REFIT Plan: Exterior Teak

The Plan:

With the use of a scraper, some teak cleaner and brightener, I plan to scrub any exposed exterior teak to freshen in up to get ready for varnish.

I know many people that would say to leave it go grey because of all the work involved to varnish. I like the look of varnish. The previous finish got a little worn and fell apart. I'm thinking if I can get a good base to start with, it should be easier to maintain. From how I heard what CETOL looks like, I suspected that it was used before. My suspicions were correct when I browsed through an old maintenance book. I like the look of the Epifanes varnish I'm using for the handrails and will continue with that.

The bowsprit and stern will need some more cleaning off of the old varnish more than the sides but it'll all get a good scrub.

While I did the handrails, mainly because they were leaking inside, I'm looking at doing the rest during the refit period but I could just work on it slowly over time.

There are some spots, that can be seen in pictures, where the plugs have popped out. The intention is to plug them up again and hide the screws. There is also places where it looks like caulking could be replaced as well.

This is the stern, flaking off.

Hatchboards for the companion way.

 

Calking needs replaced.



Some holes need re-plugged.

REFIT Plan: The Head

Looking to change the head to a composting head. I've been wondering how they are supposed to work and how well and been researching it. Seems that anyone who has one is glad they made the change. There are two companies I've come across, Nature's Head and Airhead that seems to have the main products.

The main concern I have is that it seems both of them require a vent through the deck. I'm not too crazy about putting another hole in the deck and where the head is, lines between the mast and the cockpit go right overhead. As I'm writing this, I'm thinking I might be a little creative in the vent. Maybe not going straight up but maybe somehow route a vent toward the stern of the hull. Looking closer at the Nature's Head website, it might be possible to use the deck pump out port location for the air vent since the hole is already there.

Along with conversion to a head, that means no pipes to worry about. I can remove them and likely gain  a little bit of storage space. While I'm looking at replacing all the seacocks in the boat, I may still be able to replace the one for the head in case I, or someone else, decides to install a regular marine head. The deck waste outlet will still be in place which I could re-seal that to make sure it's water tight.

I welcome any thoughts.

Here are the pictures of current setup. I didn't have a tape measure when I took these pictures but I'm hoping one of the composting heads would fit in this space without any issues. It would be nice to free up space by getting rid of those pipes.