Wood vs GRP

[Iota]

We have a GRP 38 footer up for sale and we will replace with something smaller for a mooring we will have from April. I have see a couple of wooden boats that I like the look of…

My wife who is also my sailing partner is concerned about the additional maintance work that a wooden yacht entails over a GRP yacht.

Annual maintence on the GRP boat
Service the engine – same on Wooden yacht
Replace annodes – same on Wooden yacht
Antifoul, soft self polishing – Wooden boat?
Polish Hull and top sides – Wooden boat ?
Treat the teak capping rail, grab handles and cockpit.
‘Polish’ wood below - same on Wooden yacht
Check all electric circuits- same on Wooden yacht
Service anchor windlass- same on Wooden yacht
Polish stainless- same on Wooden yacht
Check safety gear- same on Wooden yacht

On a wooden boat I guess you also have additional annual varnishing and painting or varnsishing the hull every couple of years?

How long should a wooden boat be lifted for each year? I am guessing a couple of weeks max?

Slightly different tack – how does one find and commission a surveyor in France?

all input wellcome

Iota

 

[pyrojames]

Virtually everything is the same, except for painting and varnishing above and below deck. Hull can be done every 2-3 years, A/F is the same, although you may have to prime any bare patches of timber. You can generally take them out of the water for as long as you like over the winter, but over summer more care is required.

Then there are the jobs that you tend not to get with GRP. Keel bolts through the timber keel. More suscepatble to leaks and therefore corrosion. Possibility of planks needing caulking if the hull is a bit flexible. Failing fastenings in the planks and deadwood required replacement if the boat is old. This can be a big one, but shouldn't be needed if the boat is looked after. Areas of rot, if the boat or paint has been neglected. Wooden mast, out for varnish/paint every 1-3 years.

In all, a good boat with a good survey should be fine.

 

[Peterduck]

I think that it is important to distinguish between annual maintenance and restoration. Maintenance is what you do to prevent the boat from falling into disrepair. Restoration is what you do to correct disrepair once it has happened. As Iota has correctly pointed out, there is very little difference in maintenance between a wooden and a plastic boat. It is in restoration of the structure that the difference arises. Although it can be expensive when it strikes, especially if you have to employ someone else to do the work, it doesn't strike every year unless the boat is a full-on restoration project, and then you know that from the very beginning. Or at least you should know that.
Painting the topsides is something that is usually done semi-annually, and can be done by the owner with a brush. Repainting a plastic boat has to be done every decade or so, and must be done by a competent boat painter with a spray outfit and lots of tarpaulins to protect other boats in the yard.
Peter.

 

[oldharry]

PeterDuck is right: start with a wooden boat that is in top condition, and maintenance is straightforward. Start with a 'repair' list of a dozen items, and before you know where you are the list is longer than the boat! At that point you have given up sailing and taken up boat restoration.

 

[halcyon]

[ QUOTE ]
Painting the topsides is something that is usually done semi-annually, and can be done by the owner with a brush. Repainting a plastic boat has to be done every decade or so, and must be done by a competent boat painter with a spray outfit and lots of tarpaulins to protect other boats in the yard.
Peter.

[/ QUOTE ]

My plastic boat still has the same hull gell coat finish it left the factory with 36 years ago, just clean and polish each spring.
It seems a full time job keeping up with the 36 year old woodwork though.
We set out to buy a SCOD, had a survey, then a estimate of repairs to hull, cost 3 times the buying price. Decided on the Halcyon 27, wooden hull made in plastic, best of both worlds.
End of the day, I think it's the boat, not wood or plastic, or the maintenance thats the primary thing. It doe not matter if you buy wood or plastic, if it's not mega money, they both have a lot of work.

Brian