Part of the remodeling of the chart table area on my 45ft schooner Britannia involved making a new section of floorboarding or, to use its proper nautical term, 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 and scoured the web and any sources of teak flooring with whitewood strips to match the existing floor pattern. Unfortunately, I was unable to locate the exact pattern anywhere. Britannia’s strips are ⅜in wide, and the nearest I could find were 1/4in wide and also spaced differently. I thought using a different pattern would look like a “botched job” and chose not to settle.
The area was not large, measuring only 54in long and 36in wide,
