Commander #155 'Mephisto Cat'

[Rico]

Unlike the coambings, the Mephisto Cat's companionway teak was not in great shape... It did not look horribly bad for 40 year-old wood, but it had remained unprotected for quite a few years and was showing some threatening cracks.
The side companionway board rails, the hatch rails, and the piece at the bottom (that typically serves as a step) also showed significant wear. If one piece had to come off - It all had to come off...

Replacing the wood felt as the most daunting process even though there is not that much of it... I'm comfortable working with wood and would have liked to do the fine work myself, but I did not have access to the right woodworking tools, and I also thought that the teak would cost a bundle. Fortunately, I found a shop that had some nice leftover scrap pieces and I bought enough to complete a new companionway and traveler base. (just BARELY enough as it turned out!)

I asked a carpenter who had done some nice work for my parents to replicate each of the pieces -generously- as I planned to do the fine fitting as I installed the new wood in place... This is not the most efficient way of creating a new companionway (or anything) and the resulting fit was not factory perfect, but it turned out MUCH better that I thought it would. This method also made the installation take much longer than it should have...




Picture 1
Dry-run install & fine fitting of the teak companionway pieces before applying any varnish.

-I made sure to remove the beer bottles from view, but forgot about the bottle caps!-

You can see that the companioway BOARDS were in VERY nice shape. They are also made of teak, and although weathered a bit they seem unafected by age. Over time, they have developed a great texture. I made sure to NOT sand this away...

A few pieces are missing in this picture. The bottom plate (under the step piece) really adds lots for looks.

Picture 2
All the new pieces getting a little sun after a few coats of varnish -after they've all been trimmed, drilled, and fitted. The boat still on the hard at this point. It all seems so long ago...

It is right about then that I started thinking that tearing into the interior and putting in a nice coat of Gel-coat all over the interior would be a good idea... A project in its own right! Should have started with that!

Picture 3
Almost a full view of the finished product sortly after the initial 'mastless' splash, and the post-splash installation of the mast, coambings, deck hardware, traveler & base, etc. I'll have to take a picture of the full companionway... shiny wood certainly adds a ton of 'looks' to any boat...

This picture is before the first sail - note the missing winch base on the port side, nav lights, scupper plates, etc. There is also no boom yet.

... There are some more companionway pictures in the next post(s).

[Commander 147]

you have one of the best looking commanders out there. My goal is to make Destiny look as good as Mephisto Cat. I remember the first time I saw your companionway after it was redone. I thought to myself back then "I can't wait until mine looks that good"

So your companionway boards were teak huh? Mine look original and were all mahogany just like the combing boards. I wonder if Pearson made a change somewhere along the way but your boat is only 8 hulls away from mine. Now I have to wonder if maybe mine were replaced somewhere along the way??????