PlasTeak

JonnyBoats · Post by **JonnyBoats** » Fri Mar 25, 2005 1:15 am

Has anyone used PlasTeak http://www.plasteak.com ?

This is a teak look alike made from recycled plastic.

While clearly not in character for true "classic plastic" like a Hinkley, I am wondering how it would be on a "neo-classic plastic" for such things a rub rails where low maintainace was important.

Peter · Post by **Peter** » Fri Mar 25, 2005 1:41 am

John:
Check out
http://www.tritonclass.org/mir/PARKERDECK.htm
for a Triton deck replacement in plastic teak. I believe the article is in the Jan/Feb edition of Good Old Boat Magazine. It's a good article ... I'd like to know how the deck is holding up.

Post by **Tim** » Fri Mar 25, 2005 7:42 am

The difference here is that All Ways's deck isn't really "Plasteak", it's Trex, the basic plastic lumber available everywhere. From what I can tell, the Plasteak might look more like the real thing. The Trex was sort of gray-ish in color, sort of like weathered teak.

I actually saw Mark's Trex deck when it was brand new, back quite a few years ago now. He did a really nice job with the layout, seams, etc., but it seemed like for all the work required it would have been better to just use teak.

I've sent for a sample of "PlasTeak" and will report back when I receive it. Maybe it's better than anticipated. I just think of the horrible fake wood stuff that Grady-White insisted on using as teak replacement, which starts to look like a 1970's laundrymat after about 5 years in all cases I have ever seen. I admit to being a skeptic about these sorts of "miracle" products, but I'll be happy to be proven wrong.

Post by **dasein668** » Fri Mar 25, 2005 10:36 pm

I think the Trex stuff is a pretty good product, but I'm not sure that it's really suited for a yacht. Workboat, maybe. But that's just preference. To me, it still looks like plastic wood.

I, too, will be interested to see the PlasTeak (hopefully not to be cofused with plastique!). You are going to leave it around the shop for a day or two, aren't you Tim?

Tony · Post by **Tony** » Fri Mar 25, 2005 10:56 pm

I think this is what Hunter is using for their new boats this year and last. If so, it's pretty convincing based on a walk by and occasional sit in the cockpit. (There's a hunter dealer in our marina).

Post by **Tim** » Mon Apr 04, 2005 5:19 pm

I received my samples of Plasteak. They sent me a sample of an exterior decking product, Plasdeck, a sample of the solid Plasteak wood replacement, and a sample of an interior vinyl teak and holly simulation.

I'm not that impressed with any of them, but the Plasdeck is maybe the most realistic overall. The solid product looks like brown Trex--same texture, etc. If you really wanted a Trex teak-like deck, this would work fine. The interior vinyl product looked extremely fake in person.

I'm not going to rush out and cover my boat with any of this, though.

JonnyBoats · Post by **JonnyBoats** » Mon Apr 04, 2005 5:58 pm

Thanks for the update Tim.

I guess I am a little schizophrenic when it comes to boats, I love both beautiful yachts and functional work boats. By functional work boats I mean boats like an original Friendship Sloop (built to haul lobsters after all), the workboats at Mystic seaport as well as modern workboats like a Coast Guard Motor Life Boat.

The problem with 99% of the ?classic plastic? is that it is neither. With extremely few exceptions, fiberglass sailboats are not built to the standards of a Lyman Morse or a Hodgon yacht. Neither are they as durable and time proven as a Friendship Sloop or a coasting Schooner.

On a true classic yacht, one might have the crew out rubbing down the bright work daily with a chamois while the dew is still fresh. On a ?classic plastic? with no paid crew, the bright work rarely (if ever) gets that kind of regular maintenance.

It is one thing to work all winter and have a boat look great when it is launched, it is quite another to have it look just as good when it is haled in the fall.

For this reason I am always looking for ways to have things like rubrails look reasonably good but be as durable as the ones on a lobster boat.

Oh well, perhaps it is just not possible.

Rachel · Post by **Rachel** » Mon Apr 04, 2005 6:52 pm

Here's a link you might find interesting. Ray Alsup replaced the rub-rail on his West Coast Triton, "Pegasus," with "Nexwood," a wood-like product from a do-it-yourself home center.

As you'll see, the West Coast Tritons have a different hull/deck joint, wherein two outward-turning flanges meet and are mechanially fastened (not sure if they are additionally fiberglassed inside - he may comment on this).

John, that's an interesting observation you make on the "classic" vs. "workboat" boats and where your basic CCA-era fiberglass boat fits in between.

Link to Ray's Pegasus rub-rail project:
http://www.geocities.com/pegasus256/rubrails.html

--- Rachel

bcooke · Post by **bcooke** » Mon Apr 04, 2005 7:07 pm

I'm not going to rush out and cover my boat with any of this, though

Why am I not surprised?!

-Britton

bcooke · Post by **bcooke** » Mon Apr 04, 2005 9:29 pm

I just had a chance to look over Nathan's new rub rails. His website pictures don't do them justice. Now that I have seen them up close there is just no other way to do it. They are beau-ti-ful. I will gladly marry the varnish can for that look.

-Britton

Post by **dasein668** » Mon Apr 04, 2005 10:11 pm

Thanks!

I love my varnished wood. Yes, plasteak would be less maintenance, but... brrr. I shudder.

If I had a workboat, I would treat it as such. Which wouldn't mean plastic wood either.

But, as with so many of these things, that's just my personal preference.

Post by **Tim** » Tue Apr 05, 2005 6:54 am

There are no miracle solutions. Any boat is what you make it.

If you want the look and pride of varnished wood, then only varnished wood will do. Nothing else is a remote substitute. Varnish is a commitment that one must make; a lifestyle choice. It's either worth it to you, or it's not. But there's no shortcut to get the look, unfortunately.

I don't know many people who wouldn't jump all over a product that actually produced the fine look of varnish without the work; I know that I'd love an easier way, but only if the results were identical. But that product eludes us still...nothing has even come remotely close.

Varnish can be a real pain sometimes, for sure. But when the end result looks as good as it does, the pain is worth it. Brightwork makes any boat look better--I don't know anyone who disagrees with this. (Hence the myriad "miracle" products designed to try and replicate the look...unsuccessfully.)

JonnyBoats · Post by **JonnyBoats** » Tue Apr 05, 2005 5:24 pm

If you want the look and pride of varnished wood, then only varnished wood will do.

This is quite true. I look the look of a power boat with a varnished transom. There is no way that ?frozen snot? (fiberglass) can ever look like that. Or how about teak decks, they certainly look good.

That having been said, how many people do you know who are commissioning new boats to be built with wooden hulls and teak decks?

For whatever reasons, most of us are willing to trade off the look of real wood for the benefits of fiberglass when it comes to the hull.

Quite frankly, I believe fiberglass can have a beauty all its own. For example it is possible to mold compound curves that would be nearly impossible in wood.

For me, the question is not ?can product B be made to look exactly like product A." Rather it is when is product A appropriate and when is product B appropriate, since the will most likely have different strengths and weaknesses (not the least of which may be cost).

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