The teak deck, one of the few reminiscences from the great days of seafaring, the nobility of every touring boat, whether classic or just off the production line. A feature that usually comes at extra cost and is as attractive as it is superfluous.
Structured GRP decks are also non-slip and insulating on their own. And since the embargo, tropical wood from Myanmar, the main source of good quality, is no longer available. The alternative, if you don't want to rely on artificial products such as Flexiteek or Esthec, is plantation-grown, fast-growing teak with all its disadvantages such as lower resistance to bacteria and a softer structure. Both are unattractive. The decks quickly look scruffy, rub off and lose small crumbs of wood that look like dirt. This can be remedied with a pre-seasonal and post-seasonal treatment with the tried-and-tested mould protection agent Boracol, which helps against infestation with organic substances and mould stains. It gives the material a dignified grey appearance, the classic shade of aged teak decking.
Good alternatives for teak deck maintenance
If you want to preserve the look of a freshly laid or sanded new teak deck, you can oil it, but you won't enjoy it for long. This has to be done several times a season and can still become stained and scratchy. There is a good alternative: Semco, a sealant from the USA that is designed to preserve the oils naturally occurring in the wood and promises to act as a barrier to UV light and moisture. Colour pigments are added to give the wood a fresh look. The manufacturer offers its sealant in five shades: "Cleartone" contains fewer pigments and is less colourful, "Natural" is intended to create the slightly golden sheen of a slightly used teak deck, "Honeytone" looks like a new deck, "Goldtone" has a reddish-brownish effect like a freshly sanded surface and "Classic Brown" looks like a wet deck. The good thing is that the colours can be combined to create intermediate shades. We tested the system together with Peter Wrede Yacht Refits, who distributes the Teak Protect System in Germany and offers the application. The work is carried out in three steps: Firstly, the deck is deep-cleaned with a special cleaner from Semco. Then the teak surface is brightened with a neutraliser - it looks like a fresh deck. Finally, the teak is sealed and should then be protected against dirt, ageing and abrasion.
The result was completely convincing. The deck showed no new stains, was easy to keep clean and only had to be re-treated once during the season. The one-off deep cleaning costs just under 800 euros for a twelve-metre motor yacht (plus travel costs), but the application with Semco can also be carried out independently.
1. clean and neutralise the teak deck
2. seal and protect the teak deck
3. the follow-up treatment
The after-treatment has proved its worth. The deck has shown no new stains, the abrasion has been reduced and the wood looks natural. After around four months, we re-treated once during the season, which took about an hour. At the end of the season, the dry deck still looked quite high quality, only the wet surface indicated that a further application would be useful.
