Great channel. (I am sick to death of boat tours where they look at all the drawers and compare 'features.' Later you find out, those boats have a huge bulkhead issue, the frame isn't properly attached to the hull, the skeg boxes break, the steering is horribly engineered..... ) No Teak. I bought my 20 year old boat at a marina full of 30 year old boats, all with teak decks and trim, all but one or two looked like complete wrecks. It only takes two years for teak to look terrible. I've designed and made furniture, kayaks, was a carpenter -- love wood but not outside on any boat. When you build, fix, figure stuff out for decades you gain a deep deep aversion to endlessly doing the same maintenance over and over and over again. There's always another boat job to do, why add more? Shopping (briefly) catamarans I was going to order the artificial Fexi teak, expensive and heavy. Another option was cork. I remember the rancid smell of the cork tray I carried as a teenage busboy. No way would I want wet cork... Don't know if the fake Flexi teak would smell the same.... Then a more experienced sailor gave me the information: 1. All this stuff adds a lot of weight, costs $$, and in the sun heats up! (no barefoot sailing) 2. Just get the textured gelcoat that comes with the boat. It's durable, good traction, and doesn't heat up. 3. Later, if the boat gets microcracks... and only if that bothers me, then get a Flexi teak product -- maybe. I notice on my Hunter that there is the off white on the deck, and some very very light gray areas. These areas are noticeably hotter in the sun.
There is one thing that many people do not consider when using teak on their boats. Dutch sailors hated it, as splinter wounds caused by cannon fire resulted in infections far worse than oak or other wood. Something to remember if you encounter a warship from an unfriendly nation while cruising !!!! Deck shoes might be a good idea. Nice video, Thomas.
Ha ha😂 Well we never know this days what to encounter at sea. Pretty unstable situation. But thanks for the heads up😜 Thank you so much for watching and for being here🙏🏻
My Nauticat originally had a teak deck that was replaced with a "faux teak" deck probably less than 10 years ago. That fake teak is failing (due to a combination of shrinking and glue letting go). I'm planning on pulling it all off, fairing the deck surface and putting down a new layer of 17oz biaxial fiberglass that will allow me to further fair the deck. Then I'm going to apply paint and "Soft Sand". From what I've seen, soft sand creates a very nice looking and feeling non-skid surface. I'll put an off white paint down so it doesn't get so damn hot. Well, that's my plan, for what it's worth... The soft sand will likely need repairing and repainting when I sell the boat in 10 years or so, but that'll be a lot easier the 2nd time around. Glad to hear your channel is taking off. I like "real" sailing stories and not people "acting" in front of the camera. I know people feel like they have to edit the heck out of their videos to make them look as professional as possible... i'd rather see more videos with less editing than less videos with more editing. But I'm an odd duck. I bought an old motor sailer... Thanks for sharing your story and thoughts. Fair winds.
Thank you so much for watching and for being here. Sounds like you have some experience with teak deck and different solutions as well. Thank you so much for sharing! Fair winds
Im a huge Nauticat fan. I envy your experience. Thanks for your description of your experience. I have a minimum teak Southerly 135 and I would love to do something else with my moulded pattern deck tread. The Amel treatment would suit me, but that requires to be done at the time of the build. I’ll investigate what you are suggesting. 😊
@@billbunting4253 The youtube channel "BoatworksToday" has some good videos on soft sand. The guy's a professional fiberglasser and has a ton of great videos in general. I actually build a "stitch and glue" boat out of plywood and fiberglass, so I'm not completely unexperienced with the stuff. Fiberglassing is very accessible to a novice, but you do need to be willing to put a lot of work into "fairing" it before you start painting.
@@billbunting4253 I'm an engineer who loves to think about designs and design tradeoffs. I hadn't looked at a Southerly 135 until I read your post. Kind of halfway between a blue water boat and a Nauticat. Probably a much better sailing compromise than my Nauticat. But I fell in love with the Nauticat's pilot house and sliding side doors. It's great to get out of the weather, but also allow a breeze to blow through it when the weather's nice. I can be either completely inside, inside/outside with the doors (and sunroof!) open, or completely outside in the cockpit. I love that, but I have up a lot of sailing performance for that big windage pilot house (and my mizzen mast). I've owned the boat for 3 years, and I"ve got to say that I still haven't found a better boat (that I could afford) for my wife and I. We're going to be in our 60's when we start cruising and she's not a boat person like I am... I had originally wanted a high performance boat (light, fast, etc.), but I thought more about our age and how my wife would feel about being in heavy seas with a boat pounding hard and decided that a heavy displacement boat was better for us. I still question this decision, but I want to spend a lot of time sailing the high latitudes with less people. (Iceland and Cape Horn...) So a big spacious boat like Thomas' doesn't seem like a good choice for us. But the Nauticat is very much a motor-sailer. It doesn't do well in light winds (unless you want to fly a big light sail), and it doesn't point worth a damn, so motoring is just something you have to accept. FInally with regards to your nonskid... if it isn't broke, maybe you shouldn't fix it...??? Than said, there's a youtube channel called "boatsworks today". Awhile back, the guy had a video where he showed repairing molded diamond nonskid by making a pattern from a good section and transferring it to a damaged section. that may be easier than sanding all of the diamond away and then refinishing it.
Hey Thomas - big fan of the channel. Like many recently, I was led here by Chasing Latitudes and now I’ve just binged-watched all of your episodes. Can’t say how great it is to have a sailing channel that’s actually about sailing - and one that focuses on fact over click bait. Much appreciate your experience and wealth of knowledge - and that you have humility with it. Love your content, and your genuine commentary - inspirational! Be Free! Mike
Thank you so much 🙏🏻 Your kind words are most appreciated! It takes time to build a channel when sailing my own way in terms of staying away from all the cliches. But I have noticed the blessing of attracting more intelligent people and that’s better. Thank you so much for being here🙏🏻
Chris and you are extremely good at dishing the information out with simplicity and facts. Jobs well done, and deserving of the praise and thanks that you get all the time!! Thanks to both of you!!
I live in Bali and am a long time sailor , over 25 years sailing various boats in indo. Nice to see the Serangan boys highlighted. Just a comment for next time and anyone buying teak in asia. The large white coloured vein in the new piece is the stuff to avoid as it's the part of tree next to the bark, typically harvested from teak less than 20cm dianeter. unfortunately this white teak will rot and soften much quicker than the darker coloured vein which is the heart wood. Don't worry though Chris, it will probably last at least ss long as tge rest of tge deck so still worth the effort. Love your suoer exoerienced look at cruising and sailing boats in general Keep em coming!
I gave up the fight to keep the loose teak in place and tore off the teakdeck while at anchor in Porto Santo. On our Bavaria 38 Ocean we found the original deck with a non slip pattern. Just needed a touch up on some minor scratches and cracks before putting on a couple of layers of deck paint. more than 60% of the deck surface, beneath the plywood had been penetrated by water. The positive side, ment it made it easier to remove the deck panels in larger pieces. Cleaning away black glue/old sika… took some time using rotating metal brush on a battery drill. But in nice weather and assisted by cold beers it went well.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience. Sounds like quite a task, and I am afraid that's gonna be the situation here one day as well. At the moment it looks like I am able to keep up with it but feels like a nightmare. Especially being so much on the move in remote places. Both me and BE FREE have needed some rest and TLC. Thank you for being here
Hi Thomas, I like your videos! Thanks a lot. I also have a Bavaria build in 2006 with a teak deck, 6mm thickness, and I love it. If you walk on deck after a strong sailing, you will not catch any salt from dried saltwater, if you compare this to a gelcoat surface you will find there a ton of salt. Boat is in the Med., but closed with a full cover, when not sailing, teak looks like new, using the boat 12 weeks per year in sun/summer. Only the Sika starts to become soft at some spots. I never used any chemicals to protect the teak! Have good time! Armin
Hey Armin, thank you so much for being here and for sharing 🙏🏻 I believe the teak deck was better before 2009. So with much love and care it’s probably possible to save lots of problems. It’s a different ballgame constantly being on the move far from marina. Fair winds fellow Bavaria sailor ⛵️
Thomas good stuff and interesting to hear your view on boat stuff. I must comment that like in this teak case there are many views and opinions - but most importantly there is different build quality. There is a teak and then there is teak. For example Nautor Swan have their own teak farms. So you can get the best quality if you have the money. In the boats that are available for us who do not have money to get a new Swan there still is several differences in your teak deck. I totally agree that having a teak deck that is like 4mm is not smart and you should not have it. So do not get Teak deck to Bavaria, Hanse, X, Jeanneau, Beneteau, J etc. production or semi custom boat. My opinion is - if you do not have money to a quality teak deck do not use fake teak eighter - like Isoteak, Flexiteak etc. Just paint your deck with a good paint like KiwiGrip. In older quality boats you can have proper teak decks (Burman teak). My boat is Swedish built and it had a 13mm teak deck when new and I still have about 10mm after 25 years - so I think I have still 25 years left on my deck mauby even 35 years. I do take care of the deck. I wash it 2 times per year in the beginning and end of the season and I use Boracol usually ones a year or biyearly (no pressure washing like you stated.). I do not agree to have sealers, Teak oil etc. it will make your deck black and not silver like it should be. The deck is best when it is like silver color and the color is uniform. For this year I have a bit bigger job for the deck. As the wood have worn a bit in some areas the seams are up. This is not good, so I will cut them down carefully. This is the first time I am doing this for this boat. (I sail in the Baltic Sea and my season is about 7 - 8 months / year. ) All good to you.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience and opinions. Much appreciated! If the teak was of higher quality I agree with you, but for this kind of teak, it's really important to use waterproofing. It's not like oil and you can have it in different tones depending on preferences. I have seen a significant difference in the behavior of the material after running out of waterproofing from Semco. On my old yacht, I would only scrub with salt water, but this is totally different. But as you stated so hundred percent correct there are many opinions and teak is not teak etc. Woodworking is definitely one of my weaker sides! Thank you for being here!
