Cap rail repair

[Risto and Liz]

Hi all,
We are currently in Puerto Vallarta, MX and have some time to replace a section of the port cap rail. At some point in the past a travel lift crunched the outer of the two pieces.
Are the original (1981) caprails made of teak? I need to get the pieces off and cut into one and I will be able to tell, but thought I'd ask the group.
Secondly, the rails are finished with Cetol. Not my favorite but I think I'll stick with it rather than taking everything down to bare wood.
I am trying to decide the best material to fill the 1/16" space between the two strips. It seems the original was silicone. Yuck! My thought is to sand off the residual silicone, then use Thixo Flex epoxy adhesive to bed the new section as well as filling the gap. As far as I know, Cetol will bond to epoxy if it is thoroughly cured.
I appreciate any thoughts and advice.
Happy New Year!
Risto

[S/V AMITY]

Any pictures of the damaged cap rail?  My understanding is that the factory rails were teak.

[Dale Tanski]

Risto,
The factory cap rail consisted of two boards of teak on the top with about a 1/4" gap between.  The gap was filled with a black poly sulfide material. Poly sulfide is what is typically used between the boards on a teak deck, and can be sanded once cured.  Its a great product and remains pliable for years and years.  I would recommend sticking with that.  Boatlife makes a good poly sulfide caulk.

There is a third board that overlaps the hull edge, This side rail did not have a gap.  If your gap filler is truly silicone, sanding it will be the kiss of death as microscopic particles will embed themselves into the wood grain and any top coat will not adhere well at all for any length of time.  I would cut/rip/gouge it our and sand around it.  Silicone will typically pull out in one strip where poly sulfide will not.

The second issue you have is the existing Cetol.  I am not a fan of Cetol at all even though we sell it.  My dislike of it is two fold.  One it makes the wood look like plastic and imparts an unnatural orange color to the wood.  It is semi opaque so the more you put on the less grain shows and the more it looks like plastic.  The second dislike comes when you try to remove it.  Tough stuff to get off.  Varnish is a snap with a heat gun but not so much with Cetol.  Some of the citrus based strippers will take it off but it takes many applications.

Almost anything will stick to epoxy once you remove the amine blush.  Amine blush is a by product of the curing cycle and is a waxy skin.  West systems epoxy blush will remove with soap and water, other brand need acetone.   Exposed epoxy will turn a dark orange opaque color if it directly exposed to the sun for a long period of time.  Varnish overcoats will eliminate that problem.

Hope that helps.  If not ask more questions.  Seeing as we are averaging 10 degrees F up here in Buffalo for the past several weeks, I could be coaxed into a personal visit and evaluation for the price of an airplane ticket!

Dale

[Risto and Liz]

Thanks Dale. I think the filler is polysulfide. The pieces are bedded in silicone so i will need to be thorough in prepping the surface before re-bedding. Think I will just use black boatlife. I have always had good results with it. My big challenge is actually finding a 10' piece of teak in Banderas Bay!