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perchance · 02-06-2010, 15:02

Back in the days of wooden ships the most important guy next to the captain was the ships carpenter.I wonder why? But different ships, different long-splices as they say.

eyschulman · 02-06-2010, 16:23

Its not that I don't love good old well kept wooden boats-I love to have them up and down the dock so I can look at them-just don't want to own and maintain same- Son in law just sold off a restored 1956 S&S 6 meter it was 7-8 years since restoration what a relief not to have to do the next cycle. It certainly did turn a lot of heads. My present boat came with varnished teak toe rails and thats about the limit of what I can handle-I loose two sailing days a year on those.

mike d. · 02-06-2010, 16:33

ADAX there was a survey done some yrs ago i think by Wooden Boat Mag? and the consensus was that a properly maintained wood boat/yacht in the course of 20 yrs xcost about $200.00 more than a properly maintained fibre glass boa/yacht. yes you can defer some maintenance on plastic boats but like anything on water it will come back to haunt you in the long run
and to any one with the thought you can get rid of the boat before major problems the idea is ownership of equal length 20 yrs. to maintain in pristine condition.
painting a glass hull is about 10-20,000 depending on size which is moronic anyway. the hull is gelcoated, regelcoating costs about the same as painting and it will last 20+ yrs if maintained (there is that maintenance issue again) where painting a glass hull lasts about 5-10 yrs before they start looking drab, paint for a wooden hull is so much cheaper. you can use good quality house paint on the hull,(urethane etc.) with a wood boat you just have to pay more attention to what is going on with the hull/boat overall and nip the start of problems in the butt

perchance · 02-06-2010, 17:23

my glass hull is 35 years old (fresh water only) and aside from the usual anti fouling it has not required repainting. Yes it is faded but is as sound as the day it came out of the mould. How many wooden hulls can make the same claim?

David_Old_Jersey · 03-06-2010, 11:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by perchance

my glass hull is 35 years old (fresh water only) and aside from the usual anti fouling it has not required repainting. Yes it is faded but is as sound as the day it came out of the mould. How many wooden hulls can make the same claim?

A wooden boat that was well designed. was built well. and has been properly maintained?.........of course not all were originally well designed and built. An old boat made of wood is no more guaranteed to be "good" than a new boat made of GRP.

The problems with older boats (wood / GRP / whatever) usually boils down to 1 thing.........the previous owners

..........IMO GRP is simply more idiot proof than Wood over the longer term of neglect / ignorance / wishful thinking and therefore easier to return towards original condition - albeit no boat impervious to long term ownership by a succession of donuts

Idiot proof? that's one reason why I went GRP

35 years old? pah! youngster

Captain mud · 03-06-2010, 11:47

If you want to own a classic wooden boat and at the same time have a god time you must not lock at the work like work, it has to be more like making love. There has to be some hart involvment when you are shaping up your ship. For less work by a boat made in Maghogny and teak. If you realy put your hart in to it the first overall shape, maghogny and teak can realy last for a long time.

If not, by glasfiber or steel!!!!!!

P.s Keep it in the water ass much as possible!!!! Nothings wours then a wodden boat that "dries" to much.

Fair vinds

mud

Adax · 11-06-2010, 16:27

Well Tuesday is the day when she comes out of the water for her inspection .
Wish us luck ,please.
For those of you who have missed the intro post Kumgang has put it here .

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...oat-42083.html

seacap · 11-06-2010, 18:28

1) There are good and bad fiberglass and wood boats. A lot depends on the individual boat. The very worst boat I was ever associated with re: repair and maintenance was a fiberglass boat. So much depends on the individual boat.

2) seems any boat is due for a major refit after 20 years. 20 years after it was built or 20 years after the last major refit.

3) Keep the water out! A good leak free deck is a wooden boats best friend. So look for leaks in the deck ... very important.

4) If I wanted to buy a wooden boat today I would look for a teak (or long leaf yellow pine) hull and copper riveted. This is the very best and will last a life time. Bronze fittings and fasteners, no stainless or galvanized steel.

5) Be very careful of any wood boats with fiberglass over. This has to be done with epoxy or it WILL delaminate.

6) How many times has the boat been refastened? You can get 2 go arounds before it gets to be a really huge job. hopefully it is bronze fastened.

7) Also be careful of any laminated oak. The tanic acids in oak will attack any adhesive and eventually fail.