@@SailingwithThomas Thanks for your kind reply. Happy sailing. Here in the Nordic it is off season.... its like -2 degrees and the first ice on the lakes - sea is open, nut it will freeze in January.
Our Bavaria teak deck lasted 20 years, though its lifespan was somewhat shortened by the original owner's misuse of a pressure washer. The deck was built with multiplex and 4mm teak, which worked reasonably well, but 10mm pure teak is undoubtedly better-it all comes down to budget. For a new boat, we’d still choose real teak. Done properly, it’s expensive, but worth it. We tried a variant of synthetic decking, often referred to as “flexi-teak,” as a replacement. While it performed well for the first two years, we’re now considering returning to real teak. We acknowledge that modern teak may be younger and not as dense as older stocks, but good-quality teak is still available. On a new production yacht, it’s hard to judge the standard of teak provided, but for our next boat, we’d set clear requirements for quality and thickness. Again, it’s a matter of price. In Indonesia, a teak deck for a 55-foot boat might cost around $15,000, though the teak is unlikely to be very old. Burmese teak can cost upwards of $25,000. In Thailand, you can get an excellent teak deck installed for about $40,000, with a thickness of 6-8mm. Teak, when treated right-avoiding high-pressure cleaners and harsh chemicals-can last many years. Proper maintenance involves using only seawater and a soft brush, brushed perpendicular to the grain. While teak will naturally weather to a grey patina, many people resort to aggressive cleaners to maintain its original look, which damages the wood. Regarding synthetic alternatives like "flexi-teak" (a brand name), we tested 10 variants a few years ago and found only 2-3 acceptable. In the end, none fully satisfied us. Costs for these alternatives are about 65% of real teak, as installing them nicely is labor-intensive. Other options include polyester anti-slip surfaces with profiles, or painted polyester with added grip. These are inexpensive and cooler underfoot but tend to wear off or become dirty over time. Cork decking is another possibility; while it’s not cheap and transport costs to Asia are high, it shows promise in durability and performance. A final note: beware of some synthetic teak decking sold online-it can be highly flammable. Removing the teak on our bavaria took us 4 months btw...Just my two cents!
Thank you so much for sharing your experience and confirming the price differences. Thailand is known for having pretty good teak👍🏻 My previous owner was living far away from his yacht, and outsourced the care taking and services when not in use. I’m pretty sure they used pressure cleaner. Once it’s destroyed that way I found the Semco product to be outstanding to protect it. Because the soft teak gets so wet from water. In my older yacht with thicker teak that was harder I followed your recipe, and it was light grey and beautiful. But had som leaks from screws that was pretty hard to locate😅 Again your input is most appreciated 🙏🏻
I like synthetics and spray on cork. By the way, you deserve lots of views. To the point, no fluff, bit of humor, but more importantly, great and useful information. Thanks
Our 35 year old cruising boat had good quality teak when it was built. Alas 3 1/2 decades later it was paper thin similar to the 'bad' (not Be Free) example you showed. In 2023 we did a major refit in Thailand and had the majority of the teak removed before fairing the deck after applying fibreglass. The boat is now painted AWL Grip with non-slip on the deck areas. We retained what we called 'feature' teak above our master cabin, the toe rails, dorade vents, handrails and cockpit sole. Enough to be very pretty without the maintenance and heat that teak gives. In fact, the boat is 5degs cooler since the teak was removed.
Thank you so much for your kind words 🙏🏻 It might not be the best ways or even fastest. But the ones I have done have been proven to be good enough. Oldest repairs with this method is now 3 years. Can’t separate it from the original unless you get really close. The difference is in the surface, and the replacement are much more compact and better. You can see it when the deck is wet as well. The replacement’s doesn’t “hold” the water, and dries up much faster.
I own a boat with teakdeck from 2005 since 2015 and since that , I sand it every year. After some years, the surface gets quite rough because every wood has harder and softer parts and the softer parts disappear of course much faster. And so dirt, microorganism and humidity have an optimal chance to connect and do their destruction work. By sanding you get a much smoother surface which drys also much faster and additional, you keep the sikaflex seems on the same level as the wood which avoids mechanical load on the sikaflex - wood connection which is the reason that the connection gets lost after some years. Important is of couse, that you sand only as much as necessary to get a smooth surface again. My deck looks after sanding quite blotchy (grey and brown) but after some weeks it is constant grey again. Of couse you can sand the deck also that it looks like new but that would cost some years life - here I agree with Thomas. For maintenance I use only Boracol which removes green algs and mold which is unavoidable because I use my boat in northern Europe full year and especially in autumn and winter it is permanently weat.
I have same experience on an older yacht. It was a true nightmare😅 Balsa core can really destroy your day. Not only when the fiberglass is punctured, but even only from different temperature out/inside. I lost money on that one, and have some expensive experience in upper fixer projects😅
Great video. As a relatively novice sailor this is really helpful. I am looking at purchasing my first boat and until now thought that I really really wanted teak. Perhaps not so fast. I also enjoy the humor and the Norse straightforward talk!
This is great information about maintaining a modern teak deck. One of our criteria for a boat was that it did not have a teak deck! You didn't mention the other major reason, which is how hot it gets. I've burned my feet on teak decks before, but I guess that's how you learn to swear like a sailor. Thanks for making your video channel, we love it. Namaste. 🙏
You are right, it's not only maintenance but also temperature that makes it a nightmare in summer. It’s sometimes a challenge to stay narrow on a topic because most people are not interested in to many details and to long videos. Also trying to make it interesting for both experienced and inexperienced sailors. It’s a challenging task. How much do I need to dumb down things, and where is the borderline for not losing the experienced and knowledgeable sailors. This is a constant fight😅 So thank you very much for your kind words and for being here. It’s much appreciated 🙏🏻
my old boat (from the early 80s) has 6 mm teak, screwed to plywood, which was glued to the fibreglass. The plywood went soft and failed. I lifted the teak (numbered each strip) and replaced the plywood with milled strips of Iroko the thickness of the old ply...(if it gets wet, it wont rot) the teak I cleaned then glued down as individual strips and calked. The real wood feels so good. The old screw holes are closed with PU adhesive. I let it go silver, though I do regularly oil it and have chemically cleaned it twice. been fine for 8 years now. The calk, by the way, i use Polyeuthane (PU) adhesive - you can get it for bedding windscreens at auto shops - a lot cheaper than Sikkaflex - and I noticed no difference. Most PU adhesive is also marine safe.
This brings back memories of a boat I owned built in the early 1950's that had a teak deck. I restored the deck but while scrubbing the face of the teak I found it lifted out the wood between the harder grain so never scrub it, just sand it and bleach it and stain it. A little trick if you buy some teak that has green wood in it. Put it in direct sun for about 15 minutes and it goes away.
I once owned a timber Flying Fifteen back in the 1980's. I painted the timber ply deck with an antiskid thick latex non-slip decking paint which sealed all the cracks and joins. The paint was advertised as being used on the decks of Oil Rigs. Worked very well and soft under foot, low maintenance.
25 years ago together with my dad we put an oldschool quality teak deck (25mm solid planks) on his 31ft sailboat. It still looks great. But I find it to hot for my feet in summer, so when looking for my sailboat (a Gib’Sea 44) I wanted a polyester deck. It is much cooler on my feet. Still think this was the correct decision for me.
Thank you so much for sharing 🙏🏻 I have had same solutions before and with thousands of screws that’s plugged it was a nightmare as well. But that was a really old yacht. 50 years old now. Previous owner had not taken good care of it, and I suspect pressure cleaned. It’s beautiful but hand full of work
I just had my deck renovated this year on my Bavaria 50 Vision of 2008. I had some experts on teak decking and synthetic (teak) decking have a look at the situation. The first thing I was told by the original teak decking expert, was that the wood used is NOT TEAK but IROKO. The strips are glued on multiply wooden boards which are glued to the polyester deck. I had a lot more than just one strip to renew, we had an expert carpenter doing the job which (as you did) made a template and than saw the strip according to the template. The strips he made were 12 mm thick which is thicker than the strips he took out. With a multitool he also cut the board out untill the polyester deck and glued the new strip directly unto the polyester deck. It was a far more expensive job as proposed because of the labour hours involved and knowing it on beforehand I would have accepted the offer of the synthetic teak deck company. Now I have to apply oil at least 3 to 4 times per season to avoid water ingress in the wood which has similar cracks in the wooden strips as I see on your deck. I tried to cover the wood with epoxy but that is a no go, the wood becomes (too) dark and there will be airpockets between the epoxy and the wood which are ugly to see. No I am looking for a decent product to protect the deck but I have not found it yet. I love watching your videos and will be starting our trip next summer in the Med. Good luck with your endeavours and wish you favoureable winds and following seas!
