Wooden boat lament…….

I got caught up in a daydream of a stunningly beautiful, 100year old wooden 38ft yacht for sale last year. Easily within budget & with a “row away” factor to die for.

The cabin looked absolutely perfect for enjoying a cut glass tumbler of peated whisky, on a cool evening with the fire going beside your feet after a cracking sail to west loch Tarbert on Jura.

Then I thought how much maintenance my 34ft 1980’s plastic boat demands. That I can decommission her in an outdoor yard in October and leave her with confidence ’till March. Then I thought of the cost of having to put a wooden boat in a shed each winter and then as I’m working with a family so limited time, have to pay a skilled craftsman to do the inevitable maintenance.

I came to the ultimate conclusion, I’m not wealthy enough to run a ‘cheap’ wooden boat.
 
I own a very beautiful wooden Folkboat, which is on my driveway right now. During the last winter I had 5 days, I counted them, in which the weather was good enough to be able to work on her. She'd been in the water for 2 years, and does have some rot, some of which is by the keel.
I do have the skills to be able to fix her, but no longer can, as the 'romance' of working on my wooden boat has left me after a mere 12 years.
I'm now too old, and believe that what @ProDave stated in post #4 is correct.
The boat has effectively reached the end of her life, and I'll repurpose the mahogany to a boatbuilder for free, and sell the 'boat bits' left over.
Perhaps a newer wooden boat would've been more sustainable, perhaps if the weather hadn't been quite so dreadful or that I'd a barn to work on her in, this wouldn't have happened, but now owning a GK24 has opened my eyes somewhat, as it's all SO easy. This might be due to the design being much more modern, or it being a Westerly, or not having an inboard engine and being light enough to not need one, it's just easier, and now life's too short.
 
It's a shame but there are lots of nice wooden yachts still around. Unfortunately, many are covered up, both in the marinas and ashore. The only time you can appreciate them is when they go sailing.
 
Snowgoose-1 said:
It's a shame but there are lots of nice wooden yachts still around. Unfortunately, many are covered up, both in the marinas and ashore. The only time you can appreciate them is when they go sailing.
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Its a shame that there are lots of rotting hulks on slipways and yards, taking up space, failing to be recycled as firewood or furniture and encouraging the deluded to utterly waste their small years on this planet.

Yes some are worth conserving, but compared to the vast number of saveable historic things the need protection, or the number of local projects that need helping hands, the number of wooden boats really justifying conservation is few - and these need specialist work as done in Bristol docks and elsewhere
 
That's a shame Jamie... the rain has definitely been very difficult for outside boat work, it was bad enough on a grp boat! Are you sure the Folkboat is end of life?

oldmanofthehills, I think "encourgaing the deluded" was a bit harsh - if someone wants their leisure to feature a lot of boat restoration, good on them. I do, actually, but I learned where my practical limits are (by taking on all sorts of things in other areas and succeeding at some, but accepting defeat on others - it's not the worst way to learn, but hard to do that on boats as they're such a big job).

I have a guilty admission here. Though I am much more sentimental about restoring old boats than some, I also make furniture and I would absolutely love a modest-sized scrapped boatsworth of curved hardwood in smallish sections to make interesting chairs with 🤔
 
justanothersailboat said:
That's a shame Jamie... the rain has definitely been very difficult for outside boat work, it was bad enough on a grp boat! Are you sure the Folkboat is end of life?

oldmanofthehills, I think "encourgaing the deluded" was a bit harsh - if someone wants their leisure to feature a lot of boat restoration, good on them. I do, actually, but I learned where my practical limits are (by taking on all sorts of things in other areas and succeeding at some, but accepting defeat on others - it's not the worst way to learn, but hard to do that on boats as they're such a big job).

I have a guilty admission here. Though I am much more sentimental about restoring old boats than some, I also make furniture and I would absolutely love a modest-sized scrapped boatsworth of curved hardwood in smallish sections to make interesting chairs with 🤔
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I may be deemed harsh but the present geological era is completely dominated by humans waste which will last millions of years beyond our own fragile remains. I am not sure there will be any geologists to examine the strata then as we are presently stumbling to our own extinction but one can hope

And more particularly every creek, parish wharf or similar place to work on boats or keep them for the winter is full of never to float again eyesores - plastic and wood. Triage. If its doomed, give it a kindly send off. Recycle where possible but otherwise burn the lot !
 
Inversneckie. On the same berth that STAKKR was on for 10 years near enough. I'm conditioned to automatically walk there, and would be confused if they moved me!
 
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jamie N said:
I own a very beautiful wooden Folkboat, which is on my driveway right now. During the last winter I had 5 days, I counted them, in which the weather was good enough to be able to work on her. She'd been in the water for 2 years, and does have some rot, some of which is by the keel.
I do have the skills to be able to fix her, but no longer can, as the 'romance' of working on my wooden boat has left me after a mere 12 years.
I'm now too old, and believe that what @ProDave stated in post #4 is correct.
The boat has effectively reached the end of her life, and I'll repurpose the mahogany to a boatbuilder for free, and sell the 'boat bits' left over.
Perhaps a newer wooden boat would've been more sustainable, perhaps if the weather hadn't been quite so dreadful or that I'd a barn to work on her in, this wouldn't have happened, but now owning a GK24 has opened my eyes somewhat, as it's all SO easy. This might be due to the design being much more modern, or it being a Westerly, or not having an inboard engine and being light enough to not need one, it's just easier, and now life's too short.
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IMG-20240611-WA0001.jpg
 
My brother in law was in a syndicate that owned a whelk trawler called Spirit of Brittania. It all became too much for them and they gifted it. The enthusiasm waned as the maintenance increased.
BRITANNIA SAILING TRUST, DEVON | National Historic Ships
Incidentally, I was speaking to Ken Bagley who was a fisherman out of Boston, and he had actually worked her in his youth.
 