8) I think the reason most people end up spending a lot of time maintaining wooden boats is A) The really don't know how. A lot of that knowledge is gone because there are not so many wooden boats around any more. The Internet has helped on that front considerably. B) Varnish!

My last boat was wood and didn't have an engine. Now I have a fiberglass boat with an engine. I got to go sailing a LOT more on the wood boat. Plus I could repair her anyplace.

It's all about naming your poison.

Good luck!

Gary

E-P · 16-06-2010, 21:36

I think this thread is a good start for starters (like me) who are dreaming of wooden boat. A real reality check! The problem with wooden boats, as many have noted with different words, is that it is "living" all the time. Imagine the amount of work for people in Scandinavian countries, or any areas with true winter, with wooden boats. It has to be taken to land every autumn and then in the storage the boat is exposed to all crazy extreme weather conditions for months.

CharlieCobra · 17-06-2010, 06:48

The worst thing you can do to a wooden boat is take it out of the water for a lengthy time. Seriously. What happens is the planking (if not cold molded) dries and shrinks, putting stress on the fasteners. Before you can launch it, if out for a long time, you have to strip the old caulking, re-caulk, rebed the caulk with red lead putty or something newer (if ya like) and hope ya didn't caulk her too hard. If you did, the planks can break ribs or start fasteners to loosen as they swell (take up). Wood boats work and move. As seacap stated above, you usually get two rounds of refastening before ya have to do more drastic work like inserting plugs for the fasteners in the ribs or using an epoxy filler mix in the holes. As far as sheathing goes for a boat which may need it, there are a couple of ways to go.

1. C-Flex, which Oh Joy has...
2. Impregnated Dynel using epoxy.
3. Cold molding using epoxy impregnated veneers.
4. Cold molding with veneers and a layer of Dynel between the veneer layers.

If sheathing a boat, the wood needs to be dry and in good condition. It's also advisable to refasten if possible. I would highly suggest sealing the inside of the hull with a couple of coats of epoxy but ONLY if you can get to every single inch of it and all of the mating surfaces of framing, ribs, etc.. If you can't, leave it be so it can breathe. Otherwise, water WILL find it's way into rib butt joints, etc. and wick into the wood. It will NOT be able to dry out later and will rot. This will cause major (not fatal) issues and much, much work to fix.

The one thing to remember about wood boats is that EVERYTHING can be fixed or replaced, if you have the time and patience.

S&S · 17-06-2010, 08:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by CharlieCobra

The worst thing you can do to a wooden boat is take it out of the water for a lengthy time.

Too true: winter haul outs are the killer. We recently had ours out for two months in Spring and she took 150 gallons in 6 hours when she went in.

We wet store ours during the winter (sits in the river).

Lin Pardey · 17-06-2010, 16:53

We have voyaged extensively on two wooden cutters we built for ourselves. We wouldn't make any other choice. Yes, Larry is a fine boatbuilder which helps. But I truly enjoy taking care of the boat and its varnish work. Is it more work than glass boat?Probably. You can keep the work load down by choosing a boat in the under 36 foot range, keeping all the systems simple (if you get your glass boat cruising friends to give you a real break down of the time they spend maintaining systems, you will understand why we say this.) You can also cut maintenance by using bare teak for all trim - borrow a copy of our book Capable Cruiser from the library and read the chapter on bare wood in it. But most important of all, make sure you have a professional survey any boat you are interested in before you fall in love with it.

Maintenance time on Taleisin, a 29 footer which many folks say doesn't show much of her 28 years of age, 6 days a year for paint work including haulout, nine days a year for varnish including spar, two days a year for general scrubbing of teak. An extra 6 to 10 days once every five years to strip one spar or another and build up the varnish. This is on a boat that does a lot of ocean passage making, gunkholing and some racing. After that maintenance is just like on any boat of any hull, sail repair, rigging checks, cleaning inside the boat.

Rewards for having a woody, draws lots of interesting folks into our lives, has a living feeling about it, can join in classic boat rally's all around the world, looks good and distinctive in photos, and of course is very, very personal feeling.

Good luck,
Lin Pardey

S&S · 17-06-2010, 18:19

On a normal mantenance year ( no big projects) sand, prime, paint and general maintence is is about 1 week in the spring, Varnishing is about 3 days in September.

Regarding projects, any boat that's almost 50 years old will have projects.