Wood Interiors - Why?

[Sparohok]

I'm a relatively new sailor interested in buying a performance cruising boat in the SF Bay area. There's one thing that I just can't understand about monohull sailboats and I was hoping y'all could help me come to terms with it.

Sailboats, particularly monohulls, seem to have primarily wood surfaces in the interior. It turns me off and I can't understand why buyers seem to prefer this. I'm sure there are some good reasons but I can't fathom them.

1) Maintenance. It seems like almost any other surface -- fiberglass, gelcoat, Awlgrip, Formica, anything -- would be easier to maintain. Old boats with wood interiors often look terrible, dark streaking where water collects, worn finishes, etc. I don't even want to contemplate fixing all those problems on my boat. Boat owners complain constantly about all the maintenance, so I don't want to sign up for more than necessary. You don't build a house with a wood veneered bathroom. Boats are constantly wet, yet the fashion seems to be wood everywhere.

2) Style. So many monohulls look like 1970s wood panelled basements. It's dark, dreary, and suffocating. I hate it, and my wife hates it even more. I guess boats that were actually built in the 70s have an excuse, but most new boats look the same way. Ironically the more you spend, the more wood you get. That's not the way people decorate their homes, why their boats?

3) Cost. I don't know much about how boat interiors are made, but I can't imagine all that wood makes it cheaper. White formica is $20/sheet and the labor is almost nil, wood veneers can be $20/sqft and the labor is breathtaking. Handmade wood cabinetry is jaw droppingly expensive in homes, can't imagine it's cheaper on boats. Plus the hull is already built out of fiberglass. Boat topsides look real good and stand up well to salt water without any wood veneer, why can't the inside of the hull be done more or less the same way?

4) Weight. Wood is heavy. Fiberglass is strong and light.

Don't even get me started on teak decking. I have never heard of anything so crazy in my life.

Unfortunately, my preferencs seem to limit my choices tremendously, particularly with used boats. So many good boats have interiors that turn me off. I don't want to limit my choices to Hanse or Aerodyne or J/Boats just because of what feels suspicously like a prejudice of mine.

So please help me -- explain to me why I am wrong and why it is correct for boat interiors to be made of wood. I want to get with the program! Or is this really just some crazy self perpetuating tradition that is making everyone's life miserable for no good reason?

Martin