Happy Newbie

Hello,
My partner, Richard and I own a 36’ Gulfstar Trawler. Twin Diesel engines and were just starting to redo the exterior teak trim. This boat is a great project for he and I.
We are located in Georgian Bay ON (Victoria Harbour, Queens Cove). We bought Madrigal last August and brought her north from Burlington to the fresh clean water of the bay. When we left Burlington it was the first time on a boat like this hence my learning curve has had some serious trajectory.
I’m happy to be part of this ci
Immunity and look forward to learning lots.
Cheers

Welcome Aboard. Gulfstars are more of a motorsailer than a trawler, sort of a cross between the two. A very efficient design. Many of them came with twin engines although one engine would have been enough. Lets not get into the twin vs single discussion.

You may want to reconsider redoing the teak. It is an endless task, I just gave up on mine and painted all the exterior teak.

Pictures please.

pete

Welcome and yes, we want pictures!

Welcome! Glad you're here.

Greg.

Welcome aboard. I too went with painting the exterior teak. By next summer almost all the exterior teak will be white. Loving it.

Welcome to Trawler Forum

With covered slips for many of the years I owned my GB42 and a set of Sunbrella rail covers before that, I could never bring myself to paint the exterior teak, and there was a LOT of it. Even with the covered bright work, there was always a bit here and there needing attention, One of my favorite maintenance tasks was the final coat of Epifanes on the hand or cap rail - perfecto! Oh, the boat was a woodie to boot. Now I have ZERO wood, and enjoy that too. There is a season to everything.

Welcome aboard, by the way.

Hi Madrigal!


Congrats on the Gulfstar acquisition!


I agree with Pete M's comment about reconsidering the teak. You might want to use the usual teak-cleaning chemicals to get everything fresh and clean...and then just let the teak go naturally grey...and keep it that way.

When we first acquired our boat, I think we spent 40-80 hours a year with chemicals and oil trying to keep our teak decks and rails a nice golden brown color. While they looked nice, there were many drawbacks:
>teak oil can require repeat applications during the season, depending on location, sun and oil type/quality
>oiling comes with risk of dark mold spots underneath, if not applied and maintained correctly.
>the oiled deck is significantly more slippery than a non-oiled deck
>We have read and believe that all the chemicals and oils were probably more harmful than helpful for the teak
>Life is too short. There are plenty of more interesting and rewarding projects to be done on a boat than keeping teak brown.


So, for many reasons, we have fallen in love with the color grey. We still need to take care to regularly rinse the decks, however....and wash them with mild soap, when needed.