Thank you so much for watching and for your interesting comment as well. Maybe I see you in the Med at one anchorage one day. I'm heading that way before returning to the Caribbean again. I was thinking about the Suez Canal but at the moment it's better to stay in Asia as Europe is very unstable. But really missing the great sailing in the Aegean Sea in Greece. Thank you for being here!
Thomas, hey seriously enjoy all of your videos. I can say that emphatically. I was glad to see Chris at Chasing Latitudes . Give you a shout out you too go to channels.
Thank you so much for this kind comment, and for taking your time to explore my channel here. CL did really help me from out of nowhere. Very much appreciated
Thanks for this educational video. I think you may shy away from "giving advice" but your knowledge is through experience and it's nice to see you outline your experience as well. Giving the back-story on teak was a good edition to the video. It added a level of completeness. I'm interested in how you plan a trip from start to finish...possibly pretending you don't know anything about the destination; planning, resources at the destination, paperwork, weather, traffic, routing, anchorages, slips, length of trip/stay. What to be weary of and what to look for. It seems you like 20 minute videos so maybe multiple videos. I know this is a lot of video work and editing and you really don't need any advice on future videos. Keep doing what your doing and be free.
Hi Thomas, agree that teak decks are high maintenance and who needs more things to maintain on a boat! I have teak in my cockpit (It came that way to me) but it is old school and not laminated so I have kept it. I used Semco for several years but have found that Starbrite's Teak Sealer lasts longer and is far less toxic smelling. It may not be available in all locations but I can say first hand that the pigmented Starbrite does last longer by many months than the Semco.
Thanks for the tip, I will check it out! That’s for sure a more available product at least from my observations where I have been sailing. The Semco has been extremely well in the tropical climate but needs 2-3 rounds to penetrate the wood properly. Then I found it to last a year. Thank you so much for your input and for being here🙏🏻
Nice place to get teak, I recently used some teak I got in Indonesia (1962) to rebuild compass housing. It was my father's had made custom speaker cabinet, Just the cut off piece with jig saw was so beautiful.
Thank you so much! Working with teak in itself is quite satisfying. I even find it to smell pretty nice. I'm definitely no expert on teak or wood work at all. But trying my best to keep up. All the best
Air conditioning. I had it. You can’t use it unless you have a bigger genset than a Panda. And bigger fuel tanks. I found I only needed AC when I was in a marina or, on the hook, in windless conditions. On the hook the boat orients itself so that your hatches and dorades will provide ventilation.
Thank you for sharing your opinions. But I’m curious on your conclusions. I mean just as aircons comes in different sizes BTU wise, the same goes for a Panda KWh wise. Mine is a 8Kwh meaning 6 KWh is no problem. This should be sufficient or am I missing something here? It’s extremely rare locations I feel the need for it though, but with high humidity due to constant rains and 38 degrees having lots of ventilation doesn’t help much. I mean humid air stays pretty humid even after passing through a dorade right?
Superb video Thomas and a real eye opener, even with all the comments posted here showing experiences from owners and boaters. Worth reading all the comments! Thanks for this entertaining and practical episode 🙏
Thank you so much for watching and your kind comment🙏🏻 One of the fascinating things with my channel is the high amount of really experienced sailors. And the support is such a blessing just like from you. I'm happy you enjoyed the humor as well
I got the same problem with my teak on my Bavaria 330 sport motorboat from 2001. But i got unlucky last winter herr in Norway that the tarp i had over it in the winter ripped and snow and water got down under the teak and it broke lost.😢
I’m sorry to hear about that. I can totally see how snow, ice and variation between cold and warm totally killing it. Thank you so much for watching and for sharing 🙏🏻 Sending som warm greetings from Indonesia to Norway 🇳🇴
Teak decks are a thing of the part. There are longer lasting synthetic teak flooring and deck panels people are using now. The one thing teak has is I heard it is the best non slip surface out there. I want all fiber glass deck with non skid applyied for the cooler surface and far lower maintenance benefits. Jim Rodgers
Teak is nice, but as an option you can today choose many syntetic versions that is just amazing. My friend bought a new Bavaria C 50 Style last year, and i been sailing a lot with him, the syntetic teak gives a very good grip, can be washed by high pressure washer and gives also good insulation to your boat. But it is slightly more expensive than a traditional teak deck, but will save you a lot work in the future.
Yes it for sure is👍🏻 I have back in the days been chasing leaks from deck screws on a solid teak! I take glued teak over that solution any day. But rather have no teak even though it’s beautiful Thank you so much for watching 🙏🏻
Another great video, yes I have teak deck on my Jeanneau 54DS as well and I love the look and the traction you get but I also need to do some small repairs. Nice repair job!
Hi Thomas, excellent content, and I am certain it will come in handy with my ageing teak decking. A quick question, what was the name of the two component epoxy that you used. I have noticed with many adhesive products, they recommend a special 'primer' coat before application of the adhesive, but if you have a product that you have had good results with, share the love 😉. Keep up the excellent content. Fair winds 👍🏻
For me a white gel coat deck is the best with a painted on interdeck one second best . Easier to do touch ups and repairs but not so durable . Teak would get too hot and deteriorates too fast . Nice though if you can afford a new Yacht every 3 or 4 years .
The info-graphics are always helpful to imagine the problem. I wonder if simply removing all teak and replacing it with _sprayed cork_ would grant peace of mind ?...
Thank you so much for watching 🙏🏻 There are many new experimental solutions on the market. It’s not many materials able to compete with solid teak, except for gelcoat. It’s a brutal environment. All the best 🙏🏻
Flott video som vanlig Thomas, kanalen din har den mest nyttige og praktiske informasjonen. Jeg ser hver eneste av videoene dine med penn og papir i hånden for å ta notater til min egen båt :)
Tusen takk for hyggelig tilbakemelding. Setter veldig pris på både kommentarer og at du tar deg tid til å se på videoene jeg legger ut. Varme hilsener fra Indonesia
Hey, thank you so much for watching and for your question🙏🏻 I have honestly not any valid experience on this material for outdoor use. But I would guess in it’s natural and organic form is to soft, and not resistant enough for long term exposure on a salty deck. But again, I have zero experience with it myself. Thank you so much for being here🙏🏻
A question, if I may........ The problem seems to be with how thin the teak layer is. Is there no alternative wood which, although inferior in seaworthy quality to teak, would be cost effective as a pure wood deck. I.e. Is a solid 20mm thick deck strip of an alternative inferior wood longer lasting than a few millimetres of inferior teak veneer?
Thank you for watching and for your questions as well. Most likely I’m not the right person to talk to much about this as I’m really as far from expert possible to come on this specific topic. However I believe it’s a combination of fast growing teak with low quality and thickness. Much thicker solid teak last much longer, but even the method with screws etc doesn’t last forever either. I have had that in my past. My yacht has real teak, but Bavaria has like other brands been experimenting with other sorts of wood that’s similar to teak in look but proven to not be much better. If this is because same method with thin layers was used I can’t tell as I don’t have my own experience other than reading about it. For other materials I believe if a type of wood could compete with teak in durability it would been widespread long time ago. So based on this logic I doubt there is any wood that can compete at least in terms of cheaper with higher quality and durability. I have my doubts about Kork and other materials, and have synthetic pvc teak in my dinghy. Not very successful either. The UV destroy it, and extreme temperatures from sun makes the glue loose it’s grip as well. So honestly I’m not sure what would be better than just have the original whit deck with the anti skid surface they all come with to begin with. But that’s only my 2 cents for what it’s worth. Thank you for being here🙏🏻
@SailingwithThomas The Yacht Report dropped a video of Jeff Bezo being fined for having illegal teak on his yacht. It's around the 1:40-minute mark of his last video.
have a boat from 82 with original teak deck, originally 2cm thick , now - 30% . i wet deck with saltwater as often as possible. this has kept them in good condition, the salt water keeps them from drying. plus this is most likely good 100+ year old teak that is unavailable today
I'm glad you could get the teak to fix that plank. It was annoying me, so I can only imagine how much it was annoying you! Thanks for the explanation; these things are not always obvious to the landlubber. I didn't know about the plywood underlay!
Apart from cosmetics, are there any benefits teak vs (say) awlgrip or another type of deck non skid surface? I note that quite a few boats are either replacing teak with plastic teak or siply a grippy type of paint.
Interesting, I expected to hear from you the same thing I've been hearing more and more and that is that a teak deck is just not worth the hassel and money to maintain and that they have a relatively short life span. I'll be honest and say that while the teak feels great on the foot and looks great I'm still in the group that thinks it's an excessive cost that really isn't worth it... unless you're rich enough to not care in which case hell yeah go with it.
