Replacing swim platform

[Peacock]

We are looking to replace the wood swim platform on our 44 MotorYacht. We plan on a 12foot x42 inch platform. Has anyone any experience with PlasTEAK for swim platforms?

[comodave]

I have a Plasteak bow pulpit. They were very easy to work with. I assume they would do as well on a swim platform. I sent them the diagram for my windlass and spotlight and they prewired it. The plastic "teak" looks OK next to the real teak toe rail. Obviously not a perfect match, but not bad. I thought about making my own bow pulpit out of starboard, but by the time I bought the starboard and paid the shipping to Tucson, at the time, it was not much more to buy it from Plasteak.

[K4282]

I'm happy with my swim platform, I only went 30in, kind of wish I did 36

[captainmaniac]

Can't directly help you - I am a 'real' Teak guy...

I assume you know about the other synthetic 'teak-like' products (that are more like a veneer, like nuteak, flexiteak, ameriteak, and unique-teak), but have decided to go with plasteak?

42" sounds pretty big... make sure you install it high enough to clear the wash coming off your rudders/tabs, or the force of the water underneath it could cause you some problems for the platform or your transom. Water pushing against 48 square feet of platform will be a lot of force.

[lawyerdave71]

I vote Plasteak!!

[larryeddington]

I vote real teak and I have two of them, one redone by beacon and the other needing refinished.

[Lean Wolf]

Larry,
Are going to replace the swim ladder too?

[larryeddington]

Mine has a good swim ladder which I will reuse, teak rungs.

Once I get the current SP off and see if the redone will work wont need the one I take off, they painted it using sand in the paint so would need stripping and new teak oil. It is not damaged.

[Peacock]

I will be replacing the teak ladder. During the survey last year, the ladder broke at the hinge. We have decided that curved stairs would be easiest to use instead of a ladder. Stairs with a handrail make for safer transit from aft deck to swim platform.

[Peacock]

We also will have an under platform swim ladder.

[aaronbocknek]

We also will have an under platform swim ladder.

i just refinished mine in july using 80 grit paper and an orbital sander. i'm letting it age gracefully as opposed to coating it with stuff. i have one request though. one of my ladder stops under the platform broke off last year during a freeze. i guess water got trapped in a crevice. i would love to have those ladder stops when you re-do the ladder. let me know if that is possible.
thanks
aaron

[Peacock]

Aaron, I'll keep that in mind when the time comes. At this point, I'm not sure what you mean by ladder stops. I'll look closely when we are at the boat and see if I can figure out what they are. At this point, I'm still getting ideas how to proceed…PlasTeak vs fiberglas fabrication vs buying a larger, wider used one and having a f-glas place cut it down (from 16 ft to 12 ft wide). A couple of yards here have suggested that cutting down a larger one would be cheapest if an otherwise acceptable used one can be found.

[K4282]

yea if you can find a large one in good shape and cut it down you will save allot of coin, you can easily make the brackets, plasteak brackets are kind of a rip off but my platform is great, i pressure washed a couple times, no maintenence, id rather spend my time enjoying the boat than constantly applying teak oil, cetol last awhile but still allot of work when you need to redo it, I think my all white one looks modern and clean I bought plasteak's below ladder too made by windline, $250 ouch!

[aaronbocknek]

Aaron, I'll keep that in mind when the time comes. At this point, I'm not sure what you mean by ladder stops. I'll look closely when we are at the boat and see if I can figure out what they are. At this point, I'm still getting ideas how to proceed…PlasTeak vs fiberglas fabrication vs buying a larger, wider used one and having a f-glas place cut it down (from 16 ft to 12 ft wide). A couple of yards here have suggested that cutting down a larger one would be cheapest if an otherwise acceptable used one can be found.

i'm including a few pics of the BEFORE and AFTER. like i said, the refinish was accomplished in about 3 days. getting the old 'non marine' varnish off was the tough part, but, once that was done, just a few days and a few hours, and, a few HOEGAARDEN WHITE ALES, and an orbital sander with 80 grit. between sandings, ran over the platform with a shop vac. the finish was very simple. a guy at trawler fest gave me a few tips. never go more than 80 grit on a platform. 100 or 120 is furniture grade, and when wet, is as slippery as dog snot. his words. if you don't want to encase it in crap, again, his words, after you get the dust off, go over it with a rag saturated in acetone. yep. acetone. he said that 3 or 4 swipes would suffice. what this does is penetrate into the wood, and, as it evaporates, it pulls the oil from deep in the wood to the surface as a protective layer. it also brings the grain up. i did this in july, and it still looks pretty good. now, the 'ladder stops' are the two small fins that are under the platform and under the ladder. you can see the one that broke off on the right of the picture. sorry if i sound incoherent. i've been flying all day (14hr duty day) and i'm wicked exhausted. early out tomorrow, one leg home, thank heaven.