We recently restored our hatches which was a small project that made a huge difference. Below is the list of things you will need as well as the process if you decide to do this project yourself!

Things you will need:

• Heat Gun
• Scraper
• Putty knife
• Vacuum
• 150 and 220 grit sandpaper
• Mineral Spirits
• Teak Deck Systems (TDS)
• Semco Teak Stain (clear tone)
• Sponges

The process:

We started this project by taking off the remaining varnish using a heat gun and a scraper, being very careful not to burn the teak. This is a messy process so we used a vacuum to suck up all of the debris to prevent them from making their way into the ocean. Once the hatches were varnish free, Chris sanded them down using 150 grit sandpaper followed by the 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the teak and smooth out the TDS seams. I then used mineral spirits to make sure we were working with a completely clean surface. After letting that dry, we sealed all of the seams with TDS so they won’t leak (Cheoy Lee’s are notoriously known as “Cheoy Leaky’s). Once the TDS was dry we got to work using Semco Teak Stain. We chose to stain our hatches rather than varnishing them simply because of the difference in upkeep. As soon as the stain was dry Chris reattached the hatches with the hinges that he buffed back down to bronze- which, yes, we know will turn green eventually. Once we put everything away and washed up, we enjoyed the sunset on deck admiring our days work. Thank you for reading!

Cheers,
– The crew of SV Avocet