Teak is beautiful but I was honest on this when I bought BE FREE, it is a future problem. You can even see this in my video "why do I sail a 55..." It was on the bullet list of things I did not want. But buying second hand you sometimes have to accept compromises. When I bought BE FREE it was only 3 for sale globally, and only 2 of those in owners version. To replace the teak with massive quality teak on this size of yacht is around 60K USD. So yes it's ridiculous expensive. Thank you for being here🙏🏻
@@gaplife3611 I have very limited experience with synthetic except from what I have seen, and from my dinghy. The one that’s teak imitation gets even hotter than teak. I can’t imagine what kinds of glue capable not loosing the bonding when in subtropical sun is baking. My friends with their pretty new Lepard had lots of problems. The Grey flex teak in my dinghy is totally falling apart and loosened. It can be coincidence, and I must repeat my experience is limited. For my own opinion if I could choose I would only have white gelcoat with non skid surface. Not the DIY version, but the ones that can be cleaned and even polished. Thank you so much for watching 🙏🏻
The bigger the better for sailing. The smaller the better for maintenance. Unless you are as lucky as I was when I’m Grenada having a bunch of happy ladies to help me⛵️
Where I live in Thailand you see dozens of trucks crossing the Friendship Bridge daily from Laos carrying huge teak. So it's not just Burma having problems. In Thailand, it is illegal to harvest Teak without a license for that particular tree, yes, each tree harvested has to be approved by Forestry (they go look at it) and it's tracked all the way through processing. The teak laminate currently used on boats I dislike and I am yet to be impressed with the faux copies. I prefer the old solid teak that was/is screwed in. But then, I won't own a boat with a teak deck, the heat it collects and radiates is just too much and outweighs the beauty of it. Your videos continue to be very informative and I like how you replaced your bad plank.
Thank you so much for watching and for sharing this interesting information as well. I have had the feeling for a long time that there is lots of challenges and problems related to the timber industry when it comes to Teak and other premium wood types. If I could choose buying a brand new yacht I would not have anything added. I dont like the syntetic either, and many of the organic solutions has not yet impressed me either. Thank you for being here
My 1985 Beneteau has a solid teak deck. It's been kept in good condition and looks nice. And it's been sanded many times. So now it's so thin that I have to remove it in the next couple of years. If I sand it one more time I will expose the screws. A job I don't look forward too do.
Another. great video Thomas. You could of added another fact about teak… the weight! I’ve estimated an additional 320kgs on your boat. Walking barefoot impossible on teak in the summer hot months !
Use epoxy resin to fix teak strips straight to the fibreglass deck and black polyester resin between the boards. Mine has lasted 20 years and still has more life.
Interesting solution! It's a good reminder that there are many ways to achieve a good result and it's not always about what's "right" or "wrong". For many years ago I had a wooden boat, and the deck had epoxy instead of caulking. But that boat was a glossy piece of art. It was a motor boat though, and it was a bit slippery on deck when wet. But man was it beautiful! Thank you so much for being here🙏🏻
i would put on linseed oil everytime the deck is dry, untill it wont accept annymore. replace the moisture with an oil to prevent the wood shrinking when drying. if you do this the first years when a boat is new it will last about 50 years, even if its made out of pine and on an fishing boat.
2 things i dont want on a yacht , Sail drive & teak decks , I had a teak deck redone in Phuket on a yacht i was overseeing a refit on , managed to get 200 year old teak from a 'pirate' in Malacca with forged papers for a 1/3 of the price , 1/2 inch thick teak , A father & son did a wonderful job while on the hard .
Thank you so much for watching and for sharing your experience 🙏🏻 Could be a teak deck can give some insulation/protection from big changes in temperature. However having hatches and port lights open due to lack of air conditioning feels like the biggest challenge to me. I’m curious in what kind of yacht you had this experience?
Greetings from Cortes Island British Columbia. You've earned my subscription with your honest no BS content, very informative. Nothing irritates me more than click bait titles and content styled for mass viewership over relevant and honest information. Whenever I come across a click bait title on one of my followed channels I un-subscribe immediately. Keep up the great work and let me know if you ever find yourself in the Salish Sea, I have a mooring in front of my place waiting for you.
Thank you so much for subscribing and for your kind words. Much appreciated 🙏🏻 Who knows I might take your offer one day. All the best and warm greetings from Indonesia ⛵️
Ha ha!! Totally understand you, I had the same feeling last time. And here I am with a yacht having so much wood on it its like half a rain forrest. Thank you for being here
The teak decks on my HR46 were replaced in Sweden in 2017. I purchased the boat in 2019. they are still like new. Maintenance is a simple treatment of boracol twice a year. Would I specify teak decks on a new boat? No. But out of respect for the wood, I will do my very best to prolong the life of my decks.
The teak deck on a HR can not be compared with this, not even close. I did not want teak when I bought BE FREE but its not always so easy when on second hand market. I would never order this on a new yacht myself. Thank you for being here
The only teak suitable for decking is Burma teak and hasn’t been available for 50 years a teak print on ply is the way to go if you need to have a ‘teak’ deck . A wooden deck in modern times would be Douglas fir or spruce or larch from Eastern Europe air dried, looks great and very hard wearing. And yes no sanding or pressure washing. And polyurethane caulk is best all rounder. The salt water and a scrubbing brush keeps it all looking good
Boat builder/carpenter here who went on to other things ca. 1990 after 25 years. @6:23, Yea gods, that's not Teak! Not functionally anyway. I've never seen wood shrink along the grain like that. Well, not exactly true as the Oak floors in my house does that, but it's because my house is pulling apart... Is your boat getting longer? A real Teak deck is laid on stringers which the teak is screwed to, edge to edge. The Teak lengths were generally cut from 5/4 stock in which you cut a small rabbit that is caulked to seal the deck. Teak is not only rot resistant, but expands very little in any direction with moisture, so it stresses the glue or caulk that holds it in place less than other woods. Teak is such an easy wood to work, it's a shame to see it disappear. I used to buy 8/4 or 12/4 Teak in large planks as it was quite affordable in the 70's and into the 80's. I have always disliked decoration on a boat sold as a blue water sailor, or racer. Teak as decoration is an abomination. Over use of Teak must contribute to its expense. Subed, and liked.
Thank you so much for watching and for even subscribing 🙏🏻 Your experience shared and points of views are most appreciated. Hope you will enjoy future content as well
I don‘t know why, but you are one of the few trustworthy youtubers here. Your modern yacht vs old yacht designs video opened my eyes
Thank you so much for your kind words and for being here. Your feedback is very much appreciated and makes me really humble 🙏🏻
Great channel. (I am sick to death of boat tours where they look at all the drawers and compare 'features.' Later you find out, those boats have a huge bulkhead issue, the frame isn't properly attached to the hull, the skeg boxes break, the steering is horribly engineered..... )
No Teak. I bought my 20 year old boat at a marina full of 30 year old boats, all with teak decks and trim, all but one or two looked like complete wrecks. It only takes two years for teak to look terrible. I've designed and made furniture, kayaks, was a carpenter -- love wood but not outside on any boat. When you build, fix, figure stuff out for decades you gain a deep deep aversion to endlessly doing the same maintenance over and over and over again. There's always another boat job to do, why add more?
Shopping (briefly) catamarans I was going to order the artificial Fexi teak, expensive and heavy. Another option was cork. I remember the rancid smell of the cork tray I carried as a teenage busboy. No way would I want wet cork... Don't know if the fake Flexi teak would smell the same.... Then a more experienced sailor gave me the information: 1. All this stuff adds a lot of weight, costs $$, and in the sun heats up! (no barefoot sailing) 2. Just get the textured gelcoat that comes with the boat. It's durable, good traction, and doesn't heat up. 3. Later, if the boat gets microcracks... and only if that bothers me, then get a Flexi teak product -- maybe. I notice on my Hunter that there is the off white on the deck, and some very very light gray areas. These areas are noticeably hotter in the sun.
There is one thing that many people do not consider when using teak on their boats. Dutch sailors hated it, as splinter wounds caused by cannon fire resulted in infections far worse than oak or other wood. Something to remember if you encounter a warship from an unfriendly nation while cruising !!!! Deck shoes might be a good idea. Nice video, Thomas.
Ha ha😂 Well we never know this days what to encounter at sea. Pretty unstable situation. But thanks for the heads up😜
Thank you so much for watching and for being here🙏🏻
My Nauticat originally had a teak deck that was replaced with a "faux teak" deck probably less than 10 years ago. That fake teak is failing (due to a combination of shrinking and glue letting go). I'm planning on pulling it all off, fairing the deck surface and putting down a new layer of 17oz biaxial fiberglass that will allow me to further fair the deck. Then I'm going to apply paint and "Soft Sand". From what I've seen, soft sand creates a very nice looking and feeling non-skid surface. I'll put an off white paint down so it doesn't get so damn hot. Well, that's my plan, for what it's worth... The soft sand will likely need repairing and repainting when I sell the boat in 10 years or so, but that'll be a lot easier the 2nd time around.
Glad to hear your channel is taking off. I like "real" sailing stories and not people "acting" in front of the camera. I know people feel like they have to edit the heck out of their videos to make them look as professional as possible... i'd rather see more videos with less editing than less videos with more editing. But I'm an odd duck. I bought an old motor sailer...
Thanks for sharing your story and thoughts. Fair winds.
Thank you so much for watching and for being here. Sounds like you have some experience with teak deck and different solutions as well. Thank you so much for sharing!
Fair winds
Im a huge Nauticat fan. I envy your experience. Thanks for your description of your experience. I have a minimum teak Southerly 135 and I would love to do something else with my moulded pattern deck tread. The Amel treatment would suit me, but that requires to be done at the time of the build. I’ll investigate what you are suggesting. 😊
@@billbunting4253 The youtube channel "BoatworksToday" has some good videos on soft sand. The guy's a professional fiberglasser and has a ton of great videos in general. I actually build a "stitch and glue" boat out of plywood and fiberglass, so I'm not completely unexperienced with the stuff. Fiberglassing is very accessible to a novice, but you do need to be willing to put a lot of work into "fairing" it before you start painting.
