oil instead, the theory being it’s easy to apply, and, although maybe not as long lasting as other treatments, shouldn’t need reapplication too often as it’s not excessively exposed to weather, it’s primary home being in the shed. Also, it hopefully won’t suffer from chips and dings in the same way as cetol.

Just canvassing for others’ experience of this approach? I’ve found references elsewhere on the forum to both cetol and Deks Olje D1, but nothing specific on using teak oil. From what I can gather elsewhere it seems appropriate and easy. I’d also be comfortable with the wood weathering to silver-grey, assuming that’s what will happen and mould doesn’t take over.

Any opinions and advice gratefully received!
Dermot

[Andy Stobbart]

I have an epoxy ply BR20 on which the bare wood (spars and rubbing strake, seats and rails) is treated with Danish Oil.

I love the simplicity of use and aesthetics of oil finishes and would now choose them over any sort of varnish.

Danish Oil seems to me to be very similar to a soft varnish that doesn’t “set” in layers that then degrade, crack and peel as varnish does requiring highly labour intensive stripping and reapplication to maintain the required protection from the elements.

On my boat (which despite being more than 10 years old presents almost as new) all the oiled wood looks as though it has been varnished with a semi-gloss varnish. I have just recoated it all with a couple of coats which is the work of a few hours over a couple of days (to give the first coat time to harden overnight).

When the finish starts to degrade during the season I just whack a bit more oil on and it is back to looking like new again - that is the beauty of using an oil rather than a varnish.

My previous boat also had all its bare wood treated with an oil finish (in this case a linseed oil & Stockholm tar based “boat sauce” to a recipe I was given with the boat). That finish also beat varnish hands down for similar aesthetics with the major benefit of ease of use, plus, with this finish, a very authentic and salty nautical aroma. NB the Boat Sauce recipe I used is probably best suited to a working boat or lookalike (think Vivier designs) rather than a dinghy or yacht (like a Swallow yacht) as it produces a more industrial looking finish and will darken the timber over successive applications but on that type of craft it is unbeatable IMO.

[Graham W]

Dermot,

I have tatty Cetol (Sikkens Filter 7 Plus, Mahogany) on my fitted woodwork too.  It used to be standard on older BR’s - I don’t know if the yard still uses it.  The spars were coated in the Pine version.

How do you go about stripping back to bare wood before applying your chosen coating?  Some of the wooden fittings, like the bench rails, are quite intricate - do you unmount them first?  Do you use power tools (such as an orbital sander) on the easy bits or is it all by hand?  And what grades of sandpaper do you use?

[dermot]

Graham - It’s turning out to be more work than I bargained for! GRP-friendly paint stripper and a scraper has made a good start, but plenty of sanding is still required after that. I have used a multi-tool sander to help, it’s fine for the faces but I have been using “contour sanding pads” (from Toolstation) to get right up to the edges (the power tool risks scratching the gel coat). I don’t think I will need to go finer than medium-grit (120). It won’t be perfect (in particular the undersides of the rubbing strakes). I’m hoping the teak oil will help mask some of the imperfections.

I haven’t started on the rails and centreboard capping yet, but I think I’ll need to remove them first. I did try to remove the wooden blocks that sit over the jib & mizzen sheet cleats and hold the rowlocks (oarlocks?), but they seemed to be glued down well and so I have just sanded them in situ.

Andy - thanks for the input on using oil, that reinforces my conviction to go a similar path, although I think I’ll try a marine teak oil of some sort on the basis that it might be a little more resilient.

[Graham W]

It’s turning out to be more work than I bargained for!

That’s what I feared!