wooden liveaboard
biz
OK, now I've exhausted my search around usenet and the wider web for
information on this topic I thought I'd post for some fresh thoughts and
ideas.
I'm considering buying a wooden boat as a liveaboard, and I have some
major concerns. Almost everyone I come across - surveyors, brokers,
finance houses, insurance companies, usenet posters - seems to balk at
it to lesser or greater degrees. It seems established that they require
regular and vigilant maintenance. I don't want to buy a money pit, and
two marinas I've come across are so fed up with people abandoning wooden
boats they won't allow them. Any thoughts on this?
I've been quoted GBP950 (about $1800) for a survey on the hard, and the
surveyor will do an initial walk-through to see if it's worth going
ahead even to that stage. It's 45 feet long, and is carvel constructed.
I don't yet know the year or specific hull material. The beams are
about 2" x 2". I'm going to go along tomorrow and try to have as many
of the floorboards up as possible so that I can go through with a
bradawl and check for sponginess.
Think I should not risk it and try and find myself a nice <tongue in
cheek>easy</> steel-shell?
Biz
Brian Dominic
<fizz...@ntlspamlessworld.com> finished tucking into their plate of
fish, chips and mushy peas. Wiping their mouths, they swiggged the
last of their cup of tea, paid the bill and wrote::
>Hi group
>
>OK, now I've exhausted my search around usenet and the wider web for
>information on this topic I thought I'd post for some fresh thoughts and
>ideas.
>
>I'm considering buying a wooden boat as a liveaboard, and I have some
>major concerns. Almost everyone I come across - surveyors, brokers,
>finance houses, insurance companies, usenet posters - seems to balk at
>it to lesser or greater degrees. It seems established that they require
>regular and vigilant maintenance. I don't want to buy a money pit, and
>two marinas I've come across are so fed up with people abandoning wooden
>boats they won't allow them. Any thoughts on this?
If you don't want to buy a money pit, don't buy a boat at all! Wooden
boats are deeper money pits.
Brian L Dominic
Web Sites:
Canals: http://www.brianscanalpages.co.uk
Friends of the Cromford Canal: http://www.cromfordcanal.org.uk
(Waterways World Site of the Month, November 2005)
Newsgroup readers should note that the reply-to address is NOT read:
To email me, please send to brian(dot)dominic(at)tiscali(dot)co(dot)uk
biz
> On Tue, 06 Mar 2007 18:56:24 +0000, biz
>> regular and vigilant maintenance. I don't want to buy a money pit, and
>> two marinas I've come across are so fed up with people abandoning wooden
>> boats they won't allow them. Any thoughts on this?
>
> If you don't want to buy a money pit, don't buy a boat at all! Wooden
> boats are deeper money pits.
Oh dear! That's just the kind of pessimistic response I need!
Paul Scott
"biz" <fizz...@ntlspamlessworld.com> wrote in message
news:t7GdnaUu4d3cV3DY...@fireflyuk.net...
How to simulate living on a wooden boat.
1. Withdraw savings in Ł10 notes.
2. Take one with you each time you have a shower, and let it disintegrate
in the water.
3. Think of all the money you are saving...
Paul
Canaldrifter
Pessimistic? No. Realistic. You are getting good advice. Unless you
are an eccentric millionaire walk away now. You'll look back on this
experience in 10 years time and go 'phew'.... 'narrow' escape!
Tony H
biz
Yes - if pessimism is realistic that's definitely what I need to hear.
But is it really so bad? What exactly are these nightmares? You're
clearly speaking from experience.
I've read somewhere a comparison between GRP and wood boats that tots up
the initial outlay and the ongoing maintenance and they break roughly
even. I can't get a marine mortgage for a wooden boat, and won't risk
more than about a 10k loan for one - repayable in 3 years while leaving
me still able to save. But I've been wondering if it's worth paying a
longer and more expensive mortgage for a more expensive GRP or steel boat.
Sue
Depends if you want to sell it or throw it away when you have finished with
it.
What experience have you of living on a boat? Where do you want to live on
it?
Are you sure you can get a marine mortgage for a steel boat?
If you want some positive advice - wooden boats can be warmer to live on,
but this depends what you are comparing it with.
--
Sue nb Nackered Navvy
Canaldrifter
Your thinking of buying a leaky wooden boat with a loan???? Look......
step back from it. Imagine your best friend is suggesting he will do
what you are suggesting you will do. What would you say to him?
You're not in the real boaty world I'm afraid.
