simonfraser
Well-Known Member
there's enough maintenance with a mobo / boats, why add the wood complication to it ?
New to this forum - your views on wooden boats.
- Thread starter pawl
- Start date
Fire99
Well-Known Member
Gotcha.. My boat has a mostly fantastic teak interior too. Ok some people don't like it because it's a bit 'country cottage' rather than flash and modern but I really like it, so for me I'd definitely have a wooden interior if I could. It doesn't get attacked by the weather and anything like the wear rate so even a wood 'luddite' like me can do the bulk of the maintenance.
I think the used boat market has cooled a bit since the dizzy heights of 'Covid-gate' so hopefully something will turn up that fits the budget or someone will take a sneaky offer.
pawl
Well-Known Member
Err well, because I like it???
joeirish2
New Member
Hello, I've owned my Rampart 32 since 2000. I made sure she was sound before buying. Other than leaking windows she has been a joy to own and virtually maintenance free. Yes I touch up the varnish each year and sort out any scratches on her hull as need be. Twice now since owning her I've had her stripped back to bare wood and repainted. Antifoul more frequently but as we are on the inland waterways (of Ireland) this is only needed every 4 or 5 years. Provided you don't buy a 'project' I'd recommend it a wooden boat. Picture of Winter Solstice attached.
Fire99
Well-Known Member
She looks a cracker..
Bajansailor
Well-Known Member
I did a search on Apollo Duck for motor boats in the UK between 25' - 30', and newer than 1990, and this vessel popped up - would her wheelhouse be cosy enough?
Seamark 26 for sale UK, Seamark boats for sale, Seamark used boat sales, Seamark Motor Boats For Sale Seamark 26 - Apollo Duck
What is your budget?
The boat in the link above is only GBP 14,500; however a newer boat of this size can be considerably more expensive.
ChromeDome
Well-Known Member
I think your desire for a cosy interior is understandable but it is only one among several requirements.
Firstly your budgets need to be decided: One for the investment and one for the operation. The latter will depend on the boat and your plans for updating/upgrading.
A prioritised requirements list would help you compare boats but as others have said, wood adds a couple of dimensions to the ownership (amount of work, cost, resale and then some).
Boat age and received TLC have a different meaning when talking wood.
Firstly your budgets need to be decided: One for the investment and one for the operation. The latter will depend on the boat and your plans for updating/upgrading.
A prioritised requirements list would help you compare boats but as others have said, wood adds a couple of dimensions to the ownership (amount of work, cost, resale and then some).
Boat age and received TLC have a different meaning when talking wood.
burgundyben
Well-Known Member
I've had wooden motorboats for 22 years.
Its only painting the hull and superstructure that are different, otherwise all the leaking windows, corroded anode bolts and blocked shower trays are just the same.
There's very little in it, you have to be more diligent, let a wooden boat go and she'll bite hard, but look after her and she'll be rewarding.
Its only painting the hull and superstructure that are different, otherwise all the leaking windows, corroded anode bolts and blocked shower trays are just the same.
There's very little in it, you have to be more diligent, let a wooden boat go and she'll bite hard, but look after her and she'll be rewarding.
ChromeDome
Well-Known Member
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pawl
Well-Known Member
hi, nice looking boat.
pawl
Well-Known Member
hi, thanks for that I think we're getting a bit more balance in views now. It's encouraging.
burgundyben
Well-Known Member
Also worth noting that older wooden boats are more likely to be shaft drive which is likely to be a lot less trouble than a slowly fizzing outdrive. Remember, in every boat yard there is an outdrive in bits and they are mostly on grp boats.
There's a huge spectrum in wooden boats, from soggy pile of rotting larch with iron dumps to bronze fastened teak on oak with a lead keel.
