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I am refinishing the wood trim on a 1988 17 footer. I was told Whaler only used mahogany on the original wood components. Is this true?

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False.
They used both on a Montauk.

What parts are you referring to?
RPS seat back is teak.

See these other Montauks
http://www.whalercentral.com/userphot...lbum_id=14

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Thanks. I am going to refinish the following parts:

RPS Seat Back
Louvered doors (small and large for the center console)
Front Hatch Cover

If these are all teak, I would prefer to use a varnish for a high gloss finish rather than teak oil. Epifanes
makes some products for teak such as their RapidClear or RapidCoat.

Do you have a recommendation?

Thanks,
Roger

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The most beautiful finish on BW wood I have seen was on a Montauk 17. The lady who did the work used Cetol. She has been around boats for most of her life and was a live aboard on a teak laden yacht for many years. She currently manages a large marina. FWIW.

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If you select Cetol for teak, go with the light variant.

Many members complain the regular Cetol turns orange on teak after some time.

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All of the wood on a later (beginning 1983) Montauk is teak, with the exception of the cooler cleats, and Mills Flying Top system mounting blocks.

I agree that real marine spar varnish is the most durable finish, and longest lasting, less work in the long run. I do not like Cetol, although I now understand there is a clear version which does not have the UV inhibiting iron pigment in it, which causes the orange look.

I use Z-Spar Flagship, and pre-stain with ZAR #120 teak oil base stain, 10 to 12 initial coats. You can see my varnished Montauk in the personal Website link.

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Actually, the Montauk reverse pilot seatback base after circa 1980 was mahogany wood and it rots when left in contact with a wet RPS seat cushion. The early Montauk 16 and 17 seatbacks circa 1973-1977 were all teak wood. The older all teak wood seatbacks were distinguished by the FP stamp followed by month and year of fabrication, e.g., FP0873.

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As long as we are getting down to minute details on the Whaler RPS seatback, mahogany was used in all years for the top interior beveled construction piece, over which was placed the actual teak top. This additional thickness can be seen by looking at the holes for the rod holders, or by turning the seat upside down.

Even the earliest 1971 seatbacks had this mahogany construction detail, and as mentioned, can also be subject to some rot around the rod holder openings. Regarding the bottom piece, Whaler did put a thin coat of varnish on the mahogany bottom surface, but probably many peoople did not keep this up when reconditioning the seatback.

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Boston Whaler never "put a thin coat of varnish on the mahogany" wood. Three coats of a polyurethane product, identified in the Fisher-Pierce Company wood diagrams as "Bostick #435," was sprayed onto the mahogany with sanding of the wood after the first two coats. Three coats of polyurethane applied to the wood was sufficient to cover the raised grain.

It is important for anyone owning a boat with a RPS seatback to keep the drain holes in the base free of debris, so water cannot pool, causing rot. I always drilled additional holes in the base wood to alllow for increased water drainage from the seatback.