Princess bathing platform has sticky black infill

[Greg2]

We chartered a yacht in Greece several years ago and had the same issue with the teak in the cockpit. Universal view amongst those we met was that it was caused by UV from the sun. One liveaboard had a yacht with teak over the entire deck and he said that he would never have teak in the Med again for that reason.

Not sure how this stacks up against all those boats with teak in the Med without the same problem though......

 

[Jiminmahon]

Just waiting to hear back from them now. Our local Princess dealer here is asking the question of the factory.

 

[Jiminmahon]

Thanks, I will certainly give that a try while waiting to hear back from Princess. I've now checked more thoroughly and it's only on the area of bathing platform exposed to the sun, i.e. not covered by the tender. So can get guests to avoid the sticky patch...

 

[MikeA]

I've just got back from a trip to our boat and have the same problem. I cleaned the teak with a 2 part cleaner a month ago, the caulk is not in the best condition having shrunk a little in places, I wondered if the part one hadn't been rinsed properly where it had got underneath the caulk. Also weeks of 34-36 deg C may not be helping, certainly the two areas affected are more exposed to the sun than the cockpit, where everything seems fine.

 

[camelkingsize]

It's got nothing to do with Princess. A certain batch of Sikaflex melts and colours when in touch with seawater under Med sun. It was replaced under warranty. Talk to your dealer. I did the same.

 

[jrudge]

I have the same on an s65. Warranty. I gather it is not a faulty batch but a n environmentally friendly version that now they find out under med sun melts. Sure they felt good using it but not so great when the bill to remove it runs to probably 1000 times the product cost.

 

[jfm]

Yup as a few people have said there are various batches of both sika and Saba caulk that have a bad formula/poor quality control and melt in the sun. I had it on my previous sq 78 and know several owners of 2010-2013 boats with this problem. You have to have it cut out and replaced. The caulk you should always specify is tds440. I specced it on my current boat. It is just the best and never shows this problem.