Black Seams

[tkhersom]

Hi Guys!

I am starting to do some touch up on my aft decks. Some of the black seams are quite cracked and in poor condition.

The Aft Deck of American Beauty

What is this material in the seams and what do you recommend using today? I was thinking of using some black boatlife, but am not sure that is the proper application. If I were doing the white lines on the deck of a runabout I would recommend using Mahogany boatlife and paint the white lines, but I don't suspect that is the best way to do this.

Let me know your thoughts.

Troy in ANE

[whamm511]

I'm very interested in this as well. I haven't redone my decks yet and will need this info. I wouldn't say mine are black. They're dark but I think they were maybe a dark gray initially. I'm going to be using Teak Oil to do my decks. I hadn't really thought about the 'joints' yet.

[tkhersom]

When I purchased AB her fore decks had been sanded bare. I have heard that varnished teak decks can be very slippery, so I used teak oil up there.

My aft decks are still varnished and I am hoping not to completely strip them just sand, spot stain, and coat with new varnish. I would say my seams are definitely black.

[RRGadow]

I completely reef the seams out...then use Yacht Chandlers Teal deck caulking in black. Does well with any species of wood, and isn't as brutal as 5200...still stays flexible. The problem ive ran into with using boatlife sometimes is it doesn't cure enough for deck seams that are oiled.