Folk Boats - look nice but are they much trouble?

[Breizh]

Guys, many thanks for all the valuable information, and emails. I thought I'd better qualify my credentials to put an end to any doubts regarding my capabilities, so I have updated my profile

Also, no offense taken to any of the comments, I wasn't exactly clear in my expressions! So…

I will post a pic or 2 of the timber boat I'm currently looking at.

Breizh

 

[Breizh]

This is one of the timber yachts, I thought it was a Folk Boat, but not sure now as its called a Spitsgatter...

 

[banger]

Very wet I am told, bit of a submarine, or maybe the guy that told me this was biased.

 

[JomsViking]

Maintenance then. The time I don't spend on the garden or on maintaining a wooden boat is used for sailing - I have owned wooden boats, so enjoy the extra time. Do admire the ones that still keep old woodies sailing, though, and still actively support a few.

I do not regard painting on the beach in the sunshine with pals coming along to chat or help out as "work". Work for me involves a suit and a computer screen.

Some folk think that time spent on maintenance would be time that would otherwise be spent on sailing. That is not my experience. If you come round to my house you will see that time spent on boat painting in the spring is time that I should be spending maintaining the garden! My observation locally is that wooden boats are used more often than plastic ones, perhaps because their owners have made a commitment towards them.

Wooden boats are not for everyone, but many of those who have them will have an attachment to their boat that no plastic owner can ever achieve. Very much each to their own.

 

[Breizh]

Very wet I am told, bit of a submarine, or maybe the guy that told me this was biased.

Yes it does look very sleek and low. Waiting for some more photos. Still looking for others, preferably a one with a little more internal room.

 

[Sandro]

Daydream Believer
my brother would be very interested in knowing more about the sheathing job. He is rebuilding a 6 metre wooden (carvel) sailing boat that was his first boat 40 years ago and that he found and bought again last spring. The boat had been sheated but the grp was not adhering to the timber. He could remove it in large sheets very easy. He plans to sheath her again, including the iron bulb but he wonders how to be sure that the epoxy glues itself to the planking and that no water can intrude in between.
If you would PM me your e-mail address we could explain the whole project and hear your advice, as one that has undergone the process.
Thanks in advance

Sandro

 

[DownWest]

Daydream Believer
my brother would be very interested in knowing more about the sheathing job. He is rebuilding a 6 metre wooden (carvel) sailing boat that was his first boat 40 years ago and that he found and bought again last spring. The boat had been sheated but the grp was not adhering to the timber. He could remove it in large sheets very easy. He plans to sheath her again, including the iron bulb but he wonders how to be sure that the epoxy glues itself to the planking and that no water can intrude in between.
If you would PM me your e-mail address we could explain the whole project and hear your advice, as one that has undergone the process.
Thanks in advance

Sandro

Sheathing a carvel wooden boat is generally considered a no-no, and quick road to serious rot, especially with polyester. Epoxy will stick better, but unless you make it quite thick, the movement of the wood will crack it and allow water to get in. It would be interesting to see the condition of the hull after having been sheathed for a while, as it usually seen as a cheap fix to give a few more years of life to a terminal hull.

 

[Daydream believer]

Sheathing a carvel wooden boat is generally considered a no-no, and quick road to serious rot, especially with polyester. Epoxy will stick better, but unless you make it quite thick, the movement of the wood will crack it and allow water to get in. It would be interesting to see the condition of the hull after having been sheathed for a while, as it usually seen as a cheap fix to give a few more years of life to a terminal hull.

Certainly not a temporary fix but a permanent one
A carvel hull is dead easy . Mine was clinker & getting the matt to conform to the contours was a real pain
The tock is in preparation of the substrate before application
Also note i used epoxy & had the hull sandblasted first. This actually blew a few holes in the boat where the wood was rotten & exposed all the rot around the roves , most of which became quite loose
I also treated the inside of the hull with a rein ( forget name) which was needed to seal the surface & encapsulate the timber this reducing the amount of water actually getting into the wood & thus behind the external layer

 

[Daydream believer]

Sheathing a carvel wooden boat is generally considered a no-no, and quick road to serious rot, especially with polyester. Epoxy will stick better, but unless you make it quite thick, the movement of the wood will crack it and allow water to get in. It would be interesting to see the condition of the hull after having been sheathed for a while, as it usually seen as a cheap fix to give a few more years of life to a terminal hull.