@@billbunting4253 I'm an engineer who loves to think about designs and design tradeoffs. I hadn't looked at a Southerly 135 until I read your post. Kind of halfway between a blue water boat and a Nauticat. Probably a much better sailing compromise than my Nauticat. But I fell in love with the Nauticat's pilot house and sliding side doors. It's great to get out of the weather, but also allow a breeze to blow through it when the weather's nice. I can be either completely inside, inside/outside with the doors (and sunroof!) open, or completely outside in the cockpit. I love that, but I have up a lot of sailing performance for that big windage pilot house (and my mizzen mast).
I've owned the boat for 3 years, and I"ve got to say that I still haven't found a better boat (that I could afford) for my wife and I. We're going to be in our 60's when we start cruising and she's not a boat person like I am... I had originally wanted a high performance boat (light, fast, etc.), but I thought more about our age and how my wife would feel about being in heavy seas with a boat pounding hard and decided that a heavy displacement boat was better for us. I still question this decision, but I want to spend a lot of time sailing the high latitudes with less people. (Iceland and Cape Horn...) So a big spacious boat like Thomas' doesn't seem like a good choice for us.
But the Nauticat is very much a motor-sailer. It doesn't do well in light winds (unless you want to fly a big light sail), and it doesn't point worth a damn, so motoring is just something you have to accept.
FInally with regards to your nonskid... if it isn't broke, maybe you shouldn't fix it...??? Than said, there's a youtube channel called "boatsworks today". Awhile back, the guy had a video where he showed repairing molded diamond nonskid by making a pattern from a good section and transferring it to a damaged section. that may be easier than sanding all of the diamond away and then refinishing it.
Thomas, you are - one off - the smarter sailors on YT. Fair Winds.
Thank you so much for being here and for your great compliment. Much appreciated
Hey Thomas - big fan of the channel. Like many recently, I was led here by Chasing Latitudes and now I’ve just binged-watched all of your episodes. Can’t say how great it is to have a sailing channel that’s actually about sailing - and one that focuses on fact over click bait. Much appreciate your experience and wealth of knowledge - and that you have humility with it. Love your content, and your genuine commentary - inspirational! Be Free! Mike
Thank you so much 🙏🏻
Your kind words are most appreciated! It takes time to build a channel when sailing my own way in terms of staying away from all the cliches. But I have noticed the blessing of attracting more intelligent people and that’s better.
Thank you so much for being here🙏🏻
Chris and you are extremely good at dishing the information out with simplicity and facts. Jobs well done, and deserving of the praise and thanks that you get all the time!! Thanks to both of you!!
Thank you so much for watching and for your kind words 🙏🏻
Your feedback is much appreciated
Thank you
fully agreed!
I live in Bali and am a long time sailor , over 25 years sailing various boats in indo. Nice to see the Serangan boys highlighted.
Just a comment for next time and anyone buying teak in asia. The large white coloured vein in the new piece is the stuff to avoid as it's the part of tree next to the bark, typically harvested from teak less than 20cm dianeter. unfortunately this white teak will rot and soften much quicker than the darker coloured vein which is the heart wood.
Don't worry though Chris, it will probably last at least ss long as tge rest of tge deck so still worth the effort.
Love your suoer exoerienced look at cruising and sailing boats in general Keep em coming!
I gave up the fight to keep the loose teak in place and tore off the teakdeck while at anchor in Porto Santo. On our Bavaria 38 Ocean we found the original deck with a non slip pattern. Just needed a touch up on some minor scratches and cracks before putting on a couple of layers of deck paint. more than 60% of the deck surface, beneath the plywood had been penetrated by water. The positive side, ment it made it easier to remove the deck panels in larger pieces. Cleaning away black glue/old sika… took some time using rotating metal brush on a battery drill. But in nice weather and assisted by cold beers it went well.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience. Sounds like quite a task, and I am afraid that's gonna be the situation here one day as well. At the moment it looks like I am able to keep up with it but feels like a nightmare. Especially being so much on the move in remote places. Both me and BE FREE have needed some rest and TLC.
Thank you for being here
Hi Thomas, I like your videos! Thanks a lot.
I also have a Bavaria build in 2006 with a teak deck, 6mm thickness, and I love it. If you walk on deck after a strong sailing, you will not catch any salt from dried saltwater, if you compare this to a gelcoat surface you will find there a ton of salt.
Boat is in the Med., but closed with a full cover, when not sailing, teak looks like new, using the boat 12 weeks per year in sun/summer. Only the Sika starts to become soft at some spots.
I never used any chemicals to protect the teak! Have good time! Armin
Hey Armin, thank you so much for being here and for sharing 🙏🏻 I believe the teak deck was better before 2009.
So with much love and care it’s probably possible to save lots of problems.
It’s a different ballgame constantly being on the move far from marina.
Fair winds fellow Bavaria sailor ⛵️
Thomas good stuff and interesting to hear your view on boat stuff. I must comment that like in this teak case there are many views and opinions - but most importantly there is different build quality.
There is a teak and then there is teak. For example Nautor Swan have their own teak farms. So you can get the best quality if you have the money.
In the boats that are available for us who do not have money to get a new Swan there still is several differences in your teak deck. I totally agree that having a teak deck that is like 4mm is not smart and you should not have it. So do not get Teak deck to Bavaria, Hanse, X, Jeanneau, Beneteau, J etc. production or semi custom boat. My opinion is - if you do not have money to a quality teak deck do not use fake teak eighter - like Isoteak, Flexiteak etc. Just paint your deck with a good paint like KiwiGrip.
In older quality boats you can have proper teak decks (Burman teak). My boat is Swedish built and it had a 13mm teak deck when new and I still have about 10mm after 25 years - so I think I have still 25 years left on my deck mauby even 35 years. I do take care of the deck. I wash it 2 times per year in the beginning and end of the season and I use Boracol usually ones a year or biyearly (no pressure washing like you stated.). I do not agree to have sealers, Teak oil etc. it will make your deck black and not silver like it should be. The deck is best when it is like silver color and the color is uniform.
For this year I have a bit bigger job for the deck. As the wood have worn a bit in some areas the seams are up. This is not good, so I will cut them down carefully. This is the first time I am doing this for this boat.
(I sail in the Baltic Sea and my season is about 7 - 8 months / year. )
All good to you.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience and opinions. Much appreciated!
If the teak was of higher quality I agree with you, but for this kind of teak, it's really important to use waterproofing. It's not like oil and you can have it in different tones depending on preferences.
I have seen a significant difference in the behavior of the material after running out of waterproofing from Semco. On my old yacht, I would only scrub with salt water, but this is totally different.
But as you stated so hundred percent correct there are many opinions and teak is not teak etc.
Woodworking is definitely one of my weaker sides!
Thank you for being here!
@@SailingwithThomas Thanks for your kind reply. Happy sailing. Here in the Nordic it is off season.... its like -2 degrees and the first ice on the lakes - sea is open, nut it will freeze in January.
Sending some warm tropical winds your way
Our Bavaria teak deck lasted 20 years, though its lifespan was somewhat shortened by the original owner's misuse of a pressure washer. The deck was built with multiplex and 4mm teak, which worked reasonably well, but 10mm pure teak is undoubtedly better-it all comes down to budget.
For a new boat, we’d still choose real teak. Done properly, it’s expensive, but worth it. We tried a variant of synthetic decking, often referred to as “flexi-teak,” as a replacement. While it performed well for the first two years, we’re now considering returning to real teak.
We acknowledge that modern teak may be younger and not as dense as older stocks, but good-quality teak is still available. On a new production yacht, it’s hard to judge the standard of teak provided, but for our next boat, we’d set clear requirements for quality and thickness. Again, it’s a matter of price.
In Indonesia, a teak deck for a 55-foot boat might cost around $15,000, though the teak is unlikely to be very old. Burmese teak can cost upwards of $25,000. In Thailand, you can get an excellent teak deck installed for about $40,000, with a thickness of 6-8mm. Teak, when treated right-avoiding high-pressure cleaners and harsh chemicals-can last many years.
Proper maintenance involves using only seawater and a soft brush, brushed perpendicular to the grain. While teak will naturally weather to a grey patina, many people resort to aggressive cleaners to maintain its original look, which damages the wood.
Regarding synthetic alternatives like "flexi-teak" (a brand name), we tested 10 variants a few years ago and found only 2-3 acceptable. In the end, none fully satisfied us. Costs for these alternatives are about 65% of real teak, as installing them nicely is labor-intensive.
Other options include polyester anti-slip surfaces with profiles, or painted polyester with added grip. These are inexpensive and cooler underfoot but tend to wear off or become dirty over time. Cork decking is another possibility; while it’s not cheap and transport costs to Asia are high, it shows promise in durability and performance.
A final note: beware of some synthetic teak decking sold online-it can be highly flammable. Removing the teak on our bavaria took us 4 months btw...Just my two cents!
Thank you so much for sharing your experience and confirming the price differences. Thailand is known for having pretty good teak👍🏻
My previous owner was living far away from his yacht, and outsourced the care taking and services when not in use.
I’m pretty sure they used pressure cleaner.
