Wooden boat lament…….

[Wansworth]

The modern grp constructed yacht presents the purchaser with many basic unknowns even a survey cannot garante its solidness.Amongst their possible problems are Osmosi,voids,delaminationin sandwich construction,leaks around deck hardware leading to sodden cord material.Thru deck rigging anchorage sand all manner of problems with associated adhesives used in modern boat building.And then there is the end of life disposal problem!……Meanwhile a properly constructed craft made of wood does have problems but they are visible and easily fixed….cutting out rot ,se placing individual planks or knees etc.Keel bolts can be easily drawn and replaced etc.As stout wooden boat will last the life time of a man or woman and with a good sanding and scraping look like new even after years.Although grp opened up boating to the masses it has left a trail of destruction in depletion of skilled craftsmen creeksfull of glassfibre hulks that won’t go away or rot gracefully like a wooden craft…….

 

[Fr J Hackett]

The modern grp constructed yacht presents the purchaser with many basic unknowns even a survey cannot garante its solidness.Amongst their possible problems are Osmosi,voids,delaminationin sandwich construction,leaks around deck hardware leading to sodden cord material.Thru deck rigging anchorage sand all manner of problems with associated adhesives used in modern boat building.And then there is the end of life disposal problem!……Meanwhile a properly constructed craft made of wood does have problems but they are visible and easily fixed….cutting out rot ,se placing individual planks or knees etc.Keel bolts can be easily drawn and replaced etc.As stout wooden boat will last the life time of a man or woman and with a good sanding and scraping look like new even after years.Although grp opened up boating to the masses it has left a trail of destruction in depletion of skilled craftsmen creeksfull of glassfibre hulks that won’t go away or rot gracefully like a wooden craft…….

Cutting out rot, I give you Tally Ho

 

[Wansworth]

Cutting out rot, I give you Tally Ho

Yes….I didn’t want to include Tally Ho as it has been acomplete rebuild..Butthere have been countless wooden craft made seaworthy after a few years work All my yachts have been secondhand and wood,except for my world girdlingmacwesterKelpieAll bought cheaply and restored to seagoing condition

 

[ProDave]

have been countless wooden craft made seaworthy after a few years work

If boat repair is your hobby then that is good.

Otherwise buy a plastic boat and go sailing.

 

[Wansworth]

If boat repair is your hobby then that is good.

Otherwise buy a plastic boat and go sailing.

I don’t think that’s altogether correct

 

[Stemar]

Most of the structural issues with GRP boats are pretty minor, and unlikely to sink you. I made a plastic boat seaworthy after several years of, err, deferred maintenance in a winter. The same period of neglect on a wooden boat would have required years of work by a skilled craftsman, way beyond my pay grade.

It's like dogs and cats - dogs have owners, cats have staff. Plastic boats have owners, wooden boats have staff - if they're lucky.

Don't get me wrong, I love a good wooden boat but, like animals, I respect them far too much to inflict the level of care I'm prepared to invest.

 

[LittleSister]

The modern grp constructed yacht presents the purchaser with many basic unknowns even a survey cannot garante its solidness.Amongst their possible problems are Osmosi,voids,delaminationin sandwich construction,leaks around deck hardware leading to sodden cord material.Thru deck rigging anchorage sand all manner of problems with associated adhesives used in modern boat building.And then there is the end of life disposal problem!……

We\re all doomed!

 

[Wansworth]

We\re all doomed!

I would feel much happier buying a wooden boat than a grp one with double skin sandwich construction with windows stuck on

 

[Fr J Hackett]

I would feel much happier buying a wooden boat than a grp one with double skin sandwich construction with windows stuck on

Looking at your maintenance issues re garden furniture and patio I would hope your pockets are deep enough to employ a shipwright.

 

[Wansworth]

Looking at your maintenance issues re garden furniture and patio I would hope your pockets are deep enough to employ a shipwright.

Oh in my younger days I was a dab hand at bodging ina plank or fixing a deck or replacing keel bolts…..sadly my lack interest in domestic repairs has lead to aforementioned problems but nothing that a bodges like cannot fix

 

[LittleSister]

I would feel much happier buying a wooden boat than a grp one with double skin sandwich construction with windows stuck on

Go on admit it. You're secretly a millionaire who's terrified of actually going sailing, aren't you? So a wooden boat will be perfect for you.

Of course, a few GRP boats can have structural problems, but don't you think it's curious that 99% of the boats actually out there on the water, crossing oceans, winning races, or just pottering about, are GRP, and last for 50 plus years with only minor maintenance?

I trust that your car is also hand-built, with wooden chassis and body, so you can appreciate the craftsmanship and avoid the terrors of modern materials and construction methods.

With all that timber cluttering up your shed, shouldn't you be knocking up a dinghy out of it? You need to get cracking with that so it's finished before the garden furniture needs attention.

