Down the hatch!

As stated in the last update the next step was to also sand and varnish all the hatches that are on the boot. The main entrance hatch was in need of some serious repair, because the teak top appears to have been leaking and the wood underneath started to rot. All the rotten wood was removed and I just filled everything up with an epoxy filler. The hatches of the roof window on top of the cabin just needed some extra caulk here and there and the same goes for the other hatches. After sanding the whole lot, they where ready to be varnished. But it turned out that it would take a long time before that finally happened, because there where a few other problems to fix first. But more about that in the next update.

Adding of the hand rails and vanishing of the outside teak

In the end of July and beginning of August when the weather was still hot and sunny all the teak that was not yet varnished was finally sanded and was treated with 6 layers of 2 component sealing varnish for teak. After those 6 layers another 2 layers of extra UV-filtering varnish was applied for the finishing touch. Because one needs to sand between the layers that are applied the whole endeavour took (even with some help of my father) more than two weeks. But one the upside after all this work, applying more layers in the future (about 2 layers a year) will seem only a minor task compared to this.
The teak hand rails where now also finally placed back onto the cabin roof and treated with the same varnish layering.
As one can see in the photo’s the handrails, the cabin ceiling window, the entrance and side beams of the cabin are now truly looking as new. The next step will be to also sand and varnish the hatches of the entrance, the cabin window and the hatch on the bow, but those will first need to be repaired and will then be varnished in the wintertime.

Portholes placement

Back in June I decided that it was finally time to permanently place all the new portholes in the side of the cabin. I kept on postponing this task because I was not sure how to go about it. The cabin wall was thicker then the brass portholes, so that created a problem.
I finally decided I would just use some more caulk between the portholes and the porthole rings on the outside of the wall. As I excepted things got a very messy, but with some aceton and cotton cloths for the finishing touch the end result was better then I had hoped.
Also the glass of one of the two bigger portholes was broken and needed a replacement glass. Luckily my father found a round glass plate somewhere at a second hand boat shop that had the exact measurements that where needed for those portholes for only 5 euro a piece!
This was also a good time to clean and polish those two old big porthole so the caulk would adhere better and also to make them shine as new.

Repairing a teak hand rail

End result (before sanding)

Preparation is the key to success
Preparation is the key to success

One of the teak hand rails was partially broken. To fix this issue the epoxy was taken out, to safe the day once again. Teak can be tough to repair because it’s a very greasy kind of wood. That is why most glues, paints or varnished don’t really bond well to teak. By first degreasing the teak with acetone and using a special diluted kind of epoxy that really impregnates the wood one can overcome this greasy problem. After the first impregnation layer was applied and became sticky enough (after an hour or so) a next layer with a more “glue like” character was made with a special kind of epoxy filler. This makes the epoxy thicker and thus easier to apply, plus it fills the gapes better.
After the epoxy has dried enough (about 2-6 days) it could be sanded and varnished with a special kind of impregnation 2 component varnish which is specially made for teak. After 5 layers of this 2 component varnish, two more layers of extra UV filtering 2 component varnish fill be added for the finishing touch. I plan to do the same with all the other teak outside, with exception of the teak deck.