Protecting Teak Cap Rails From Sun

Our teak cap rails were finished by the dealer when she was a new stock boat.
Since then we've had them refinished twice, and most recently with an Awlgrip 3-part acrylic on top of 12 coats of varnish, and they look great!

My question is, is there any type of wax or other protectant that I can apply to shield the brightwork from the harsh, south Florida sun rays?

We don't use the boat in summer so I won't mind if it looks a bit ugly, like applying a paste wax and not buffing it off, leaving as a thick top coat. This is the idea as I cannot wrap most of the brightwork because it's attached directly to the top of the hull, with no space under it.

I am trying Aerospace 303 protectant on my finish on the wood transom.
https://www.amazon.com/303-30313-CS...&qid=1475488827&sr=8-1&keywords=aerospace+303

Has no effect on the gloss that I can tell. And so far wood looks the same, no degrading.Will see over a whole year how it does.
The idea is your teak has a plastic surface and the 303 made for plastics has an SPF of 40 which blocks more than 97% of UV rays. And UV light is what damages the finish. Outdoors you need to put it on every 30 to 45 days in the summer and every couple months in winter.

The 303 looks like what I'm looking for. How long ago did you apply it.
Thanks!

Some folks will have white covers made to avoid sun and moisture damage.

The only 100 % efficient solution for me.

rclarke246 said:

The 303 looks like what I'm looking for. How long ago did you apply it.
Thanks!

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Just a month ago. I too am running a test, so far it looks great. 303 has many thousands of great reviews on multiple web sites. I figure so many like it, must actually work. It is made by the same company that makes fuel Stabil.

I actually sprayed it on the wood, then used my hand to rub it all over, then buffed it with a cotton rag. (also Has NO silicones). The surface feels silky smooth.

I have covers made from sunbrella that snap around my railsz

I think if I had sunbrella covers what will happen, I would never take them off.

rclarke246 said:

The 303 looks like what I'm looking for. How long ago did you apply it.
Thanks!

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I would have a talk with who ever does your bright work before you contaminate their hard work with any protectant product.

Since 75% of my brightwork is tight to the hull the only way I could get covers to stay put would be to add many snaps, on both sides of the cap rail.

Capt.Bill11 said:

I would have a talk with who ever does your bright work before you contaminate their hard work with any protectant product.

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The negativity is showing when you use the word 'contaminate':lol:.
Those hard wood workers may very well be negative, if it means less work for them.

I promise to keep people informed as to how it does. So far been through multiple storms, and boat trips with water slapping the transom, and looks and feels the same. I do like the way it feels. It has been what, a month? and I have not noticed anything different about the finish.

sdowney717 said:

The negativity is showing when you use the word 'contaminate':lol:.
Those hard wood workers may very well be negative, if it means less work for them.

I promise to keep people informed as to how it does. So far been through multiple storms, and boat trips with water slapping the transom, and looks and feels the same. I do like the way it feels. It has been what, a month? and I have not noticed anything different about the finish.

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I think you missed the direction SD was going when he said "contaminate"

He was referring to the surface being contaminated in regards to the next time finish needs to be applied to the Awlgrip. 303 is a great product in its design but there is no way I would put it on my varnished teak rails.. just too much risk.

I consider teak brightwork to be on par with a trophy wife... LOTS of maintenance .. but worth it!

HOLLYWOOD

I use 303 on the hypalon dinghy fabric. I do not and would not use it on bright work. Being away from the boat the directions are not available. However, I think they say to apply it once a month.

hollywood8118 said:

I think you missed the direction SD was going when he said "contaminate"

He was referring to the surface being contaminated in regards to the next time finish needs to be applied to the Awlgrip. 303 is a great product in its design but there is no way I would put it on my varnished teak rails.. just too much risk.

I consider teak brightwork to be on par with a trophy wife... LOTS of maintenance .. but worth it!

