Refinishing the wood/ trim

[cris229]

Hi,
I need to do some work/maintenance on a 1973 Cal 2-29 purchased last May before the start of the season.
What type of wood is in the cabin?
—Is it mahogany? That is what is indicated in the manual I found online, but perhaps that is just the table.
—Is some of the trim with teak?
What type of wood is on the outside of the boat/ trim.
---Is it teak?
Do you know what type of finish would have been used on the wood

How do you paint the bottom of the boat?
—What products do you use?
—How exactly did you do it?

Thank you for your help!

[SailingChris]

I think Jensen Marine varied their materials from time to time--I know their hardware varies from boat to boat, at least in the Cal 20 fleet. You can probably find somebody locally who can ID the woods. Mahogany tends to be reddish when clean and wet out with mineral spirits, water, or oil; teak tends to be golden. My 1961 Seafarer has exterior mahogany trim but after that most yachts used teak. Teak could be finished with oils or varnish or left unfinished to weather to silver. Mahogany needs to be varnished.

Bottom paint depends on where you are and how you sail and also on the condition of the boat. Older fiberglass boats often benefit from (some demand) a barrier coat of some kind before you lay on antifouling paint. Local knowledge is often best. As a gross generalization, bottom paints fall into two categories, hard and soft (ablative). You can put soft paints over hard paints but not vice-versa.

I have sanded off accumulated bottom paint. It is no fun. There are chemical methods that are probably superior. The best use a plastic film over the remover to slow evaporation and keep it working. Practical Sailor magazine has covered bottom paints, barrier coats, and chemical removers for years; check their web site for access.

Chris Campbell
Cal 20 # 1220, Martha C

[rcvesselstyn]

Wow! That's a really beautiful boat. Someone has invested a vast amount of time and money. The Cals evolved as they were in production and there are many tip-offs as to what was used by the year it was made. In some years depending on where the boat was produced they can have quite different features. From your photos _if_ this was a California boat I would say you should check the numbers, it looks more like a 75. The lawsuit brought by another boat company against Cal for its bootstripe caused them to change it to the gap tooth bootstripe you have. The thin secondary bootstripe was added for a short time in late 74, 75, and early 76. If the boat wasn't produced in Costa Mesa but was made in the East by Bangor Punta they introduced some of the changes earlier. Later boats had their ID number stamped on the starboard stern transom a few inches below the gunnel. Earlier boats had it written on the inside of the transom on the starboard side. Hull number might show up on the bottom of one of the drawers in the galley or on the panel between the side of the drawers and the icebox.

Exterior wood would have been teak. Your companionway slide has been modified to match The Islander design that they brought out on the Islander Freeport. The glimpses of the interior look like the Eastern boat that was brought out late 74/75, White panel bulkheads with teak trim ( see the ads from late 1974 that I recently posted ). Although the 29 had earlier options for pedestal steering and a diesel I had never heard of the official designation as a 2-29 as it shows in your gel coat until late 74. Pictures of your vanity and what kind of drawer pulls could help nail it down but most likely your interior is Teak. Of course Anything is Possible and the P.O., (previous owner), could have done all kinds of modifications.

As far as the bottom paint; go to Interlux and dive deep into their antifouling descriptions to find one that suits your boat's location and lifestyle ( yearly haul out versus in the water all the time). It doesn't look like you have any bottom blisters so you don't have to worry about a new fiberglass base coat. Here in California I don't use Antifouling paint anymore. You can't get the good stuff, and haul outs every 2 years is not on my list. Like many people locally I just pay a service to keep the bottom clean.

For actually sailing this was one of Bill Lapworth's favorite boats .
Good to have you aboard !

[rcvesselstyn]

If your exterior or interior teak is varnished then continuing to sand and varnish is your easiest choice even if it is a lot of work. Stripping the old varnish is a real challenge. If the teak is oiled then try Semco. It is the best and easiest overall product. Your teak cockpit sole probably was oiled as varnish would be slippery. The decision to oil or varnish is really up to how you want it to look rather than how much time you want to spend working on the boat rather than sailing. Oiling is quick and easy (clean and apply) but is every 6 months exterior, every other year interior. Varnishing (mask, sand, mask, apply) is once a year exterior, once every 4 years interior and it off-gasses more. Much more work if you let it go and it starts to peel! But it sure is shiny, and people like shiny things. One of the reasons boaters have chosen teak in the past is because of less maintenance, as oiling was always considered easier. A alternative as SailingChris stated you could just let the exterior teak weather to silver. I oil my teak but double check with SailingChris as his expertise in boating in the less tropical climate could be invaluable to you.

[Mary Mac]

Adding to the excellent advice:

If the exterior teak is bare and weathered and you want to revive it before oiling or varnishing, use oxalic acid. After putting much effort into making my exterior teak pretty, I finally decided it was worth it to like the silver look. Much easier. I'd rather be sailing or enjoying a cocktail.

The interior wood may be a veneer in some places, so don't sand too much. My boat has veneer over the plywood parts and the drawers, trim, doors etc are solid wood.