As per wiki

"Teak is used to make outdoor furniture, boats, and other things which require resistance to the elements. Teak is used for outdoor furniture because of its natural durability in extreme weather conditions and because of its relative rarity. Being more expensive than most other woods, teak furniture has become something of a status symbol. Not only is it common for a teak bench, chair, or table to last 70 years standing out in the elements, it is also common to pass down such furniture to future generations as an heirloom."

Its pretty much what SirJman says,

Teak doesnt rot like other timbers do in a damp environment.

Anything else will require a LOT more maintenance.

stephen

Poor man's teak, meranti. It is a light weight rain forest timber. The grain is tight,it has good colours and if painted with Sikkens Oil regularly will probably last quite well in an upper deck situation. Timber trim on the uppers looks great but requires a lot of upkeep to keep it looking great.

You say you want to "line" your cockpit with teak. What exactly do you mean?? Lines of teak or fully "lined"??

Most people I know who sail a lot have given up on timber trim and just paint it. If you want the contrast, from a distance mission brown looks quite good. First impressions are the ones that last.

Hi Everyone

I appreciate the feed back and the good information. My hull and type sides are steel and want to add a bit of timber to the cock pit seats and seat backs for the look and feel as thats where i spend most of my time. I've just removed the previous timber wich were laid in a fore to arft fashion like with spaces in between. They were hard to paint, sand, slippery and a pain when you dropped something as it would go between the timbers. It was good for drainage though.

There are already horizontal (port to starboard ) timber beams which the previous timbers were screwed to. I want to just scew the new timbers to these members. Given that Teak is 65 bucks a linear meter ill be looking at an alternative.

Just have to work out a cheap one that is nice under foot and grippy. Or sail to Burma and cut down a tree. Thanks

Two suggestions for you to try ceej

White Beech (Gmelina) - Papua New Guinea, Coastal Rainforest North East Australia.
Classified as a hardwood with a similar density to teak - its naturally oily composition, stability and easy to work characteristics - have for generations made it an obvious choice. Although more blonde than the honey gold of teak, with prolonged exposure both timbers assume a distinguished silver-grey colouration.

Rosewood (Pterocarpus indicus) - Papua New Guinea
A medium-sized hardwood of scattered occurrence in south-east Asia and the Philippines. Heartwood can be either a golden brown or a dark blood-red. Similar density to teak, texture medium and grain variable and often highly figured. Durability classification 1 - excellent for all external applications.

New Guinea Rosewood is gorgeous if you don't let it weather, as both of these are relatively local timbers you shouldn't have to many problems sourcing them from a specialist timber supply company.

For the benefit of other members of the forum that need access to knowledge and suitability of various timbers may I suggest joining the Australian woodwork forums at www.woodworkforums.com/ there is a wooden boat forum and people are helpful and knowledgeable.

Woodwork, the art of turning expensive timber into sawdust. ......... Harry