how to change from GRP to wood

[jezjez]

If we took the plunge and sold our GRP boat and bought a wooden boat instead, what's involved above and beyond the quick wipe down and antifoul that I currently do!?!
I'm not good at DIY. I can do very litttle without terror. If we bought a wooden boat in good condition (surveyor says) and had the boatyard maintain it, what sort of money are we talking about for winter maintenance from a boatyard? I realise there is an element of how long's the piece of string about this. Anyone have a ball park figure on let's say a maximum £15K 28-footer from the 50s that has no major defects?

 

[RupertW]

I made the journey the other way a long time ago, and the answer for me was that my sailing season started in April not July. Given a few more years on the wooden side, though, and I might have organised myself enough to close the gap.

Oh, and I made sure the GRP boat was one that would get people wandering over and asking "Wow, what's that?", because I would have missed the attention otherwise.

 

[Mirelle]

String, length of..

I've never dared to ask a yard to do the maintenance!

But actually, there is very little to it.

Antifouling is antifouling; no different

Engine layup and recommissioning is the same. Likewise the plumbing, electrics, berth cushions, rig, seacocks, etc.

You will need to put a coat of paint on the deck (very easy, but do use masking tape!) and two coats of varnish on the brightwork (this is the major difference - a wooden boat will have a lot more of it, quite possibly including the spars) and you will need to rub down, stop up, rub down, undercoat and enamel the topsides, which takes about twice as long as doing a good job of polishing GRP topsides, and is not difficult - people like me like to make a fetish of it because its easy, so we get good at it, but it really is easy.

You will need to paint through the bilges.

Every few years - maybe 10 - you will need to paint inside the boat and every couple of years you will need to varnish inside the boat.

So far, the only tools we have had to pick up are a scraper, sandpaper and a couple of paintbrushes.

If you do this, and leave the yard to do the clever stuff, it should not be too bad.

(Remember to always multiply the yard estimate by three, and you won't be disappointed /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif)

 

[jezjez]

Re: String, length of..

that sounds far less painful than i thought. Do you have major problems each year or is it once in every 5 or 10?
I imagine soft boards, broken spars...
I've been reading The Magic of the Swatchways (again) and he never seemed to own a wooden boat that had water below the bunks. If i can't go to see her for a week, will she be full of water?
Can you get a wooden boat with a double berth, a seperate heads and 5 foot 10 headroom that doesn't cost the earth?
When you put her back in after the winter, what should you do for water uptake?

 

[hannahman]

I expect you'll get loads of varying answers and views on this. Can't advise on the costs side, as I do my own painting/varnishing/antifouling etc.
If you want someone to maintain the boat for you, then try and use a yard that allows you to bring in your own labour rather than relying on the yard's work-force. You'lll be saving quite a lot by doing that.
I would suggest a good winter cover for the boat. Rain and frost are the worst enemies of wood and varnishwork. Also, try and stagger the jobs you have done on the boat if you can, for example on my boat I'll paint the top-sides one year, and take the mast out to re-varnish it the next etc etc. The varnishwork around the boat I do throughout the summer 'as and when'. I find doing the jobs this way helps spread the costs and the work-load. I always advise people who ask me: do the jobs before they need doing. Keep on top of them, that way you don't end up with huge amounts of unneccessary work. My boat is effectively 'in commission' all year round, though in reality I don't use her much in the winter. I haul her out for painting/antifouling in April. Before April the weather is usually still 'pants', and after April it starts to warm up and you'll find wooden boats start to shrink or 'open up', but at least if jobs over-run, the weather will generally be getting better rather than getting worse as at the end of the season.
Anyway, these are only some of my humble suggestions. Lots of good advice to follow from other posters I'm sure.
You're doing the right thing by asking first, and I say GO FOR IT !!

Doug

 

[Mirelle]

Re: String, length of..

Doug's advice on the winter cover is very good. I would go further - don't look at buying a wooden boat that has not got a good one - its an excellent indication of how she has been looked after.

No experience of soft boards, broke a spar once. Usually dust the bilges. No special precautions when going afloat after the winter (mind you, this is a teak built boat).

If you leave her for a week, or a month, you should have no trouble at all, but do fit a good cockpit cover.

Double berths are rare outside long distance cruisers in wood. Separate heads can usually be found over 28-30 ft or so, 5ft 10ins headroom is also found in this sort of size.

 

[jezjez]

Re: String, length of..

that's an excellent tip about the cover.
I know methersgate, there are some lovely boats down there: nirvana and patient to name a couple. I can't picture Mirelle at the moment - not the amazing blue smack, is it?. We have a mooring at Waldringfield that i am really stunned to have. We keep admiring the proper boats, though! Especially after a weekend on a broads boat from Hunter's Yard.
There's a deben 4 tonner at Felixstowe for sale which is lovely (on hte internet) but i think we'd miss the standing headroom.

 

[jezjez]

Re: String, length of..

oh, and the one we really liked the look of is Iwunda - but it says something about "needs TLC or even total restoration.."

 

[Mirelle]

Re: String, length of..

Iwunda was of course the boat that wrote East Coast Rivers!

The amazing blue smack is Pembeth, the largest surviving smack built by Aldous, Graham Brewster's pride and joy, (you should have seen her before he started!) currently minus topmast after a coming together with Good Intent at the Pin Mill race last weekend...talking of broken spars...

The boat nearest Waldringfield is an Albert Strange yawl* called Nirvana, owned by Peter Clay whose brother Jamie builds boats (Peter build cellos) whose father was the prototype for Jim Brading in "We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea". Then there's Cecilia, a William Blake 30 footer from 1939, on no 12, Mirelle is next to her and next but one to us is Clytie, the doyenne of the Deben, built by Eversons in 1923 and always kept on the river, though the oldest boat is probably the pilot gig underneath Eversons workshop shop (c.1830) and the oldest boat in commission is probably Good Intent (c. 1865). Prettiest boat however might well be Kestrel, in Waldringfield, another literary heroine.

* = Type 35 Bugatti, in vintage car terms. There's another one, called Sheila, further up near the bend, owned by Mike Burn.

I've sent you a PM, if you are on the river over the weekend, let's see if we might meet up. Was thinking of going to Walton for the OGA S'wamazons' but not unless this easterly drops...

 

[jezjez]

Re: String, length of..

will be around with my dad - Ray Evans - he used to work in the boatyard for Whistocks in the 60s. Had an old Broads boat Lady in the 70s / 80s.