 

[Wansworth]

Go on admit it. You're secretly a millionaire who's terrified of actually going sailing, aren't you? So a wooden boat will be perfect for you.

Of course, a few GRP boats can have structural problems, but don't you think it's curious that 99% of the boats actually out there on the water, crossing oceans, winning races, or just pottering about, are GRP, and last for 50 plus years with only minor maintenance?

I trust that your car is also hand-built, with wooden chassis and body, so you can appreciate the craftsmanship and avoid the terrors of modern materials and construction methods.

With all that timber cluttering up your shed, shouldn't you be knocking up a dinghy out of it? You need to get cracking with that so it's finished before the garden furniture needs attention.

It’s the wrong wood

 

[LittleSister]

It’s the wrong wood

It will still work, just won't last as long. And that could be seen as an advantage, as when you finish it you'll have better ideas about how you want to do the next one.

 

[Wansworth]

It will still work, just won't last as long. And that could be seen as an advantage, as when you finish it you'll have better ideas about how you want to do the next one.

The only craft I could make might be a raft with a few oil drums lashed together…….Mostly old chestnut floor beams off cuts of deal and assorted 4x4

 

[justanothersailboat]

Any boat at all will deteriorate, need effort to keep up, and if this effort is not applied, the deterioration snowballs to the point where the choice is a Tally Ho level effort or scrap it.

But with a wooden boat, the minimum effort input to keep level with this process is quite high. I looked at wooden boats, I loved them, I accepted that if I bought one I would be condemning it to ruin because after work, family and other obligations (including occasionally having to build garden furniture!) I can't meet that effort threshold.

The ominous fibreglass problems Wansworth lists are mostly just as tackle-able by the amateur as wooden boat problems and bad problems are rather rarer than with wood.

But the worst thing for either kind of boat is... not using it! they seem to go to pieces very quickly if left.
Therefore the best mitigation to the boat disposal problem is to buy a used one and use it, greatly postponing the day it becomes waste. You know it makes sense.

 

[Wansworth]

It will still work, just won't last as long. And that could be seen as an advantage, as when you finish it you'll have better ideas about how you want to do the next one.

Any boat at all will deteriorate, need effort to keep up, and if this effort is not applied, the deterioration snowballs to the point where the choice is a Tally Ho level effort or scrap it.

But with a wooden boat, the minimum effort input to keep level with this process is quite high. I looked at wooden boats, I loved them, I accepted that if I bought one I would be condemning it to ruin because after work, family and other obligations (including occasionally having to build garden furniture!) I can't meet that effort threshold.

The ominous fibreglass problems Wansworth lists are mostly just as tackle-able by the amateur as wooden boat problems and bad problems are rather rarer than with wood.

But the worst thing for either kind of boat is... not using it! they seem to go to pieces very quickly if left.
Therefore the best mitigation to the boat disposal problem is to buy a used one and use it, greatly postponing the day it becomes waste. You know it makes sense.

My 23foot mashford 4 toner once brought back was in my opinion not too arduous to maintain…..the Albin Vega I also owned introduced meto hull and deck polishing……whereas a light rub down of the topsides of the Mashford anda lick of paint brought her up like new

 

[LittleSister]

My 23foot mashford 4 toner once brought back was in my opinion not too arduous to maintain…..the Albin Vega I also owned introduced meto hull and deck polishing……whereas a light rub down of the topsides of the Mashford anda lick of paint brought her up like new

There was nothing stopping you painting the Albin instead of polishing it.

Why did you part with the Mashford?

 

[Wansworth]

There was nothing stopping you painting the Albin instead of polishing it.

Why did you part with the Mashford?

After working inthe coasters I amassed a fortune and upgraded to Commando class motor sailer designed by Angus Primrose……a some what disastrous choice but all repairable and she got me to Spain

 

[Baggywrinkle]

There are quite a few wooden boats on the lake where I live. Every year at launch time in spring, the boatyard launches the wooden boats and ties them to the pier with about a foot and a half under the keel. After they have sunk and been pumped out a few times, and the wood has got wet and expanded to seal all the gaps, they have the masts fitted and are towed out to their moorings. Sometimes, but not very often, they start to sink on their moorings and have to be rescued - but that's the fun of owning a wooden boat. Some of them look absolutely gorgeous - but I wouldn't want to own one.

 

[oldmanofthehills]

The problem with GRP is that it wont rot away. I doubt any except a few have ever heard of an aquaintances boat actually sinking from
osmosis. (trolling quickly through internet I cant find an example)

One shouldnt paint GRP as surveyors always take a dim view that it might be hiding a bodged crash repair however never worry about paint on wood as essentially they know it is rotten or about to become so in a years time anyway.

The fittings rot on all boats and GRP indestructibility can leave wrecks afloat that had they been wood, would be decently rotting at the bottom of some creek. I did not even ponder hull condition buying my 40 year old plastic motor sailer.

I think Wandsworth wants romance not boats, as he never actually buys one - wood steel aluminium or plastic