Cockpit Table

While Circe is on the hard at the Grand Marina Boatyard in Alameda getting her bottom done (sounds like some bizarre cosmetic surgery procedure!) we have started on some projects that we can do at home. On a whim we chose to take a shot at some bright work, bright work is boat-speak for woodwork....don't ask! We read mountains of printed and digital info on exterior and interior teak treatment and found as many opinions, recommended techniques, recommended products and assurances of stellar results than you can shake a stick at!  Everyone, it seems, has 'the answer' to achieving perfect results.......unfortunately all of the answers are different!

So, as we often do, we will chart our own path and proceed on the old faithful, T(rial)&E(rror) method. We think that we will varnish the exterior wood and oil the interior, a simple choice, based on the existing finishes. That plan may change based on how well or badly our first few jobs turn out. Our choice of varnish product was also simple, in one of Circe's lockers was a brand new, unused quart of Bristol Finish and catalyst. 

We elected to begin our self teaching process by varnishing the cockpit table and drink holder/cubby. They were very shabby and as it was easy to remove them from the boat and they were small enough to work on at our apartment it was a logical first project.  Being small also means it would  be easy to re-do them  if our first efforts fall short of expectations. The next bright work project we are going to do will be the cap rail and cabin eyebrow trim so we want to have our technique and all our procedural ducks in a row before tackling them!

Preparation, once again, was a simple process......remove all old varnish and sand all surfaces smooth..... the gurus all agreed on that bit! We started with a heat gun and scraper(s) and then sanded progressively with 80, 120, 150 and 220 grit paper used variously by hand, sanding block and detail sander. The heat gun and scrapers worked great, once we had mastered the trick of keeping the gun moving slightly ahead of the scraper blade. We used a 'pull' scraper to get into the nooks and crannies of the drink holder.

Although it was a Lowes 'el cheapo' model, the heat gun worked great and most, but not all, of the hair on the old matelot's arms survived unscathed!

One of the old matelots was so excited to start scraping that the first trials were undertaken in street clothes, which caused a little consternation among other members of the crew!

Its amazing what can be done with some C clamps, some pipe clamps, a balcony rail and a bit of ingenuity....who needs a work bench!

The little Black & Decker detail sander was also invaluable for getting into the tight spots.

We found several sizeable grain flaws from previous heavy handed sanding efforts.

 The prep work turned out quite nice, even if we say so ourselves.

Time, neglect and the elements had conspired to split the drink holder in a couple of spots so, after the scraping and before the sanding, we epoxied and then filled the affected areas with filler selected for its colour match. Fortunately, two of our four hands were correctly sized for sanding all the inside corners of the drink holder....by far the biggest challenge of the project.

We were disappointed to discover that heavy handed sanding by the previous owner(s) had gone right through the teak veneer on the table and cut into the underlying plies in several places leaving ugly grain flaws. These may be exaggerated by the new finish.....we'll see! Stay tuned for more of our bright work saga.