Replacing teak ply washboard

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eddystone

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Bottom washboard has a severe case of rot under the varnish and beyond repair. The cost of suitable marine ply for Robbins with teak on both faces seems uneconomic, especially when I need to pay for it to be machined to shape for me to finish off and varnish. And of course if the other washboards went the same way even more so. It seems to me replacing all with smoked acrylic would be better option. Not only rot proof but also lets some light in when closed; and they can machine a step join in which strikes me as more rainproof than the usual sloping edge (I'm sure there is a proper word for that but if I knew it I'd probably have woodworking equipment!)
Anyone gone from wood to acrylic and regretted it?
Anyone gone for bronze rather than grey tint - pleased or not?
 
Our washboards are acrylic and i hate them!

Sure, the extra light is great when you want it but not so clever at four in the morning when you don't

And although "smoked" you can see straight into the cabin from outside when it's dark out and the interior lights are on

So we invariably end up with a towel over them for privacy and/or to block out the light

They'll get replaced with proper timber washboards when i get that far down the to-do list
 
Well I went from wood to smoked Perspex and would never go back to wood. Looks better, feels much roomier and brighter on a dull day. If I don’t want anyone looking in I just drape a towel over it. No maintenance either.
 
If you do replace with wood then make sure you keep the old ones - they can be patched up and painted in any waterproof paint you have to hand and used in the winter. That way you can take the new ones home for a coat of varnish each year. It being so much easier to varnish in the garage rather than outside.
 
Benny257 said:
Well I went from wood to smoked Perspex and would never go back to wood. Looks better, feels much roomier and brighter on a dull day. If I don’t want anyone looking in I just drape a towel over it. No maintenance either.
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The other half had some new Perspex washboards made up by some crowd in Plymouth to replace the old rotten timber ones on her boat and is very happy with them.

My last two boats came with Perspex washboards and I wouldn't be in a rush to go back to timber ones. Don't recall any issues with privacy but I usually berth bow in.
 
Boat came with Perspex washboards in a grey tint, replaced once after someone put the top one in back to front and closed the hatch, thus breaking the top one....
They’re great at letting a bit more light down below but they don’t get much used during summers on board in Greece. When moored stern to, we have a light privacy curtain which is rigged between two turn buckles.
I’m considering making Perspex ones for the Hurley 18 to improve the lighting.
 
I had similarly rotten ply boards and I replaced them with bronze acrylic from Hadlow Marine and I was delighted with them- the original boards were 10mm but I was recommended to have 8mm as anything larger would have been very heavy but to make them a snug fit, the company fastened vertical edge packing strips of the same material and that prevented any rattling.
I went for bronze as I felt that grey would make a dismal day even more so- I’m glad I did so.
I understand Bru’s comment and in anticipation of that sort of problem (nobody wants to be on display when the internal lights are on, or sunshine is streaming in- nor does one want to be awakened at silly o’clock by a too early dawn), so I bought some lightweight blue canvas material and some lengths of small-diameter dowel and from that gear I made a folding envelope, stitched across the middle so as to keep both washboards separate to avoid scratching thus creating two pouches , one for each board and stitched sleeves across the top width of each side of each pouch to slip the 4 dowels through.
These acted as handles, with a length of line for each, so that they would fold together for carrying/stowing the boards when not in use.
When empty, the pouch/envelope would unfold and double as a privacy curtain with one dowel rod, top and bottom slipped through a s/s lacing eye either side of the companionway, again top and bottom, to hold it in place. So no prying eyes and no unwanted daylight whilst asleep, and of course on hot nights, simply leave the washboards stowed below and a breeze will ventilate the cabin
It worked a treat and was easier to make than describe here.
 
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I also switched to acrylic, which I like in all respects except that it doesn't feel as strong as timber, perhaps more susceptible to a break-in. But I don't know.

It wasn't cheap, £140 if I recall. If I hadn't felt lazy, replacement plywood washboards would have been a DIY job.
 
I'm wondering if those who eschew teak-faced ply for washboards in favour of even more one-use plastic have even considered real teak.
Interestingly, for a very 'short season' it is actually rather cheaper than 'tfp' and lots more so ( less more so? ) than polished grey acrylic. It's at those nice helpful Robbins Timber people.....

Of course if you are one of those poseurs who wouldn't know which end of a tenon saw to hold, that knowledge will not be of much benefit. Am I at all désolé about that? Am I bugri!
 
Bru said:
Our washboards are acrylic and i hate them!

Sure, the extra light is great when you want it but not so clever at four in the morning when you don't

And although "smoked" you can see straight into the cabin from outside when it's dark out and the interior lights are on

So we invariably end up with a towel over them for privacy and/or to block out the light

They'll get replaced with proper timber washboards when i get that far down the to-do list
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Being on a swinging mooring that's not really a problem
 
I've gone from wood to acrylic and would never go back.

More light in the saloon, we can look out at the rain, we don't sleep in the saloon and if anybody could see in they would need to be very close and may as well join us for a pot of tea.
 
zoidberg said:
I'm wondering if those who eschew teak-faced ply for washboards in favour of even more one-use plastic have even considered real teak.
Click to expand...

Our Sadler 32 still has the original set of three solid teak washboards.

Every now and again I have to rub down the varnish to bare wood and redo it, and they look great again. To cut this down I have a cheap bit of osb to pop in the hole over winter.

I was thinking of getting an acrylic board or two, just for cold rainy days spent below. But acrylic seems much heavier than wood the same thickness. A thinner piece would presumably need edging.
 
Recently replaced our very manky wooden washboards with acrylic - much prefer the acrylic. As the acrylic can be a lot thinner for the same strength, our washboards have been made from thick acrylic then machined down to approx. half the thickness except at the vertical edges, so the boards still fit in the original runners.
 
James_Calvert said:
Our Sadler 32 still has the original set of three solid teak washboards.

Every now and again I have to rub down the varnish to bare wood and redo it, and they look great again. To cut this down I have a cheap bit of osb to pop in the hole over winter.

I was thinking of getting an acrylic board or two, just for cold rainy days spent below. But acrylic seems much heavier than wood the same thickness. A thinner piece would presumably need edging.
Click to expand...
Well this Sadler 42 has ply washboards; the more I think about it the more I like the idea of getting a bit more light into the cabin when the boards have to be in to keep the weather out.
 
Can anyone recommend a good supplier of acrylic washboards?

How thick do they need to be? Our ply washboards are made of two 6mm sheets stuck back to back but the channel in the cabin is only a single 6mm thickness so the boards will require some machining that is beyond my skill.
 
James_Calvert said:
Our Sadler 32 still has the original set of three solid teak washboards.

Every now and again I have to rub down the varnish to bare wood and redo it, and they look great again. To cut this down I have a cheap bit of osb to pop in the hole over winter.

I was thinking of getting an acrylic board or two, just for cold rainy days spent below. But acrylic seems much heavier than wood the same thickness. A thinner piece would presumably need edging.
Click to expand...

Our Sadler 34 came with the same 3-piece washboards. Due to their chamfered edge design it was ridiculously easy to break into the boat, which someone did the night after I fitted £1000 worth of gps. I replaced them with a single plywood door with mahogany edge strips and a decent lock. The board fits into the cockpit locker for stowage and has been ideal for us for more than 20 years.
 
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