Replacement cockpit coming

[laird henkel]

Hi Santana folks-

I need to replace my teak cockpit coming on Kitten. Anyone know where to get an 8' x 10" (or 12") plank of 3/8" or 1/2" teak?  I might also consider Starboard (the plastic stuff) if I can't find teak at a reasonable price, but I'd kind of prefer teak.

Thanks for any advice!

Laird Henkel

[Jim Atkins]

I made teak cockpit comings for AZOR a couple of years ago. I bought the wood from Jackel in Watsonville. It wasn’t cheap. I brought 7/4 wood and had them split it into ~ 5/16 boards. If I did it again, I’d probably get 7/8 or 4/4 wood which would yield slightly thicker boards that are still flexible enough to conform to the curves of the cockpit. 

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[Jim Atkins]

*3/4

[peter.sunsupsolar]

I dug deep for teak and ended up with starboard. Teak is over the top price wise if you can even find it wide enough. I do have a starboard color sample kit if you'd like to check that out. 

P.

901-4287 

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[laird henkel]

Thanks all for the input. Just in case you're curious:

-Teak from Jackal will be over $700. That's not happening!

-I stopped by Ocean Plastic Products on 17th and they have a piece of 1/2" white Starboard the right size for both coamings for $255 (and additional cost for custom cutting)

-A sheet of 3/8" marine plywood from Jackal is less than $140.  

I think I might just try marine plywood (meranti) and varnish it. Even if it only lasts 10 years, the price is right and it should be easy to work with. Any additional thoughts?

Jim: I noticed on Old Enough To Know Better, the Starboard coamings are cut down flush aft of the winch pedestals. Do you find this helps with comfort (coaming digging into the lower back)?

Thanks.

Laird

[Beau Vrolyk]

Laird — 

I don’t normally speak up, but once you all got into a discussion of wood…. Well, that I know somethings about.

I’d strongly suggest you take a look at Sapele. It is far less expensive than teak, harder and much stronger. It is also quite rot resistant and looks great varnished. Because it’s very hard, you can get a great glossy finish on it and only a hard-core wood worker will be able to tell it isn’t Honduras mahogany.

Some price information:

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/s22santacruz/CACU-PQNJr-HKz3e1vWbdrOR4j9vNfmpXsASLn8iu87QH%2B0FHkQ%40mail.gmail.com.

[kurt hoffmann]

Hi Laird, this is Kurt Hoffmann, I owned S22, Hot Tip for over 40 years, until 2020 when I sold her.  I like Beau’s idea. Varnish looks great but high maintenance in my opinion. I varnished my teak several years ago, looked beautiful for awhile, ultimately sanded it all off and went back to cleaning it once a year with the two part cleaner from West Marine and treating it with a treatment, I think it was polyurethane based,  unfortunately I can’t remember what I used. Lol. Good luck, great boats ⛵️

Sent from my iPhone

On Oct 15, 2025, at 4:58 PM, Beau Vrolyk <beauv...@gmail.com> wrote:

Laird — 

I don’t normally speak up, but once you all got into a discussion of wood…. Well, that I know somethings about.

I’d strongly suggest you take a look at Sapele. It is far less expensive than teak, harder and much stronger. It is also quite rot resistant and looks great varnished. Because it’s very hard, you can get a great glossy finish on it and only a hard-core wood worker will be able to tell it isn’t Honduras mahogany.

Some price information:

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/s22santacruz/358941DA-6A17-48E7-975B-2C50B77EEF02%40gmail.com.

[laird henkel]

Thanks all! Beau--that looks like a good idea, and not much more expensive than marine plywood. I'll probably go with Sapele (if I can find a source that's not sold out of 1" x 12" x 8' planks).

[laird henkel]

Thanks for the tip Matthew! That sounds good if it's not crazy expensive (I trust your experience).

FYI, it looks like Chris Hoffmann will be joining me in the coaming adventure for his boat as well.

Laird

On Thu, Oct 16, 2025 at 4:46 PM Matthew Coale <matthew...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi Laird

On the Committee boat we use a two part clear finish called Bristle. You can still get it through Llewwllyn in Alameda, the folks that took over Svendsen's Marine. It seems to last well and you can put one about three coats a day with out sanding. Let me know if you might be interested 

Matthew 

[jas...@gmail.com]

Lowering the height of the side boards just lowered the pain point.

[Beau Vrolyk]

All — 

I have no horse in this race, but have folks considered getting rid of the teak bit all together? Having sailed a Moore-24 for decades, the idea of a wooden bit to keep water out of the cockpit seems odd. Maybe just get rid of the wood bit aft of the winch island?

Ok, going back to other projects now.

Cheers — 

Beau

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[tman...@comcast.net]

Hi Laird — 

For what it’s worth, when I replaced the teak coaming with starboard on Shanman, I lowered the top edge of the coaming where it aligns with the winch island so that the top of the board and the top of the island are at the same level.  And since I no longer used those winches, I removed them and glassed over the top so if you’re hiking out, you’ve got a flat surface rather than the edge of the coaming to sit on.  

Tom

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[laird henkel]

Loving all the input! (including no coaming).

Matthew, I'm guessing you're talking about this product? https://defender.com/en_us/mas-epoxies-bristol-finish-uv-clear-urethane-bf-qc?srsltid=AfmBOopKECbjpeZErx0eZOXw5CLLtOZLSyfnGl7KMEyhKn_rGJ5J1p5r

Hank, I'm not sure what product you're talking about, but indeed some kind of Trex-like product could be very cost effective. 

Those of us racing in One Design tomorrow can continue the conversation in person! (possibly on the water, waiting for wind).

Laird