Wooden Boats

paella said:
I am most likely to be doing short handed sailing (if my wife joins me or not its basically single handed...if you get my gist!) which may again limit the possibilities but on the other hand cockpit room is not therefore a big issue. I like sailing in the winter and my main issue would be having a warm boat; I have a romantic vision of a solid fuel fire keeping me warm while anchored somewhere remote. Only being able to use a boat for 8 or 9 Months a year seems a waste which is why I am beginning this project.
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TG came with a solid fuel stove. One autumn evening we were tied up alongside and went ashore with the stove damped down. Came back later to find the stove glowing red and the bunk cushion nearby starting to melt! I decided to part with the stove..... (I guess modern ones will be safer!).
 
On my website there is a link to a free survey template for timber construction . If you would like the whole template you can simply email me and it will be sent by return. No strings just a useful document that can be used to help guide a structured inspection of a timber boat. Completely FOC. I do not make the template fully accessible from the site because it took a long time to construct and prefer it to only be used by non professionals

Regards

John
 
Thanks John. I'll e-mail you next week. I would not expect to become an expert and obviously would seek professional advice close to closing any deal but I am some way from that point so any information is going to be a great help.
 
johnlilley said:
On my website there is a link to a free survey template for timber construction . If you would like the whole template you can simply email me and it will be sent by return. No strings just a useful document that can be used to help guide a structured inspection of a timber boat. Completely FOC. I do not make the template fully accessible from the site because it took a long time to construct and prefer it to only be used by non professionals

Regards

John
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Hello John. Hope you're well. This is David Kirk on Amanda Louise. She's still going strong and I am still working through all the jobs you pointed out on the survey. Which was 12 years ago! In fact I'm sitting in her now. Heater on. Bottle of wine and thoroughly happy
 
Just a few to add to your list - Alan Buchanan was an excellent designer and the East Anglian class (28ft) are pretty nice and in your price bracket. Maurice Griffiths also did a number of nice boats, usually centreboarders, and they have a following. The Nicholson-designed South Coast One Design ("SCOD") is another nice boat.

Teak planking is less work than GRP.

The real classics are Fifes (=Vintage Bentley) Albert Strange (= Bugatti Type 35) and Harrison Butler (=early Aston Martin). You may not be able to afford these but talk to their owners as they tend to be experts.
 
Minn said:
The real classics are Fifes (=Vintage Bentley) Albert Strange (= Bugatti Type 35) and Harrison Butler (=early Aston Martin). You may not be able to afford these but talk to their owners as they tend to be experts.
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This cracks me up,I wonder where owners of wooden Sparkman & Stephens,Colin Archers, Roberts Clarke , John Alden,G.L. Watson, Kim Holman etc etc come in your pecking order for speaking to owners for advice. Who sails the Morris Minor of the sailing world? Oh, that must be me in my tubby little wooden Peter Duck designed by some bloke called Laurent Giles..
 
Eyore said:
This cracks me up,I wonder where owners of wooden Sparkman & Stephens,Colin Archers, Roberts Clarke , John Alden,G.L. Watson, Kim Holman etc etc come in your pecking order for speaking to owners for advice. Who sails the Morris Minor of the sailing world? Oh, that must be me in my tubby little wooden Peter Duck designed by some bloke called Laurent Giles..
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Too right. I reckon my hillyard is an old Rover 100. Real classics!!!!!
 
My first job was at Hillyards.On the first morning I was given the job of wheelbarrowing pig iron down the dock and helping to stow it.The boat a s I alw<ys recall was splendid,glistening varnish,traditional Hillyard color,white.The rigger was just finishing off a few eye splices .if I recall correctly thenew forman a Young man reckoned there was way too much pig iron going in the bilges so that relived me of a job........1969
 
Eyore said:
Who sails the Morris Minor of the sailing world? Oh, that must be me in my tubby little wooden Peter Duck designed by some bloke called Laurent Giles..
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I would not worry about it.

As well as the 'madness' of an old wooden boat we have a 1937 Morris 8.

i can tell you that there is immense pleasure to be had from parking him (Norris) on Wells harbour front. It was interesting when we did this a few weeks ago. Everybody stops to look, ask questions, always 'has a story', asks to take a photo....blah blah.

By contrast a Bentley Blower, parked nearby, only attracted distant glances. People, I think, were just too afraid to get closer.
 
Eyore said:
This cracks me up,I wonder where owners of wooden Sparkman & Stephens,Colin Archers, Roberts Clarke , John Alden,G.L. Watson, Kim Holman etc etc come in your pecking order for speaking to owners for advice. Who sails the Morris Minor of the sailing world? Oh, that must be me in my tubby little wooden Peter Duck designed by some bloke called Laurent Giles..
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I was making a joke. Your "tubby little" PD is bigger inside than almost all Albert Strange boats.

Seriously, since very few wooden boats have been built for forty years, Darwinian selection has operated - almost all the bad wooden boats went to pieces long ago. So the chances of buying a wooden boat that is really badly designed and built are rather small.
 
chinita said:
I would not worry about it.

As well as the 'madness' of an old wooden boat we have a 1937 Morris 8.

i can tell you that there is immense pleasure to be had from parking him (Norris) on Wells harbour front. It was interesting when we did this a few weeks ago. Everybody stops to look, ask questions, always 'has a story', asks to take a photo....blah blah.

By contrast a Bentley Blower, parked nearby, only attracted distant glances. People, I think, were just too afraid to get closer.
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Had the same thing once with Mirelle, we were on one of the Woolverstone hammerheads and the first Oyster 80 was on the other. The launch coxswain said he has asked every passenger which boat they liked best and they had all pointed at mine!
 
Eyore said:
This cracks me up,I wonder where owners of wooden Sparkman & Stephens,Colin Archers, Roberts Clarke , John Alden,G.L. Watson, Kim Holman etc etc come in your pecking order for speaking to owners for advice. Who sails the Morris Minor of the sailing world? Oh, that must be me in my tubby little wooden Peter Duck designed by some bloke called Laurent Giles..
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It's not easy to compare boats to cars, but I'd say a Peter Duck is more akin to a Morris Traveller.
 
OP you may be interested in a rather nice Goland Gaffer that is for sale at Deacons, Bursledon. I think its on at £20K and I don't know if its been on long enough for the seller to take an offer. I have not been on board but from the outside she looks like a very nice little boat. Comes complete with trailer and covers, by the look of it.

Oh and if you are down on a Saturday morning, feel free to come over to Swanwick and I'll put the kettle on, on my little wooden boat.

I should add that I have no connection with the seller, just admired the boat as I've walked past it.
 
chinita said:
i can tell you that there is immense pleasure to be had from parking him (Norris) on Wells harbour front. It was interesting when we did this a few weeks ago. Everybody stops to look, ask questions, always 'has a story', asks to take a photo....blah blah.
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I've always wanted to get a sticker for the back windscreen of my Citroën DS saying "Nobody's looking at your Porsche".
 
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