HOLLYWOOD

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No problem to clean it off if going to refinish. Scrub with dish soap, rinse. And then wet sand and rinse. Nothing will survive that. Hopefully you wont have to refinish, that's the whole idea using it at least for me, less wood work.
Ignore the idea your putting it on wood, your actually putting it on a plastic finish. The stuff is designed to protect plastic surfaces.

We used 303 on the dacron sailcloth that was the wing covering on UL aircraft. It was almost universally accepted as a must do.

I suspect that it may be a bit like silicone in that 303 may seroiusly inhibit adhesion when recoating the finish. I would find out about that before using.

Pilou,
We had a member in the past that had full covers .. Marin Fare. Is there a French connection?

Marin never took his covers off. He cruised w them on even in the summer I'm quite sure.

I've used 303 and seem to recall warnings about using hand and breathing protection. I definitely would not be applying it with my bare hands.

You have Awlgrip as the topcoat. Surely it needs nothing more.
A recent thread discussed putting wax on Awlgrip, and some contributors disputed that being OK for the Awlgrip, as AG itself is supposed to be the answer. Surely that applies to clear as well as opaque AG.

Talk first to the Awlgrip folks.

Nomad Willy said:

Pilou,
We had a member in the past that had full covers .. Marin Fare. Is there a French connection?

Marin never took his covers off. He cruised w them on even in the summer I'm quite sure.

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Salut Eric,

I have no connection with Marin which I had never heard of before last August when I registered in TrawlerForum. Indeed as soon as I signed up here, some prominent members of TF (and perhaps a few others) had wrongly thought I was a member (the "famous" personage Marin who has been previously banned from TF) coming back onto the forum masquerading as a French woman, me in this case. This person has a French name and French contacts (like me), travels a lot (like me), has a Grand Banks (like me), takes a lot of photos (like me). That is why these prominent members suspected I was this person, and unpleasantly posted as they did.

It was a silly game which didn't amuse myself for too long and this made me very mad. It was at that point that I wrote strong unpleasant posts back while they kept on playing it. Thanks to my good friend and very professional moderator Peter B, the situation became clearer and everything was as it should be. For the anecdote, I am now friends with two of these posters. It is a pity I started my journey aboard TF by posting in this way, and by giving the impression I was a rude person whereas that's not my style but there were no grounds to suspecting me anymore. Eric, right now I am not arguing of course, I am only explaining since you asked about Marin, only future matters.

Back to the sunbrella full covers. In October 2015 I ordered them to a local upholstery, I put them on my rails from October to end of March, so far so very good.

Pilou

HiDHo said:

I've used 303 and seem to recall warnings about using hand and breathing protection. I definitely would not be applying it with my bare hands.

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https://www.tapplastics.com/uploads/pdf/MSDS 303 Aerospace Protectant.pdf

Possible dermatitis. But see, I use my hands a lot for all sorts of chemicals, coatings, oils, glues, gasoline, and dont wear gloves. I don't react to anything, not sensitised to epoxy, polyester or paint or any chemical I know of. Reason for spreading with hands, it worked well and did not waste as much. I started by spraying and spreading with a rag, the 3030 seemed harmless to me, so starting spreading it with my hand. It washed off my hands fine with soap. My hands have pretty thick skin.

Says has a matte finish, I wondered about that, would it affect the gloss, and it did not. I think what they mean is matte finish is maintained. A lot of people use this on cars and vinyls and would not want to create a gloss on the car dash or a place where you would not want to see a gloss.

I threw my covers away. They were an eyesore. What's the point of spending valuable time and effort on brightwork just to cover it up? I see mine everyday. If something needs a touch up, I do it. Kinda reminds me of grandmas front room. All her best furniture encased in plastic wraps. ?


Sent from my iPad using Trawler Forum

rclarke246 said:

Since 75% of my brightwork is tight to the hull the only way I could get covers to stay put would be to add many snaps, on both sides of the cap rail.

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My cap rails are located on top of the bulwarks. However, my canvas covers are held in place by snaps. That's the way to go regardless of whether your bright work is flush with the hull or not.