Once it’s destroyed that way I found the Semco product to be outstanding to protect it. Because the soft teak gets so wet from water.
In my older yacht with thicker teak that was harder I followed your recipe, and it was light grey and beautiful. But had som leaks from screws that was pretty hard to locate😅
Again your input is most appreciated 🙏🏻
I like synthetics and spray on cork. By the way, you deserve lots of views. To the point, no fluff, bit of humor, but more importantly, great and useful information. Thanks
Our 35 year old cruising boat had good quality teak when it was built. Alas 3 1/2 decades later it was paper thin similar to the 'bad' (not Be Free) example you showed. In 2023 we did a major refit in Thailand and had the majority of the teak removed before fairing the deck after applying fibreglass. The boat is now painted AWL Grip with non-slip on the deck areas. We retained what we called 'feature' teak above our master cabin, the toe rails, dorade vents, handrails and cockpit sole. Enough to be very pretty without the maintenance and heat that teak gives. In fact, the boat is 5degs cooler since the teak was removed.
Thanks for sharing your experience with teak and the impressive refit. Well done 👍🏻
Really can't ask for a better repair than that!
Thank you so much for your kind words 🙏🏻 It might not be the best ways or even fastest. But the ones I have done have been proven to be good enough. Oldest repairs with this method is now 3 years. Can’t separate it from the original unless you get really close. The difference is in the surface, and the replacement are much more compact and better. You can see it when the deck is wet as well. The replacement’s doesn’t “hold” the water, and dries up much faster.
You can cut your teak to the exact height then place wooden paint stir sticks on top then your water weights.
Thank you so much for watching and your input🙏🏻 I’m sure there are better ways to do things than how I do it her.
Very interesting and informative. I’ve wondered how all these new yachts could afford teak in those amounts 😮
Thank you my friend 🙏🏻
You probably remember my old video buying BE FREE that teak was not what I wanted
I own a boat with teakdeck from 2005 since 2015 and since that , I sand it every year. After some years, the surface gets quite rough because every wood has harder and softer parts and the softer parts disappear of course much faster. And so dirt, microorganism and humidity have an optimal chance to connect and do their destruction work. By sanding you get a much smoother surface which drys also much faster and additional, you keep the sikaflex seems on the same level as the wood which avoids mechanical load on the sikaflex - wood connection which is the reason that the connection gets lost after some years. Important is of couse, that you sand only as much as necessary to get a smooth surface again. My deck looks after sanding quite blotchy (grey and brown) but after some weeks it is constant grey again. Of couse you can sand the deck also that it looks like new but that would cost some years life - here I agree with Thomas. For maintenance I use only Boracol which removes green algs and mold which is unavoidable because I use my boat in northern Europe full year and especially in autumn and winter it is permanently weat.
Great solid advice as always. Great fun watching your honest videos
Thank you so much for watching and for your kind feedback! Much appreciated 🙏🏻
Very informative. Thanks for sharing. I just removed the teak from my old boat 😊. It wasn’t recoverable anymore.
@@costinmorariu2413 thank you so much for watching and even sharing your experience🙏🏻 I bet you have had quite a task there?
@ yah about 2000 screws, out ow which 10 were leaking in the core, which complicated a bit the thing 😀.
I have same experience on an older yacht. It was a true nightmare😅 Balsa core can really destroy your day. Not only when the fiberglass is punctured, but even only from different temperature out/inside. I lost money on that one, and have some expensive experience in upper fixer projects😅
Great video. As a relatively novice sailor this is really helpful. I am looking at purchasing my first boat and until now thought that I really really wanted teak. Perhaps not so fast. I also enjoy the humor and the Norse straightforward talk!
Loved hearing your shout-out to Chasing Latitudes❣️ Is there a different product (not teak) that one could use in replacing damaged teak pieces?
Thank you thank you
This is great information about maintaining a modern teak deck. One of our criteria for a boat was that it did not have a teak deck! You didn't mention the other major reason, which is how hot it gets. I've burned my feet on teak decks before, but I guess that's how you learn to swear like a sailor. Thanks for making your video channel, we love it. Namaste. 🙏
You are right, it's not only maintenance but also temperature that makes it a nightmare in summer. It’s sometimes a challenge to stay narrow on a topic because most people are not interested in to many details and to long videos. Also trying to make it interesting for both experienced and inexperienced sailors. It’s a challenging task. How much do I need to dumb down things, and where is the borderline for not losing the experienced and knowledgeable sailors.
This is a constant fight😅
So thank you very much for your kind words and for being here. It’s much appreciated 🙏🏻
Learned more about Teak in your show than I even knew . Great show again
Thank you so much for your kind words 🙏🏻
my old boat (from the early 80s) has 6 mm teak, screwed to plywood, which was glued to the fibreglass. The plywood went soft and failed. I lifted the teak (numbered each strip) and replaced the plywood with milled strips of Iroko the thickness of the old ply...(if it gets wet, it wont rot) the teak I cleaned then glued down as individual strips and calked. The real wood feels so good. The old screw holes are closed with PU adhesive. I let it go silver, though I do regularly oil it and have chemically cleaned it twice. been fine for 8 years now. The calk, by the way, i use Polyeuthane (PU) adhesive - you can get it for bedding windscreens at auto shops - a lot cheaper than Sikkaflex - and I noticed no difference. Most PU adhesive is also marine safe.
Well done Thomas. I don’t have teak decks on my boat and this confirms my thinking that they’d be alot of work.
Thank you so much for watching and for being here 🙏🏻
This brings back memories of a boat I owned built in the early 1950's that had a teak deck. I restored the deck but while scrubbing the face of the teak I found it lifted out the wood between the harder grain so never scrub it, just sand it and bleach it and stain it. A little trick if you buy some teak that has green wood in it. Put it in direct sun for about 15 minutes and it goes away.
Good job Thomas,fantastic that you found some good teak
look for the portable Ecoflow wave 2 airco it helps a lot for sleeping 😊
Great information as always...very interesting simple, easy to watch due to your excellent delivery technique...keep it up! 👏👊
I once owned a timber Flying Fifteen back in the 1980's. I painted the timber ply deck with an antiskid thick latex non-slip decking paint which sealed all the cracks and joins. The paint was advertised as being used on the decks of Oil Rigs. Worked very well and soft under foot, low maintenance.
25 years ago together with my dad we put an oldschool quality teak deck (25mm solid planks) on his 31ft sailboat. It still looks great. But I find it to hot for my feet in summer, so when looking for my sailboat (a Gib’Sea 44) I wanted a polyester deck. It is much cooler on my feet. Still think this was the correct decision for me.
Thank you so much for sharing 🙏🏻 I have had same solutions before and with thousands of screws that’s plugged it was a nightmare as well. But that was a really old yacht. 50 years old now.
Previous owner had not taken good care of it, and I suspect pressure cleaned.
It’s beautiful but hand full of work
Another good video. Thank you, also for being honest about your experience.
Great job Thomas
Thank you so much 🙏🏻
I just had my deck renovated this year on my Bavaria 50 Vision of 2008. I had some experts on teak decking and synthetic (teak) decking have a look at the situation. The first thing I was told by the original teak decking expert, was that the wood used is NOT TEAK but IROKO. The strips are glued on multiply wooden boards which are glued to the polyester deck. I had a lot more than just one strip to renew, we had an expert carpenter doing the job which (as you did) made a template and than saw the strip according to the template. The strips he made were 12 mm thick which is thicker than the strips he took out. With a multitool he also cut the board out untill the polyester deck and glued the new strip directly unto the polyester deck. It was a far more expensive job as proposed because of the labour hours involved and knowing it on beforehand I would have accepted the offer of the synthetic teak deck company. Now I have to apply oil at least 3 to 4 times per season to avoid water ingress in the wood which has similar cracks in the wooden strips as I see on your deck. I tried to cover the wood with epoxy but that is a no go, the wood becomes (too) dark and there will be airpockets between the epoxy and the wood which are ugly to see. No I am looking for a decent product to protect the deck but I have not found it yet. I love watching your videos and will be starting our trip next summer in the Med. Good luck with your endeavours and wish you favoureable winds and following seas!
Thank you so much for watching and for your interesting comment as well. Maybe I see you in the Med at one anchorage one day. I'm heading that way before returning to the Caribbean again.
I was thinking about the Suez Canal but at the moment it's better to stay in Asia as Europe is very unstable. But really missing the great sailing in the Aegean Sea in Greece.
Thank you for being here!
Thomas, hey seriously enjoy all of your videos. I can say that emphatically. I was glad to see Chris at Chasing Latitudes . Give you a shout out you too go to channels.
Thank you so much for this kind comment, and for taking your time to explore my channel here. CL did really help me from out of nowhere. Very much appreciated
Awesome video 👍 👌 Super 🆒️ 👌 Thank you for sharing with us these info and advice 👍🙏 Great stuff and good humour 😅💪👏🙏👍👌💯❤
@@LondonCarnaval Thank you so much for watching and for being here🙏🏻 Much appreciated
Thanks for this educational video. I think you may shy away from "giving advice" but your knowledge is through experience and it's nice to see you outline your experience as well. Giving the back-story on teak was a good edition to the video. It added a level of completeness.
