to wood or not to wood

[jpay]

I have been looking at a plywood built caprice and i cant decide wether it is worth the work...

How much work is a wooden boat?
How expensive is that work?

 

[Tranona]

No real answer! If the boat is all together and has no rot problems, little more than a GRP boat. Let it go or have structural problems and can be a lot of work and expense. With a boat of almost zero monetary value like a Caprice, major repairs can be uneconomic. Once you have rot in ply the structure can break up very quickly. Unlike when they were built, materials are now expensive, but skills required are lower than traditional wood and modern adhesives, particularly epoxy can make repairs better than original.

 

[sarabande]

I'm in the middle of a bit of restoration of a ply chine sloop. The main virtue is that repairs are simple, with simple tools and glues and screws.

Think of them as being a bit like early Landrovers; you can replace anything from stem to transom with a big screwdriver, a saw, and a plane.


Cost ? It's seems to me to be the value that you put on your time. If you don't "pay" yourself, it's materials only, from which you will derive an intimate knowledge of and confidence in all the inner workings and structure of your boat.

If you have any experience of project management, you can estimate how long it will take you from start to finish. If it is three months solid work or three weeks part time painting and fettling, then it's up to you to decide on the cost / reward ratio.

 

[Wansworth]

I had a little plywood boat from that era,have a really good look for dry rot before you decide,as said repairs only involve basic wood skills(above use of chisel for opening paint cans and use of lump hammer).Just enjoy the work!

 

[oldharry]

I have been looking at a plywood built caprice and i cant decide wether it is worth the work...

How much work is a wooden boat?
How expensive is that work?

How much work? - Do you want to work on your boat, or go sailing in it?

How expensive? - Work out the cost of materials: multiply by about 8.

A plywood boat has a working life of about 25 years, unless it has been immaculately maintained. The problem is that glues used during the plywood boatbuilding era have not lasted and have dried out causing the seams to fail. This in turn allows rainwater into the end grains of the sheeting, causing it to rot, so although the panel appears sound, where it joins the frame it is rotten. This can be quite difficult to detect, as the rot may only go down a few cms, but the whole panel has to be replaced, and possibly the frame it was attached to. If the framing is less than 100%, then a plywood boat has had it, and it would be easier to build from scratch.

Yes, plywood boats can be repaired very easily by anyone with average carpentry skills, but whether the boat is worth the effort is for you to decide. An old boatbuilder of my acquaintance reckons that for every hour of dismantling, you have a weeks work to rebuild. Plywood is no exception, it just needs less skill.

Having said that, you can with a bit of judicious 'botching' have enormous fun with an elderly plywood boat for a two or three seasons before you demolish it. Pay a minimal price, and only do essential repairs. I have done this more than once. I bought a Caprice for £100, sailed it for 2 years, and sold it on for £200! I then had a Bell Seamew for £200, which I sailed for 3 years before we broke her up. The decision to break her came after I dropped a heavy lump hammer into the bilges - it went straight through! I got my £200 back just selling the engine and sails, too.

 

[penfold]

I then had a Bell Seamew for £200, which I sailed for 3 years before we broke her up. The decision to break her came after I dropped a heavy lump hammer into the bilges - it went straight through! I got my £200 back just selling the engine and sails, too.

:O

This is a clear message that the boat wants a dignified viking funeral; euthanasia for boats!

 

[oldharry]

:O

This is a clear message that the boat wants a dignified viking funeral; euthanasia for boats!

No, no, no no, you cant do the Viking funeral thing nowadays, it causes too much pollution. You have to break it up and use for landfill. Even a wooden boat.

Chichester harbour does not allow burning old wooden boats on the foreshore, because it 'might damage the invertebrates' . The fact that around 1/4 ton of lugworms are dug every week from the harbour bed is immaterial.

The old Seamew? Ended up in a skip with several other derelicts, after we drobe a JCB through her. Took about 3 minutes

 

[Lakesailor]

A plywood boat has a working life of about 25 years, unless it has been immaculately maintained. The problem is that glues used during the plywood boatbuilding era have not lasted and have dried out causing the seams to fail. This in turn allows rainwater into the end grains of the sheeting, causing it to rot, so although the panel appears sound, where it joins the frame it is rotten. This can be quite difficult to detect, as the rot may only go down a few cms, but the whole panel has to be replaced, and possibly the frame it was attached to. If the framing is less than 100%, then a plywood boat has had it, and it would be easier to build from scratch.

Yes, plywood boats can be repaired very easily by anyone with average carpentry skills, but whether the boat is worth the effort is for you to decide. An old boatbuilder of my acquaintance reckons that for every hour of dismantling, you have a weeks work to rebuild. Plywood is no exception, it just needs less skill.

I wonder if some software exists to attach that to any advert for an Eventide that appears anywhere on the InterNetWorkweb?

 

[Tranona]

I wonder if some software exists to attach that to any advert for an Eventide that appears anywhere on the InterNetWorkweb?

You are getting me really worried now - mine is 47 years old and shows no sign of falling apart just yet. Having the hull sheathed in Cascover and dealing with the odd patches on the coachroof over the 30 years I have owned her helps of course - as does the use of only the best materials and modern adhesives and coatings when the repairs are made.

 

[oldsaltoz]

Truth is that a ply boat is a lot better to look after and repair that a so called 'proper wooden boat'.

After all you have so few joints and overlaps to look after, nothing like an old carvel or clinker hull, no messing with cotton red lead and big lump hammers to try and make the thing watertight.

No leaky planked deck and massive lumps of timber below the waterline to worry you.

If you don't mind a bit of on going wood work and treating ply as well solid timber the go for it I say.

There are still a few ply mine sweepers running around form the war years, they were built in big hurry by people who had little or no experience in boat building or the application of special glues and coatings.

Good luck.

 

[Lakesailor]

You are getting me really worried now - mine is 47 years old and shows no sign of falling apart just yet.

As you say you have owned it all that time then you are in control of the condition. It's my opinion that many of those appearing for sale are much more dubious.
I have restored a 50 year old ply wood dinghy which was starting to delaminate. Epoxy soaked in and restored much of the integrity. On a larger and more complex boat it would be a nightmare.
I've looked at quite a few project boats and wouldn't be tempted by an unloved ply one.