The veneer of my sole

PART of the remodelling of the chart table area on my 45 foot (13.7 metre) schooner Britannia involved making a new section of floorboarding; or to use its proper nautical term: the cabin sole.

The floor beneath was just rough plywood unlike the remainder of the boat, which was beautiful teak with white-wood strips. It was perhaps just as well, because in order to reposition the electrical distribution board I had to cut this floor out completely to re-route the wires underneath.

I naturally wanted any new floor to match the boat’s existing sole. I scoured the web and other sources to find teak flooring with whitewood strips to match the floor pattern, but I was unable to locate the exact pattern anywhere.

Britannia’s strips are 9.5 millimetre (3/8" inch) wide, but the nearest I could find were only 6.35mm and also spaced differently. I thought that using a different pattern would look like a ‘botch job’.

The area