Swim Platform Questions - 1979 Post 42

Hi All,

After about year of searching I found a used teak platform in great shape for a great price. It came off an old 42 Chris Craft trawler.

Buying used, I was most worried about matching the transom curve, but luckily after few rounds of measuring and a fabricated cardboard template the platform matches up.

In the picture below you can see I had to slice off about 3.5 inches on each end to get the platform to sit inside the the transom of the boat by about 1.5 inches on either side. The post 42 beam at the transom is 140.5 inches. The platform was 144.

The Questions -

The width of the Platform is about 35 inches. The seller told me it was 30, which I though I would easily be able to get away with. however the 35 is making me a little worried.

Generally is this too wide? if so what is typical for a Sportfish platform? (i don't plan on fishing much) 24-28 inches?

Has anyone reduced the width of a platform like this? My thought is to pull the screws from the end, gently break apart the glue and pull out some spacers etc and recap the end with the original end.

Here is the finished Product mounted, clean and sealed with Semco Natural.

Just need to add the under-mount ladder.

A little Teak Restoration over the weekend to match the platform.

Used the multi tool with the scrapper attachment to peal up the proud caulk. Then Belt, orbital, palm and mini sanded it all down to 120.

Teak Sealed with Semco Natural to match the platform.

before and after shots.

Lucky for me I only had to re-caulk some of the seems on the deck hatches. replaced and re-screwed a few places on the covering boards. They are in rough shape and don't have much left to sand. hope I can squeeze a few more years out of them.

Also I re-caulked the seams on the covering boards last summer when I pulled off the cockpit cover and rail system the former owner had. I posted that about that system last summer. I had to "bung" those holes on the covering boards and sand down the proud teak in about 8 places.

Are "step" boards on the side which the former owner also added along with that cockpit shade system. I decided to keep them since its a built in skid plate for high traffic area. i didn't sand those down, just two part scrubbed them until they cleaned up to match the rest.


How has your SEMCO held up? I read a a lot about it and actually ran into this amazing 65 American Sport Fisher in Orange Beach Alabama. The Crew recommended it as well. But this is my first try and i would lover to hear first hand how it lasts and how often you need to re-apply?

The timing of your question is good. I was over at block this weekend... which gave me a good chance to take some current pictures. This summer was sort of an experiment for me on how to work with the Semco and Personally I like the natural look and went with Semco because I heard it lasts and is easy to maintain.

I did not stay on top of the finish like I should have as I was trying to see how long the finish would last. I only applied two coats this spring, but because the wood was so beat up and then fresh once I stripped it down, I probably should have added a 3rd or 4th coat to build up the sealer a little more. The wood still does bead up when it gets wet, so I know there is some sealer left. I think I will end up cleaning the teak with Barkeepers Friend... as it has some acid in it, but not as harsh as two part. hopefully that brings back the fresh teak look and then ill do a couple more coats of the sealer.

I did not get any black spots, just the discoloring you can see in the pictures below. The Platform was sort of a lost cause... that went pretty quickly as it basically gets buried in the water every time I take the boat out.

I am including some before and after photos to give you an idea of where it started to where it has gone since about the end of April / Beginning of May until now.