Exterior Mahogany on Pearson Electra

[Bob Lascelles]

Hi,
I'm the proud new owner of a 1963 Pearson Electra Hull, # 254 (Englishmuffin2). I'm hoping to get her in the water for this season, so I've been building a list of things that need to be completed for this season or can be put off until the future. This is my first time writing to the forum, so please excuse me if these questions have been previously asked/answered.

The varnish on the exterior trim had been left go many years ago, the wood is heavily weathered and what's left of the finish is hanging in bits and pieces. Along with caulking as many leaks as I can find, all the trim needs to be redone to protect the good stuff. After stripping and cleaning I'm planning on using Sikkens Cetol Marine Teak. I've used it before on my previous boats and liked the results on teak. However, it looks to me like the exterior trim cockpit combings, drop boards, companionway frames, forward hatch cover on my Electra may not be teak (the grain doesn't look right to me and there is a lot of splitting). Could they be mahogany? I think I remember many years ago an owner of a Pearson Ensign told me his trim was mahogany.

So my first question is was mahogany trim used on older Pearsons? If my trim is mahogany, is there anything special I should be doing to protect it other than the Cetol, or shudder....should I consider changing it all to teak? Larger sections like the winch pads are seriously cracked so I was thinking of remaking them as I'm refinishing the combings, I'm also going to build a new forward hatch cover (the wood frame is cracked and the acrylic is cracked and opaque). I have some nice mahogany that would work well, but I'd feel pretty dumb if it turns out that I've mis-identified the wood and Pearson never used mahogany on the exteriors of Electras.

Thank you in advance for any suggestions.

Best Regards,

[Tim]

Pearson used both teak and mahogany for exterior trim, sometimes mixed on the same boat.

The Ensign I used to have had all mahogany trim. So if you think your Electra has mahogany, you are probably correct. As you noted, mahogany and teak react quite differently to weathering and age, and the grains are quite distinctly different between the two woods.

Mahogany is a fine wood for exterior brightwork, but it does require more vigilant finishing and maintenance than teak, which can be successfully left bare. Because finishes look different on mahogany vs. teak, be sure you like the look of your chosen finish on the mahogany before you go whole-hog into its application.

[Rachel]

Welcome to the forum, Bob, and congrats on your new Electra!

I hope we get to see her soon....*

:)

Rachel

*Hint: photos!

[Bob Lascelles]

Dear Tim and Rachael,

Thanks for the quick reply, welcome and helpful advice. The trim on my boat looked like mahogany, but it's so weathered I wasn't sure. I think I'll continue with making the replacement parts out the mahogany boards that I have already. I bought them last year for some cabinet work and then went in another direction. With the price of teak using mahogany will really help the budget. I tried the Cetol Marine Teak on the new mahogany and I like the color. I'm going to finish cleaning up the drop boards and give it a try on the corner of one of them after I get the gray and black off to see how it looks.

I don't have any pictures yet, she's still in shrink wrap, but I'll take some "before pictures" as soon as I get her uncovered .

Thanks again.

Bob

[Rachel]

Sounds good!

Although, the crew here would probably even enjoy seeing a shrink-wrapped blob with a bit of keel ;)

Rachel

[Bob Lascelles]

It's taken longer than I thought, but we launched "Englishmuffin 2" last month. Thank you all for your advice and encouragement. Last winter I stripped all the wood-work off and refinished with Cetol (a compromise versus varnish). But the mahogany looks so much better and after I re-bedded the woodwork and quite a few deck fittings, the cabin is much dryer. I've really become a believer in the Electra she sails much better than I ever hoped. Here are a few pictures. Have a good Fall sailing season.

[Rachel]

Sweet! Congratulations!

And thanks for posting an update - it's great to know that you've launched her :)

I, for one, would love to hear any tidbits about the project (when you're not sailing, that is).

Rachel