what type of wood is on my Ketch ?

Ahoy Dominic,

Welcome to the Dickerson Family. I bet you are underwhelmed by the lack of responses to your query. This is a very conservative group. IT’S TEAK. (but it really doesn’t matter–it’s pretty and it requires “bonding time”). I’m certain that our “Neighborhood Greeter”, Joe has been in touch and I add my welcome to his. We are all very proud to be Dickerson fans.

As I’m sure Joe told you, I’m the collector of trivia–so when you get a chance, drop an email with everything you know about your boat–maybe I can help you fill in the missing data.

Barry

Dominic,

Opinions on treating brightwork are like belly buttons—everybody has one. The one thing we all have in common is that Dickersons have a lot of it. When it looks good, you are bound to get “ooohs and aaahs” up and down your anchorage. When it is flakey and neglected, you will get a comensurate number of “too bads”. But let’s be honest—if we wanted no maintenance and were happy looking like floating Clorox bottles, we would have Hunters or Catalinas.

We have lots of different approaches to exterior wood treatment among our DOA members. I’m a “Cetol the lot” guy. And I just use the base Cetol Marine — no gloss or flat over it. After inital preparation (the hardest but most important step), I touch it up twice a year. Some of our members use proper spar varnish — absolutely beautiful, but too much talent required for me. Some use oil (I used to–but you have to keep after it.) Some just let some or all of it “go au naturel”

As for interior painting, I will defer to Irish Mist or Rainbow or some of the real experts who have more experience.

In the end–enjoy the chance to bond with your boat (and enjoy a cool beverage or 6)

Barry

Hey Dominic,
Yep, we sail out of Westport Harbor – Lake Tashmoo is an easy 5 hour sail in reasonable winds. We usually go for a 4 day “visit” the weekend after labor day – tourists are pretty much gone & the sailing on the sound is lovely. When you get your masts back, head to Westport…..

I’ve varnished most of the exterior teak on our 36. It’s a pain to get it back to “nice” from the mess it was, but it’s pretty easy to keep up now. I do a refresher coat every couple years & it’s manageable. I remember watching some one teak oil teak a few years back – runny & had to tape it off. I don’t know…not for me…..I’ve seen Cetol that looked decent – uniform color & seems to hold up well. I guess it’s “pick a poison” and run with it….We also made canvas covers for the 3 opening hatches & the main hatch – helps a lot with keeping things looking good.

Inside I use Kirby’s paint from New Bedford – a nice satin sheen & easy to clean. The pettit or “brightside” paints in gloss just don’t look right to me inside a nice old boat. Kirby will ccustom mix paint & send it to you via ups – I use their “C4” custom color that they suggested for “classic” wood boat interiors. It’s white with just a touch of yellow to make a off white – It’s very easy on the eye.

I’ve found that on the mahoghany interior I like the satin finish Epiphanes varnish – a nice look that is easy to use. You can use any spar varnish under the epifanes for build and the last 2 coats satin. I’ve got the front cabin almost done, the head & some of the cabinet doors in the main cabin done. & 2 years ago I redid the fold down table – Next year perhaps main bulkheads………

Next time we are in your neck of the woods I’ll try to look you up.

mike