Maintaining wood on V20

[trout25red]

Can anybody give me a fairly easy way to maintain the wood on the V20. Is there anyway to replace some of the wood with new wood? thanks in advance.

[chumbucket]

All the wood is easily removed and can be refinished or replaced with very little effort. It should be all teak. If you like the look of the wood trim, get yourself to a boating supply store and buy a teak cleaning/oiling kit. Basically, it consists of a one step cleaning process that'll also brighten the teak, then rubbing the wood with teak oil. Once that's done, just re-oil every few months. Another option is to apply a stain such as Sikkens (excellent for teak and lasts a lot longer). If someone has varnished or polyurethaned the wood in the past, it's going to take a bit more work. Break out the sander and go to it. I ran all mine through a planer on an older boat that I had and stripped the wood bare.
The other option is to pick up some Starboard plastic, using the wood pieces as a template, cut and replace with no maintenance pieces (this is the way I'm going a little at a time). I personally don't like having to deal with maintenance issues such as wood. ;)

[Seakindly]

I agree with CB about wood's maintenance issues, but then I look and Emmet's boat and I just sigh. :P

[chumbucket]

I love the look of nicely finished wood. I just don't want to be the one doing all the work. ;) ;D

[Seakindly]

I WOULD HAVE A BOAT LIKE EMMETTS IF i Didn't fish.

I would tie up to the dock and sip pina coladas and watch the bikini parade. 8)

[Fitz]

Gentlemen:

Thanks for all the nice comments. I removed all of my boat's wood when I bought it in the fall of 2002. I brought it all home to my garage and stripped all of the pieces that were in decent shape, using a fast-acting chemical stripper. I then sanded them down to bare wood, finishing with about a 220 grit.

There were a number of pieces that weren't worth saving, including all of the interior gunnell trim, the two bow pieces that frame the sliding door, and the hatch cover over the head. I carefully measured those pieces, then found an excellent lumber yard that carries good teak and has a custom cutting service. I bought everything I needed and had it all custom cut for about $300.

After doing a lot of research, I decided to finish the majority of the wood with Sikkens Cetol Light, which has a matte finish and no orange tint. I first coated that wood with ZAR Wood Stain (#120 - Teak Natural), then finished it with three coats of Cetol Light.

The only things I did not finish with Cetol were the three horizontal deck hatches, the bow pulpit, and the cleat and outrigger bases. After taking all of that wood down, I just stained it with the ZAR and oiled it with generic teak oil. I figured that the foot traffic, sun beating, and general fishing abuse they would take would quickly ruin the Cetol finish and create more of a problem than simply staining and oiling them. A season's worth of use confirmed that assumption. I ended up re-staining and oiling those pieces twice over the summer season, which took a total of 15 minutes.

I'm happy to report that I did not have to refinish any of the Cetol-treated wood this winter. It still looks as good as the day I installed it. However, I'm sure that some of that longevity is due to the fact that my boat is rack-stored indoors, and that a sun-beaten boat would fare worse.

I personally get a great deal of satisfaction out of both the maintenance and the final result, so the periodic work that wood requires is no problem to me. I hope this info is helpful.

[Seakindly]

Fitz, your boat is so gorgeous it is scary. ;D

[macojoe]

I would pt a plasitc bubble over it!!

[buenos_diaz]

Just perusing the old posts and saw this one.

Viagra might work!!! ;D

[Vic]

Cunfuious say, You can always find new wood if you rub long enough.