I'm interested in how you plan a trip from start to finish...possibly pretending you don't know anything about the destination; planning, resources at the destination, paperwork, weather, traffic, routing, anchorages, slips, length of trip/stay. What to be weary of and what to look for. It seems you like 20 minute videos so maybe multiple videos. I know this is a lot of video work and editing and you really don't need any advice on future videos. Keep doing what your doing and be free.
Hi Thomas, agree that teak decks are high maintenance and who needs more things to maintain on a boat! I have teak in my cockpit (It came that way to me) but it is old school and not laminated so I have kept it. I used Semco for several years but have found that Starbrite's Teak Sealer lasts longer and is far less toxic smelling. It may not be available in all locations but I can say first hand that the pigmented Starbrite does last longer by many months than the Semco.
Thanks for the tip, I will check it out! That’s for sure a more available product at least from my observations where I have been sailing.
The Semco has been extremely well in the tropical climate but needs 2-3 rounds to penetrate the wood properly. Then I found it to last a year.
Thank you so much for your input and for being here🙏🏻
Nice place to get teak, I recently used some teak I got in Indonesia (1962) to rebuild compass housing. It was my father's had made custom speaker cabinet, Just the cut off piece with jig saw was so beautiful.
Thank you so much! Working with teak in itself is quite satisfying. I even find it to smell pretty nice.
I'm definitely no expert on teak or wood work at all. But trying my best to keep up.
All the best
Air conditioning. I had it. You can’t use it unless you have a bigger genset than a Panda. And bigger fuel tanks. I found I only needed AC when I was in a marina or, on the hook, in windless conditions. On the hook the boat orients itself so that your hatches and dorades will provide ventilation.
Thank you for sharing your opinions. But I’m curious on your conclusions. I mean just as aircons comes in different sizes BTU wise, the same goes for a Panda KWh wise. Mine is a 8Kwh meaning 6 KWh is no problem. This should be sufficient or am I missing something here?
It’s extremely rare locations I feel the need for it though, but with high humidity due to constant rains and 38 degrees having lots of ventilation doesn’t help much. I mean humid air stays pretty humid even after passing through a dorade right?
Superb video Thomas and a real eye opener, even with all the comments posted here showing experiences from owners and boaters. Worth reading all the comments! Thanks for this entertaining and practical episode 🙏
Thank you so much for watching and your kind comment🙏🏻
One of the fascinating things with my channel is the high amount of really experienced sailors. And the support is such a blessing just like from you. I'm happy you enjoyed the humor as well
I got the same problem with my teak on my Bavaria 330 sport motorboat from 2001. But i got unlucky last winter herr in Norway that the tarp i had over it in the winter ripped and snow and water got down under the teak and it broke lost.😢
I’m sorry to hear about that. I can totally see how snow, ice and variation between cold and warm totally killing it.
Thank you so much for watching and for sharing 🙏🏻
Sending som warm greetings from Indonesia to Norway 🇳🇴
Teak decks are a thing of the part. There are longer lasting synthetic teak flooring and deck panels people are using now. The one thing teak has is I heard it is the best non slip surface out there. I want all fiber glass deck with non skid applyied for the cooler surface and far lower maintenance benefits. Jim Rodgers
Hey Jim, I could not agree more with you.
Thank you so much for watching and sharing your thoughts as well. Fair winds ⛵️
Thank you, that was very helpful!
Thank you so much for watching and even leaving a kind comment 🙏🏻
Thank you.
I did not know about this laminate teak. Wow.
It’s crazy that new production boats have to change the teak before some boats from 1970’s.
Thank you so much for watching and for being here🙏🏻 it’s all due to sanctions and even strict regulations
Teak is nice, but as an option you can today choose many syntetic versions that is just amazing. My friend bought a new Bavaria C 50 Style last year, and i been sailing a lot with him, the syntetic teak gives a very good grip, can be washed by high pressure washer and gives also good insulation to your boat. But it is slightly more expensive than a traditional teak deck, but will save you a lot work in the future.
If you don't sand the teak, how do you clean and prepare the teak before a fresh coat of sealer? How often do you reseal the teak?
Good job Thomas👍 I’m doing the same on s/y Blue Magic
You da best my dude
Right back at ya🙏🏻 It’s healthy with counter voices and motivation to critical thinking. I believe your channel contribute to this⛵️
Feels good on the feet
Sure do when it’s not tropical sun heating it up to BBQ level😅
Thank you so much for watching 🙏🏻
Gets hot !!!😢 good replacement!!!
As we say in Sweden, Teak decks are a "ticking" time bomb, a specially old ones with the screws.
Yes it for sure is👍🏻
I have back in the days been chasing leaks from deck screws on a solid teak! I take glued teak over that solution any day. But rather have no teak even though it’s beautiful
Thank you so much for watching 🙏🏻
Another great video, yes I have teak deck on my Jeanneau 54DS as well and I love the look and the traction you get but I also need to do some small repairs. Nice repair job!
Hi Thomas, excellent content, and I am certain it will come in handy with my ageing teak decking.
A quick question, what was the name of the two component epoxy that you used. I have noticed with many adhesive products, they recommend a special 'primer' coat before application of the adhesive, but if you have a product that you have had good results with, share the love 😉.
Keep up the excellent content. Fair winds 👍🏻
For me a white gel coat deck is the best with a painted on interdeck one second best . Easier to do touch ups and repairs but not so durable .
Teak would get too hot and deteriorates too fast . Nice though if you can afford a new Yacht every 3 or 4 years .
The info-graphics are always helpful to imagine the problem.
I wonder if simply removing all teak and replacing it with _sprayed cork_ would grant peace of mind ?...
Thank you so much for watching 🙏🏻
There are many new experimental solutions on the market. It’s not many materials able to compete with solid teak, except for gelcoat.
It’s a brutal environment.
All the best 🙏🏻
It seems like when tea gets old many people just remove it because of the maintenance in the heat on your feet.
If I buy a sailboat how do I get those beautiful women to help me?
@@MemorialParker
"heat on your feet."
I heard that one, too.
@@MemorialParker
Make a said face and say You need HAAALP.
Gotta practice fake crying with a pet dog, first.
Flott video som vanlig Thomas, kanalen din har den mest nyttige og praktiske informasjonen. Jeg ser hver eneste av videoene dine med penn og papir i hånden for å ta notater til min egen båt :)
Tusen takk for hyggelig tilbakemelding. Setter veldig pris på både kommentarer og at du tar deg tid til å se på videoene jeg legger ut. Varme hilsener fra Indonesia
@@SailingwithThomas du er velkommen, jeg har også sendt deg en e-post, men ingen hast.
Big fan of _acacia_ _avocado_ and _iroko_ as alternatives to teak.
Hi Thomas, what is your opinion about cork deck
Hey, thank you so much for watching and for your question🙏🏻 I have honestly not any valid experience on this material for outdoor use.
But I would guess in it’s natural and organic form is to soft, and not resistant enough for long term exposure on a salty deck.
But again, I have zero experience with it myself.
Thank you so much for being here🙏🏻
A question, if I may........
The problem seems to be with how thin the teak layer is. Is there no alternative wood which, although inferior in seaworthy quality to teak, would be cost effective as a pure wood deck.
I.e. Is a solid 20mm thick deck strip of an alternative inferior wood longer lasting than a few millimetres of inferior teak veneer?
Thank you for watching and for your questions as well.
Most likely I’m not the right person to talk to much about this as I’m really as far from expert possible to come on this specific topic.
However I believe it’s a combination of fast growing teak with low quality and thickness. Much thicker solid teak last much longer, but even the method with screws etc doesn’t last forever either. I have had that in my past. My yacht has real teak, but Bavaria has like other brands been experimenting with other sorts of wood that’s similar to teak in look but proven to not be much better. If this is because same method with thin layers was used I can’t tell as I don’t have my own experience other than reading about it.
For other materials I believe if a type of wood could compete with teak in durability it would been widespread long time ago.
So based on this logic I doubt there is any wood that can compete at least in terms of cheaper with higher quality and durability.
I have my doubts about Kork and other materials, and have synthetic pvc teak in my dinghy. Not very successful either. The UV destroy it, and extreme temperatures from sun makes the glue loose it’s grip as well. So honestly I’m not sure what would be better than just have the original whit deck with the anti skid surface they all come with to begin with.
But that’s only my 2 cents for what it’s worth.
Thank you for being here🙏🏻
Thomas, I learned something new about teak.
Dad comedy. 😂
Thanks for sharing.
Ha ha😂 Thank you so much for watching and for being here🙏🏻
@SailingwithThomas The Yacht Report dropped a video of Jeff Bezo being fined for having illegal teak on his yacht. It's around the 1:40-minute mark of his last video.
I love the look and feel of teak decks.
However the maintenance is extensive.
Cheers
have a boat from 82 with original teak deck, originally 2cm thick , now - 30% . i wet deck with saltwater as often as possible. this has kept them in good condition, the salt water keeps them from drying. plus this is most likely good 100+ year old teak that is unavailable today
Good video Mr Thomas 👍
I'm glad you could get the teak to fix that plank. It was annoying me, so I can only imagine how much it was annoying you! Thanks for the explanation; these things are not always obvious to the landlubber. I didn't know about the plywood underlay!
Interesting fun useful.... I've got a ferro, only teak is the rubbing strake and bulwark , so happy days for me
Apart from cosmetics, are there any benefits teak vs (say) awlgrip or another type of deck non skid surface?