I am afraid i have to disagree. ( apart from the comment about polyester)
Although my hull was a clinker one so was harder to sheath. There is a lot more to it than just plastering on some fibreglass
First the boat was sandblasted in & out to remove all paint & expose rotten wood.
Then kept in a building to get moisture content down to 10-12%
then all the joints in the planks were machined out & epoxied, which in some cases might have been enough but not so in the case of my boat
Then the inside was treated with resin which had a "seeking" property which exposed even worm holes that had been in the planks from new& in many places went right through the wood
Then stress points were coated with 300 gram matt
Then the whole boat was epoxied externally, again with 300 gram matt
The hull had to be retained in a specil stand as it went "floppy" when everything was removed as even the rovings were found to be loose & could be pushed through the hull with a light tap
Once finished the stiffness was miles better than a new hull

 

[William_H]

You would only buy a wooden boat if you were totally dedicated to the idea of a wooden boat. GRP is long lasting and will not deteriorate too much with total neglect. The wooden parts of a GRP boat will of course deteriorate and need paint and replacement but usually these are just a small part of the boat compared to a full wooden hull. It is the rot that really kills wood. I have the feeling that any GRP boat is good. It is perhaps more about how it is rigged and sailed that makes the difference. The recent post on getting rid of a GRP boat makes me think even that would be better in the long run than a wooden boat. Plenty of work to do of course before it is just as you want it. But that goes for any boat. good luck olewill

 

[andrewbartlett]

My third cruising boat was a Folkboat ,after a silhouette and 2 1/2 ton hylliard. The Folkboat was of eastern european manufacture clinker varnished and beautiful to look at and to sail , it had a 12 hp Dolphin engine. The only cruiser I have owned that equalled the wooden folkboat for 'carefree' sailing was an Itchen Ferry but that was GRP. With the folkboat I always carried varnish brushes turps, etc so that I could regularly apply restoration to any wood needing it.The Folkboats name was ' Dawn' ex ' Folkdream' I wonder if she's still around?

 

[DownWest]

I am afraid i have to disagree. ( apart from the comment about polyester)
Although my hull was a clinker one so was harder to sheath. There is a lot more to it than just plastering on some fibreglass
First the boat was sandblasted in & out to remove all paint & expose rotten wood.
Then kept in a building to get moisture content down to 10-12%
then all the joints in the planks were machined out & epoxied, which in some cases might have been enough but not so in the case of my boat
Then the inside was treated with resin which had a "seeking" property which exposed even worm holes that had been in the planks from new& in many places went right through the wood
Then stress points were coated with 300 gram matt
Then the whole boat was epoxied externally, again with 300 gram matt
The hull had to be retained in a specil stand as it went "floppy" when everything was removed as even the rovings were found to be loose & could be pushed through the hull with a light tap
Once finished the stiffness was miles better than a new hull

OK, What you did was a controlled composite operation, unlike most of the quick fix ones. More like a new strip built hull. You must have been fond of the boat. I would still be wary of a carvel hull with it's heavier planking. And, If I liked it that much, I would probably use wood veneers as a cold mould skin (not on clinker, obviously)
DW

 

[Daydream believer]

Sheathing a carvel wooden boat is generally considered a no-no, and quick road to serious rot, especially with polyester. Epoxy will stick better, but unless you make it quite thick, the movement of the wood will crack it and allow water to get in. It would be interesting to see the condition of the hull after having been sheathed for a while, as it usually seen as a cheap fix to give a few more years of life to a terminal hull.

As an update I have managed to contact the current owner
I have to admit the boat is currently laid up in a barn not having sailed this year
But after 13 years the sheathing is still good & had no leaks ( well should not have in a barn!!!!!)
The owner does not expect any problems with the sheathing when she is relaunched

 

[Jim@sea]

Buy an Achilles 24. Cheap as Chips. Can get triple keel. Sails well. Very well made. Nearly bought one last week but bought a bigger volume (same length) boat instead.

 

[2nd_apprentice]

My first boat, quite a labour of love. Not a FB but survived well enough for 90 odd years without being glassed over or caulked. If you’re unwilling to put up with traditional wooden boat maintenance don’t buy one. Seriously. Yes sheeting *can* be done but there's no way of telling how long it'll last. Mre often than not it's the kiss of death. A clinker hull is much stiffer btw, carvel construction doesn't lend itself to rigid sheeting. Even tar felt and copper sheeting can be problematic and generally not worth it nowadays.