Fiberglass Hull with Wood Deck?

[PreppieNerd]

Cosmetically I love wood on the deck, and as much wood in the cabin as possible, but I don't want the hassle associated with a wooden hull. What boats are out there with wood on the deck but a non-wood hull?

[supercharged]

I would really be interested in this as well!

[SouthernComfort]

Take a look at the Cape George Cutters. They specialize in wood boats built in a fiberglass hull (Thick hull I might add)

Cape George Cutters § Port Townsend § Blue Water Boats § Cruising Custom Boat Building

For the construction brochure, look here:

http://www.capegeorgecutters.com/CGCbrochure3.pdf

[Islandmike]

Our Far East Mariner 40 has wood (3/4" plywood) decks. The boat was built in 1972 and has a fiberglass hull, very robust. She weighs around 28,000 lbs. Originally I believe she had teak decks. They have long been romoved and we now have just the wood deck. I have made a couple of small repairs and put cloth/epoxy over the new plywood. The cabin is all wood, mahagony and teak with solid teak flooring. We also have a considerable amount of wood topsides ie. Sitka spars, teak traveler, teak taff rails, hatches, bow sprit.... It is a lot of work but we love the look and feel of the wood. It is great down below, love the feeling of wood. I hope this is the type of info you were looking for.

[sarafina]

The early Cal's were all fiberglass on the outside and mucho wood on the inside. My ideal combination!

[Celestialsailor]

Realistically and wood outside, especially horizontal surfaces like a deck is going to end up a maintenance issue. Not like a boat is not one already!

[Sahara]

Some of the Alden Caravelles are like this, as are some Lyman-Morse Seguin 44's.

Hope you like varnishing.

[Not Sure]

Varnishing is just a top coat, and a not very water impervious one to boot. What really protects the wood is penetrating oils and oil/sealer finishes such as tung oil. That is what protects the wood against water intrusion, not 'varnish'. THEN if you want you can put varnish over all that for an outer coating of extra protection. Or not and make it easier to maintain the wood by simply wiping on new tung oil coats when needed. Too many people make the mistake of thinking that just varnish is the solution. It isn't. It is easily chipped or otherwise breached, and the wood below sucks up moisture like a sponge if there is no oil protecting the wood underneath.

[S&S]

Originally Posted by Celestialsailor

Realistically and wood outside, especially horizontal surfaces like a deck is going to end up a maintenance issue. Not like a boat is not one already!

After dealing with a wood deck and mucho brightwork, you probably wouldn't notice if the hull itself was wood.


Wood hull, glassed ply decks- trust me.

[cal40john]

I've seen a Shaw 24 and a Fuji 35 that had wood decks. There are also boats like the Formosa/CT boats that have teak over a fiberglass deck.

After watching my friends patch, chase leaks, replace rot, watch a fiberglass core dissolve with a thousand holes to a leaky teak deck overhead I would think that the additional work of a wood hull would seem minimal.

John

[Sahara]

Come to think of it, I believe that the original Cherubini 44's were built with glass hulls, wood decks and cabin houses. I may be wrong, it wouldn't be the first time.

Many of the Vindo's were glass with a mahogany deck and cabin house.

For myself, having dealt with rot in the deck, cabin house, and especially the cockpit of our family's old wooden boat, there's no way I'd consider going back. There are plenty of glass boats with glass decks that still have enough wood to look classy.

This summer I saw an Alden 54 that had just come from a major refit where the cabin trunk and cockpit were sheathed with varnished teak. I don't believe there was any exposed fiberglass on deck. Looked to me like a gorgeous maintenance nightmare.

[S&S]

Sooooo timely:

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...29&postcount=1

[Solitude]

Originally Posted by PreppieNerd

Cosmetically I love wood on the deck, and as much wood in the cabin as possible, but I don't want the hassle associated with a wooden hull. What boats are out there with wood on the deck but a non-wood hull?

Did you mean you want a wood (teak) deck or the whole cabin and deck as wood construction. These are two different things.

Either way you’re looking at a lot of maintenance. If your looking for teak on the deck read this.

How to Lay a Traditional Teak Deck


I love wood in the cabin and it looks great on boats but its way too much work when you want to go sailing. You sand oil and watch it fade. You sand oil and watch it fade. You sand oil and watch it fade.......