I note that quite a few boats are either replacing teak with plastic teak or siply a grippy type of paint.
Interesting, I expected to hear from you the same thing I've been hearing more and more and that is that a teak deck is just not worth the hassel and money to maintain and that they have a relatively short life span. I'll be honest and say that while the teak feels great on the foot and looks great I'm still in the group that thinks it's an excessive cost that really isn't worth it... unless you're rich enough to not care in which case hell yeah go with it.
Teak is beautiful but I was honest on this when I bought BE FREE, it is a future problem. You can even see this in my video "why do I sail a 55..."
It was on the bullet list of things I did not want.
But buying second hand you sometimes have to accept compromises.
When I bought BE FREE it was only 3 for sale globally, and only 2 of those in owners version.
To replace the teak with massive quality teak on this size of yacht is around 60K USD. So yes it's ridiculous expensive.
Thank you for being here🙏🏻
Hi Thomas, I like your videos! Thanks a lot.
Thank you so much for watching and for being here
What are your thoughts on synthetic teak decks?
@@gaplife3611 I have very limited experience with synthetic except from what I have seen, and from my dinghy. The one that’s teak imitation gets even hotter than teak. I can’t imagine what kinds of glue capable not loosing the bonding when in subtropical sun is baking.
My friends with their pretty new Lepard had lots of problems. The Grey flex teak in my dinghy is totally falling apart and loosened. It can be coincidence, and I must repeat my experience is limited.
For my own opinion if I could choose I would only have white gelcoat with non skid surface. Not the DIY version, but the ones that can be cleaned and even polished.
Thank you so much for watching 🙏🏻
...I also wonder if there's a rule of thumb between displacement - or length - of a vessel and potential hours of inevitable maintenance ?...
The bigger the better for sailing. The smaller the better for maintenance. Unless you are as lucky as I was when I’m Grenada having a bunch of happy ladies to help me⛵️
Where I live in Thailand you see dozens of trucks crossing the Friendship Bridge daily from Laos carrying huge teak. So it's not just Burma having problems. In Thailand, it is illegal to harvest Teak without a license for that particular tree, yes, each tree harvested has to be approved by Forestry (they go look at it) and it's tracked all the way through processing. The teak laminate currently used on boats I dislike and I am yet to be impressed with the faux copies. I prefer the old solid teak that was/is screwed in. But then, I won't own a boat with a teak deck, the heat it collects and radiates is just too much and outweighs the beauty of it. Your videos continue to be very informative and I like how you replaced your bad plank.
Thank you so much for watching and for sharing this interesting information as well. I have had the feeling for a long time that there is lots of challenges and problems related to the timber industry when it comes to Teak and other premium wood types. If I could choose buying a brand new yacht I would not have anything added. I dont like the syntetic either, and many of the organic solutions has not yet impressed me either.
Thank you for being here
Plan a stop in Phuket Thailand and have the entire deck replaced with solid Teak. It is cheap there and good workers.
Really informative Thomas still marvel at the humour in a second language, I’ll be popping to practical with Thomas.
Thank you so much for being here and for your kind words! I am very glad to know you enjoy my poor humor
All the best!
Thank you Thomas, That damaged teak has been bothering me for awhile.
Thank you so much for watching! Hopefully future sailing videos can give you a better experience now as its fixed.
All the best
My 1985 Beneteau has a solid teak deck. It's been kept in good condition and looks nice. And it's been sanded many times. So now it's so thin that I have to remove it in the next couple of years. If I sand it one more time I will expose the screws. A job I don't look forward too do.
Another. great video Thomas. You could of added another fact about teak… the weight! I’ve estimated an additional 320kgs on your boat. Walking barefoot impossible on teak in the summer hot months !
Ingenious! Well done. Admirable even!!!
Another great video Thomas!👍🥰🏴
Thank you so much for watching 🙏🏻
@
No!!
Thank you for giving me the insight of sailing!🥰🏴
Great video, I cam over from Chasing Latitudes, been catching up on your content. I forgot how crazy Covid was.
Use epoxy resin to fix teak strips straight to the fibreglass deck and black polyester resin between the boards. Mine has lasted 20 years and still has more life.
Interesting solution! It's a good reminder that there are many ways to achieve a good result and it's not always about what's "right" or "wrong". For many years ago I had a wooden boat, and the deck had epoxy instead of caulking. But that boat was a glossy piece of art. It was a motor boat though, and it was a bit slippery on deck when wet. But man was it beautiful! Thank you so much for being here🙏🏻
as a profesional teakdecker my advise for new teak is try to get it from india the quality is comparibal as that from myanmar.
Well noted!
Thank you so much for watching 🙏🏻
i would put on linseed oil everytime the deck is dry, untill it wont accept annymore. replace the moisture with an oil to prevent the wood shrinking when drying. if you do this the first years when a boat is new it will last about 50 years, even if its made out of pine and on an fishing boat.
2 things i dont want on a yacht , Sail drive & teak decks , I had a teak deck redone in Phuket on a yacht i was overseeing a refit on , managed to get 200 year old teak from a 'pirate' in Malacca with forged papers for a 1/3 of the price , 1/2 inch thick teak , A father & son did a wonderful job while on the hard .
Thank you so much my friend 🙏🏻 sounds like quite an adventure.
All the best and thank you for being here
Looking great Tomas!
❤ from 🇨🇦BC
Thank you so much 🙏🏻
I found teak keeping humidity out.
Thank you so much for watching and for sharing your experience 🙏🏻
Could be a teak deck can give some insulation/protection from big changes in temperature. However having hatches and port lights open due to lack of air conditioning feels like the biggest challenge to me.
I’m curious in what kind of yacht you had this experience?
Good job mate 😊
Thank you so much 🙏🏻
It’s a shame no one thought of planting MANYTeak forests 200 years ago 😱, I Think I’ll start !
Ha ha😆 Good one! Maybe if you plant some your grand children can take the future profit?
Thank you so much for watching
Teak makes beautiful furniture.
Good teak tips!
Fantastic! Thanks for sharing.
Thank you so much 🙏🏻
Nice job Thomas! 👍🏻
Thank you so much for kind comment and for being here!
What could you use as a substute / paint /auggrip / spray on cork ?
Greetings from Cortes Island British Columbia. You've earned my subscription with your honest no BS content, very informative. Nothing irritates me more than click bait titles and content styled for mass viewership over relevant and honest information. Whenever I come across a click bait title on one of my followed channels I un-subscribe immediately. Keep up the great work and let me know if you ever find yourself in the Salish Sea, I have a mooring in front of my place waiting for you.
Thank you so much for subscribing and for your kind words. Much appreciated 🙏🏻
Who knows I might take your offer one day. All the best and warm greetings from Indonesia ⛵️
Cool videos chasing latitudes put me onto you
Thank you so much for responding to the recommendation from CL 🙏🏻
I hope you wil enjoy my content old and upcoming.
Your support is much appreciated
I gladly sold my last teak decked sailboat 😊
Ha ha!! Totally understand you, I had the same feeling last time. And here I am with a yacht having so much wood on it its like half a rain forrest. Thank you for being here
The teak decks on my HR46 were replaced in Sweden in 2017. I purchased the boat in 2019. they are still like new. Maintenance is a simple treatment of boracol twice a year. Would I specify teak decks on a new boat? No. But out of respect for the wood, I will do my very best to prolong the life of my decks.
The teak deck on a HR can not be compared with this, not even close. I did not want teak when I bought BE FREE but its not always so easy when on second hand market. I would never order this on a new yacht myself.
Thank you for being here
I've been thinking about using bamboo decking. Do you have any thoughts about it?
I believe teak is the best choice above any organic solution. I don’t have any experience with bamboo though.
Thank you so much for watching 🙏🏻
The best way to avoid problems with teak decks is to avoid having teak decks. Save money, weight and problems.
Could not agreed more 😅
Thank you so much for watching
The only teak suitable for decking is Burma teak and hasn’t been available for 50 years a teak print on ply is the way to go if you need to have a ‘teak’ deck . A wooden deck in modern times would be Douglas fir or spruce or larch from Eastern Europe air dried, looks great and very hard wearing. And yes no sanding or pressure washing. And polyurethane caulk is best all rounder. The salt water and a scrubbing brush keeps it all looking good
Boat builder/carpenter here who went on to other things ca. 1990 after 25 years.
@6:23, Yea gods, that's not Teak! Not functionally anyway.
I've never seen wood shrink along the grain like that. Well, not exactly true as the Oak floors in my house does that, but it's because my house is pulling apart... Is your boat getting longer?
A real Teak deck is laid on stringers which the teak is screwed to, edge to edge. The Teak lengths were generally cut from 5/4 stock in which you cut a small rabbit that is caulked to seal the deck. Teak is not only rot resistant, but expands very little in any direction with moisture, so it stresses the glue or caulk that holds it in place less than other woods.
Teak is such an easy wood to work, it's a shame to see it disappear. I used to buy 8/4 or 12/4 Teak in large planks as it was quite affordable in the 70's and into the 80's.
I have always disliked decoration on a boat sold as a blue water sailor, or racer. Teak as decoration is an abomination. Over use of Teak must contribute to its expense.
Subed, and liked.
Thank you so much for watching and for even subscribing 🙏🏻
Your experience shared and points of views are most appreciated.
Hope you will enjoy future content as well