I am absolutely certain that both of you are the edge of your seats to find out what exactly is happening with the teak decking. At last report, after much research, kvetching, whining, fer-actual bleeding (yes, that chisel really IS sharp), scraping, sanding, and quite a bit more whining I’d managed to refinish about four square feet of teak in the cockpit.
A good test it was. Certainly enough of a test to know that this is a project with such a tremendous potential for suckage and misery that I had to take it on.
Fortunately I’ve suckered some poor fool in found one of my classmates to help me with it.
Unfortunately the teak is starting to look really lousy in spots. In some places the caulking is just loose and pulling up. In most places you can see the raised parts of the teak, which are a result of the Prior Owners aggressive approaches to teak management. They’re not really “raised parts”, they are the ridges that survived all the acidic teak cleaners and agressive brushing that eats away at teak.
So the plan – such that it is – for my friend and I to try and strip as much caulk as we can out while it is freezing-arse cold. Caulk won’t cure much below 50F, so we can’t re-caulk until it warms up a bit. Hopefully with some weather breaks and a lot of propane through the “Heat Buddy” portable heater we can get most of the caulk removed by very early spring.
I am certain none of you will be able to sleep until that is complete.
