CONTINUOUSWAVE

I have recently acquired a 1981 Montauk 17 in excellent, but the wood needs refinishing.

Q1: what species wood was used in 1981 on a MONTAUK 17?

The wood looks like teak to me.

Q2: should I finish the wood with oil or varnish?

The wood is in good condition but is bleached out.

ASIDE: I also have a 1965 SPORT 13 which has Mahogany wood seats and console.

If your boat is original, the wood is teak. The factory applied Teak oil.

As for Teak Oil recommendations, Daly's SeaFin Teak Oil and Watco teak oil are often mentioned by veteran owners doing restorations.

Oiled teak looks great. You can use an oil finish until you get tired of redoing it and go to a varnish or other gloss finish.

A note of caution: if you are going to use teak oil, be sure that your boat has teak, not mahogany, as teak oil will not produce a good result on mahogany. My 1985 17-foot Newport has mahogany which is original to the boat. Of course, Boston Whaler might have made a change in the wood being used between 1981 and 1985, but it might also have both woods interchangeably from one boat to another.

Thanks for the timely information. I have good history on the boat, and so I believe it to be completely original. The wood does appear to be teak, and all of the wood trim items look the same. I will experiment with the small footrest on the swim ladder first, to see how it turns out. I appreciate the inputs and will likely have a few more questions as I proceed through the restoration.