Fix The Leaky Decks

The decisions on how to proceed. . . .

The decks have been leaking for a few years, last sanded and re-masticked in the 90’s. There is now no depth in the seams to sand any further and a few screws are protruding.

Isla Rose has swept teak decks onto five king planks at stem and stern. Planks were originally 1.5″ (38mm) but have lost about 6 to 10mm through wear, scrubbing and previous sanding.

While I enjoy the classic yacht we are a modern family with books, tablets, sleeping bags and toys aboard and we are not keeping a 40ft yacht to camp aboard under bin liners and moldy blankets. The fresh water was also beginning to affect the oak frames, fastenings and interior wood work. After much pondering last year we had to decide what remedial course to take.

We talked and listened to a lot of people. We decided then put it around to be shot down or developed. The ideas considered were:

1. Coelan seal over the top
2. Plywood over and glass
3. Lift the deck and fit a new one
4. Face with tek-deck type pretend teak
5. Lift the planks fit ply and new teak planks
6. Lift the planks fit ply and re-bed the original planed planks
7. Ply over and face with teak

The right answer depends on the yacht, the owners preference, available funds, longevity of the result, skills available and time. Below is our assessment based on our wishes for Isla Rose, use of the yacht, level of technical risk and budget.

1. Coelan will waterproof a deck and we considered this for a stop gap few years until we could afford more. After considering it was ruled out because the decks were in poor condition to start with so you would see the screws and rough seams. The result would be messy, difficult to remove, and not a long term solution.
2. I was never keen on this as I particularly wanted the teak decks rather than the canvas look which can be achieved and looks in the right period. If I could afford it I wanted teak.
3. We seriously considered this. It is costly, upsets the interior of the boat and involves scrapping all the good teak still on the decks.
4. The new plastic teak effects are great and we have this on the balcony at home. It saves time and cost but on a real wooden boat it is difficult to hide the edges and we were worried it would never quite look right. We could not find a similar project so decided the risk of not being happy was too much for the trouble and cost.
5. Ply with teak on top was really my favourate option, the ply can be pre-painted to the interior is all clean and new, there will be no seams to leak in the future and you have teak to look at and walk on. I’d did still involve scrapping the good teak on the deck, a lot of mess below, and a lot of cost. Technically this is probably the right option.
6. The idea of reusing the original planks came from someone on an unrelated stand at Southampton boatshow. It has been done before and there were tools available to cut round the screws. This seemed a good idea, we still have lots of teak in the planks so keep them, benefit from the ply layer, plane the planks to a uniform thickness and refit. Even replacing a few planks you don’t have to buy so much teak. This excellent idea was stopped following word from a boatbuilder which had done it and wished he never had. Discussions with our local boatbuilder brought up possible problems with the planks springing when removed, cracking, not being able to get them off without damage. He was still willing to give it a try, sample a few planks see how it went. The final nail was an experienced surveyor saying “Don’t be ridiculous”. The technical and unknown cost risks were too high.
7. So the outcome was to plane the deck down a bit, fit a 6mm ply barrier layer with 6mm teak on top. For the most part a known task, possibility of estimating time and money involved. Keeping the strength from the remaining teak seemed less wasteful, gaining the protection from the ply used as a flexible joint and the look and feel of real teak on deck. Most requirements ticked, still not that cheap.