Don't Tread On Me.....Part 1

A few years ago when my heart went flippity flop over ZOSHA, right from the beginning of our relationship, I knew that there were ISSUES that had to be addressed.....but, being in love, they were overlooked at the time. Now the time has come to attempt to fix the flaws in her beautiful countenance.
When new, ZOSHA was given a magnificent teak deck. It must have been beautiful. Back in those days, the 1970's, boat builders like Westsail used real teak lumber not the 5/16" veneer crap they put on these new boats. The teak on the ZOSHA's decks is ............thick!  Somewhere along the line since 1978 those beautiful decks were terribly abused and/or neglected. They were scrubbed hard parallel to the grain! And you know what happens when one does this.....you scrub out the soft grain of the teak and gouge out long, deep grooves that get deeper and deeper over time....they collect water and dirt and mold and mildew and the bungs start popping and the more it gets scrubbed, the worse it gets. Its like scratching impetigo when you were a kid.....when ZOSHA came to my care, the decks were trashed....they were unsalvageable....half the bungs were popped and there no wood left to redo the bung job....the caulk between the seams was sticking up 1/8" above the wood itself and was breaking off and littering the decks with little black caulk pieces.....water was getting under the teak and bubbling up when you walked on a wet deck....making that squishy sound that you hear when walking on something really saturated with liquid. I knew all this and bought her anyways!!!
My intent, here, in the next few blogs is to document the metamorphosis of ZOSHAS decks.

Here she is waiting patiently in her slip for me to fix her............

Here is a shot of the teak decking on the port side cockpit......not pretty is it?........what a shame!!!

This view is of the starboard side cockpit.........makes you wanna cry doesn't it?........

This is a view of the foredeck.....its real squishy here........!!!

Well....these pics  will give you an idea of what the decks looked like when the project begins.....next time I'll get into the removal process.......until then....be safe....hug your kids and grandkids....call your loved ones that you haven't talked to in a while....and pop a Corona for me if you are so inclined....

Seeya...........