There's a huge spectrum in wooden boats, from soggy pile of rotting larch with iron dumps to bronze fastened teak on oak with a lead keel.
pawl
Well-Known Member
hi, thanks, good points. Obviously, like most of us I have a budget for this, I would want a boat that didn't need very much doing to it, any updating would most likely be done at the outset and would have to be allowed for in the overall purchase price. As I rather suspect that this will be the last boat that I will ever own, I'm not overly concerned about the resale value. What I would like to get a handle on is operating costs. Would they be significantly higher than a GRP boat?
pawl
Well-Known Member
Hi, yes, I've already decided that I don't want an outdrive under any circumstances, probably ok on a new boat, but not on what I'm likely to buy.
Sticky Fingers
Well-Known Member
I’ve never owned a wooden boat other than several dinghies, so take this as you find it, but assuming you buy a good one and stay on top of the maintenance, I doubt there’s much of a material difference in operating costs.
The biggest single cost is usually your berthing fees. Then there are….Insurance. Annual engine servicing. Antifoul. Anodes. Lift, block off, relaunch. Cleaning. All of these and many other costs are not really dependent on the construction material. Repairs, repainting/varnishing etc, yes for sure, they may well be higher. So IMHO, I’d not worry too much about it on that score.
Tranona
Well-Known Member
The important difference between wood and GRP is tolerance of neglect. Once you get a sound wooden boat up to scratch ongoing maintenance is little different except maybe the time element. It is not easy to by a ready to go wooden boat because invariably they are for sale because they are on the downward slide and owners can't face , or more commonly are not able to keep up You might be lucky and find a boat like the one I sold which was in as good condition as you could expect for its type and age. My reason for selling was little to do with not being able to keep on top of it and I had just completed a major refit and my circumstances changed such that I was able to buy a new boat.
oldgit
Well-Known Member
Raised in the time when wood was the only material used in building a boat and glassfibre was new fangled, regarded with suspicion and derision and probably a here today and gone tomorrow material.
First experience of boats was with Dads ex ships lifeboat, a clinker built hull and a cabin grafted on by a " shipwright" used for family holidays.
My Saturday job was applying a mixture of linseed oil and white spirit to the spars and masts being made in the shipwrights workshop.
Remember a metal pipe outside workshop which would have a fire lit under it (using wood off cuts)and left over night to be able to bend new pieces of wood to fit hulls.
There followed a sucession of small wooden work boats usually about halfway through their working lives, all double diagonal and all worked to death before being sold on before they sank.
A constant battle to maintain the hull and superstructure (especially where the two meet) , but lots of folk around who could do this work ie fitting new wood and caulking, at sensible money.
Later boats were steel, this just rusted, but again lotsa folks able to double up for sensible money.
Do you have a signicant other who will be enjoying your prospective purchase, well remember going to look at a example of lots of work and much diligent preservation of a largish gentlemans launch on the Thames.
Wife got on , had quick polite look round and wandered back to the brokers office.
On the way back home she said that the smell of damp and deisel marinated in the interior of the boat was enough to ensure a prompt end to the viewing.
It might be purely time and coat of vanish at regular intervals for a while, at some point the boat will need work , who is going to do it and are your pockets deep enough.
With a classic car you can put up with its amusing shortcomings and simply enjoy using it but pop it back in a " free " warm and dry garage when not in use .
Presumably you will want to spend time away on the boat in the summer, however it will be out there exposed to the elements during winter .
The choice might depend on wether you like owning a piece of boating history or going boating. ?
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PaulRainbow
Well-Known Member
Lovely looking boat.
Isn't "virtually maintenance free" and "Twice now since owning her I've had her stripped back to bare wood and repainted" something of a contradiction ? What would that cost to have done ?
Tranona
Well-Known Member
Not too different from what many people do with similar age (and newer!) GRP boats in terms of for example removing antifoul back to GRP or dealing with rust on an iron keel or replacing aging teak on decks or in the cockpit. agree paying somebody to strip and repaint the topsides would be expensive, but DIY is not difficult.
What is costly in time and money is getting a neglected wooden boat up to scratch but if you start with a sound boat on going maintenance with modern materials and techniques is not as demanding as you might think.
scottie
Well-Known Member
Invariably rose tinted