I wouldn't add anything to my varnish except more varnish about every six months. That's part of owning a boat with exposed wood! ...just my opinion, of course. You could always paint your cap rails.

sdowney717 said:

No problem to clean it off if going to refinish. Scrub with dish soap, rinse. And then wet sand and rinse. Nothing will survive that. Hopefully you wont have to refinish, that's the whole idea using it at least for me, less wood work.
Ignore the idea your putting it on wood, your actually putting it on a plastic finish. The stuff is designed to protect plastic surfaces.

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I'm guessing you haven't done much varnish or paint work.

koliver said:

You have Awlgrip as the topcoat. Surely it needs nothing more.
A recent thread discussed putting wax on Awlgrip, and some contributors disputed that being OK for the Awlgrip, as AG itself is supposed to be the answer. Surely that applies to clear as well as opaque AG.

Talk first to the Awlgrip folks.

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http://www.awlgrip.com/MPYACMDatasheets/4076-4-eng-A4.pdf

http://www.awlgrip.com/products/maintenance/awlcare.aspx

We just returned from TrawlerFest in Baltimore/Annapolis (a bit of rain). On the newer Fleming boats the cap and hand rails looked beautiful - asked how they stay that way - its Burrwood (their word?), or composite material, not teak. Said to just wax it about once a year and you are good to go. Not as bright as newly refinished teak, a bit browner, but still beautiful. Wonder if you can get composite caps and rails for older boats?

Oh, and we were also there to visit our daughter and her husband . She competed in the Baltimore Triathlon on Sat morning, where she came in third overall among women (and 12th overall including men!)

FoxtrotCharlie said:

We just returned from TrawlerFest in Baltimore/Annapolis (a bit of rain). On the newer Fleming boats the cap and hand rails looked beautiful - asked how they stay that way - its Burrwood (their word?), or composite material, not teak. Said to just wax it about once a year and you are good to go. Not as bright as newly refinished teak, a bit browner, but still beautiful. Wonder if you can get composite caps and rails for older boats?

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New Fleming 78'.
Is that what you meant ?
Congratulations to your daughter !

rclarke246 said:

Our teak cap rails were finished by the dealer when she was a new stock boat.
Since then we've had them refinished twice, and most recently with an Awlgrip 3-part acrylic on top of 12 coats of varnish, and they look great!

My question is, is there any type of wax or other protectant that I can apply to shield the brightwork from the harsh, south Florida sun rays?

.

Click to expand...

koliver said:

You have Awlgrip as the topcoat. Surely it needs nothing more.
A recent thread discussed putting wax on Awlgrip, and some contributors disputed that being OK for the Awlgrip, as AG itself is supposed to be the answer. Surely that applies to clear as well as opaque AG.

Talk first to the Awlgrip folks.

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You should probably double check exactly which Awlgrip system was used - many folks use Awlgrip when in fact the brand includes at least 3 distinct systems -
- Awlgrip (a polyester urethane)
- Awlcraft 2000 (a acrylic urethane)
- Awlwood (not sure what this one is??)

Awlgrip & Awlcraft are typically used over gelcoat (e.g. hull finishing) but it looks like they can be applied over their epoxy primer on wood

Acrylic sounds like Awlcraft but that is not recommended for brush or roller application - was your sprayed?

Awlgrip clear epoxy primer

See So what is the difference between the AwlGrip and AwlCraft resins?

If yours is Awlgrip they do not recommend buffing nor use of wax - they have some specific care instructions.

I have used the Awlcare polymer polish on my Awlcraft finished hull with very good results

sdowney717 said:

I think if I had sunbrella covers what will happen, I would never take them off.

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If I fit sunbrella covers to my rails, how can I protect the sunbrella from the elements? If I find something to cover and protect the sunbrella, that`s going to need protecting....

We had some sunbrella cover on cap rails on OA and are some happy to have no varnish on the Terranova .... so happy !!!

Capt.Bill11 said:

I'm guessing you haven't done much varnish or paint work.

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Yes I have done a lot of painting and clear coating.