As long as it’s not sinking a little cutter makes a fine weekend retreat with no need to pretend you are going sailing in anything over force three….whats no to like😂
 
Minerva said:
I came to the ultimate conclusion, I’m not wealthy enough to run a ‘cheap’ wooden boat.
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Which also means, I think, you are also not wealthy enough to own an expensive wooden boat - before long it would turn into a cheap wooden boat.

oldmanofthehills said:
I think Wandsworth wants romance not boats . . .
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Perhaps true. Wooden boats (with bonus points if they're powered by gaff rigs, canvas sails and semi-diesel engines) are ideal for the purpose, provided they're restricted to being on videos, rather than on one's yard bill.
 
Wansworth said:
As long as it’s not sinking a little cutter makes a fine weekend retreat with no need to pretend you are going sailing in anything over force three….whats no to like😂
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There's the solution! Buy some nail-sick old cutter and put it in your garden!

Alternatively, you could use all that scrap timber in your shed to knock up a facsimile of a traditional wooden boat's saloon inside your shed, and spend your weekends in there. :)


Wansworth said:
. . .no need to pretend you are going sailing in anything over force three….
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In which case a big overlapping genoa and small main (see your other thread) will be no problem.
 
LittleSister said:
There's the solution! Buy some nail-sick old cutter and put it in your garden!

Alternatively, you could use all that scrap timber in your shed to knock up a facsimile of a traditional wooden boat's saloon inside your shed, and spend your weekends in there. :)




In which case a big overlapping genoa and small main (see your other thread) will be no problem.
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😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
 
I like seeing well maintained wood vessels, and admire the boats and those with the dedication and funds to keep them well maintained.

My first two boats were wood. A small pro built ply cruising catamaran followed by a 50ft decommissioned fishing boat. This was a small Zulu and had been first launched in 1914 without an engine. I had dreams of refitting it as a cruising yacht with gaff ketch rig. However running it for two years to deploy current meters and wave buoys made me realise that I lacked both the skills and funds to do the work. Fortunately, Wooden Ships found someone who had, and sold her for the same price as I paid.
My third boat was a fibreglass sloop. The next boat, built of steel slowly rusted away inside while the external coatings looked good. So back to fibreglass for my last two.
 
srm said:
I like seeing well maintained wood vessels, and admire the boats and those with the dedication and funds to keep them well maintained.

My first two boats were wood. A small pro built ply cruising catamaran followed by a 50ft decommissioned fishing boat. This was a small Zulu and had been first launched in 1914 without an engine. I had dreams of refitting it as a cruising yacht with gaff ketch rig. However running it for two years to deploy current meters and wave buoys made me realise that I lacked both the skills and funds to do the work. Fortunately, Wooden Ships found someone who had, and sold her for the same price as I paid.
My third boat was a fibreglass sloop. The next boat, built of steel slowly rusted away inside while the external coatings looked good. So back to fibreglass for my last two.
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I do have a hankering for a metal boat. Entirely irrational for the reasons you mentioned. But the few steel boats I’ve been on have been better insulated than any GRP boat so in my head they would be more suitable for comfortable use through a Scottish winter…

Plus I could play at pretending to be sailing through the NW passage in my head.
 
Wansworth said:
I would feel much happier buying a wooden boat than a grp one with double skin sandwich construction with windows stuck on
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Would not buy either. There are plenty of GRP boats without stuck on windows or sandwich hulls.
Minerva said:
I do have a hankering for a metal boat. Entirely irrational for the reasons you mentioned. But the few steel boats I’ve been on have been better insulated than any GRP boat so in my head they would be more suitable for comfortable use through a Scottish winter…

Plus I could play at pretending to be sailing through the NW passage in my head.
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Yes, steel boat was insulated between lining and plating down to below cabin sole and it made a difference. Boat nice and warm with frost or snow on deck when living aboard one winter in Lerwick. Got serious condensation on windows and frames and also a bit on deckhead where lining contacted frames. There were melt lines on coachroof and deck along the frames.

Never did get to the NW passage, but Lerwick to Lofoten is not much more than 500 miles and gets you across the arctic circle. Did it for my YM Ocean passage which struck me as a cheat as I was probably never more than 36 hours from shelter as only needed to stay 100 miles from the land.

However, my last GRP boat was insulated to a similar standard, but she had a custom fit out from new for serious cruising. Not normal for a production boat. Sandwich construction, fairly normal for decks, does offer some thermal insulation and more can often be fitted if wanted. Even thick carpeting stuck to inside of hull in lockers etc will cut condensation.
 
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