Tony H
biz
> it.
I want an asset after the loan is up. Hopefully worth more than the
loan I took out for it. I certainly don't aim to profit - I accept the
ongoing maintenance costs will be big. I do aim to improve it by
installing a shower-room and new galley to start.
> What experience have you of living on a boat? Where do you want to live on
> it?
None. Not even a holiday. Oh I went sailing a few times when I was 9,
staying on a 24' yacht belonging to friends of my parents.
There are two tidal moorings available; the one it's currently on, and
one further along the coast.
> Are you sure you can get a marine mortgage for a steel boat?
No, I haven't actually secured agreement for this.
> If you want some positive advice - wooden boats can be warmer to live on,
> but this depends what you are comparing it with.
That sounds good. I heard that salt water is better too, for rot.
biz
> Your thinking of buying a leaky wooden boat with a loan???? Look......
> step back from it. Imagine your best friend is suggesting he will do
> what you are suggesting you will do. What would you say to him?
If the walk-through survey shows it's leaking I will step back from it -
and keep stepping.
> You're not in the real boaty world I'm afraid.
Are all wooden boats essentially worthless?
Sue
Try RBOA residential boat owners association. Living on a boat is a steep
learning curve. You will probably be buying something that will depreciate
faster than the loan.
You do need a full survey, hopefully out of the water, before you even think
about making an offer. Good luck
Phil
Biz
Owning an old wooden boat is not like owning a vintage car.
Whilst both might have high running costs, vintage cars tend
to appreciate in value ..........................
Are you a real wooden boat enthusiast? - I suspect not!!
Look around any harbour or marina and take a note of the
construction of the typical unloved rotting hulk!
Wooden boats are for wooden boat enthusiasts with either
deep pockets or plenty of time and joinery skills.
Having said that, there ARE enthusiasts out there and a well
maintained wooden boat can have much more character than a
steel or GRP boat, but don't expect a high resale value.
Phil
Mike Stevens
>
> I'm considering buying a wooden boat as a liveaboard, and I have some
> major concerns. Almost everyone I come across - surveyors, brokers,
> finance houses, insurance companies, usenet posters - seems to balk at
> it to lesser or greater degrees. It seems established that they
> require regular and vigilant maintenance.
A few thoughts from a one-time owner of an old wooden boat. (See
http://tinyurl.com/3d4t6y )
If you have an old wooden boat, you'll soon stop thinking of floating as
something that boats just do. Old wooden boats don't like floating and are
continually trying to do the other thing. Short of a complete hull rebuild,
which turns it into a new wooden boat, an old wooden boat will always leak
somewhere. And just as you think you dealt with all the leaks, one day
you'll have a few guests on board, the boat will sit a few inches deeper in
the water, a seam that's been above the aterlibe for some moths and dried
our will now be below the water line, and off you go again. So floating
becaomes a dynamic exercise and you have to keep the dynamics working.
Not that a little leaking's necessarily fatal. A bilge-pump with an
automatic float-switch will look after it. But that means you've got
tomake sure tht the batteries are always up to standard, and you need to
check the float switch regularly in case it gets jammed with stuff that's go
no business in the bilges but gets there anyway.
At least if you're living aboard, you'll get early warning when something's
getting worse and be able to take preventive action before the worst
happens. Our old boat sank thee time in our ownership, each time when we'd
left it alone for a couple of weeks, a leak had deteriorated and the
bilge-pumo had drained the battery dry.
Old wooden boat-ownership is an experience I'm glad to have had but am not
in a harry to repeat. But then our old boat was truly old - the hull
nearly 100 years - and the hull was in pretty poor shape when we bought
it, which we did knowing it was an old wreck but that was all we could
afford. WE later found that at least one previous owner (not the one we
bought it from) had sold it on rather than get into expensive re-planking.
But after it left us, its next owner did a bit or replanking on the
waterline and was still living on the boat 11 years later, and we've heard
rumours of its continued existence even since then.
--
Mike Stevens
narrowboat Felis Catus III
web-site www.mike-stevens.co.uk
Defend the waterways.
Visit the web site www.saveourwaterways.org.uk
Mike Stevens
I agree with Brian that any boat is a money pit. But so's a house, and if
you're ging to live aboard that's a relevant factor.
Canaldrifter
> "biz" <fizzy...@ntlspamlessworld.com> wrote in message
Further to that, for general advice have a read of:
http://canaldrifter.blogspot.com/2006/07/canaldrifter-thinking-about-buying.html
Also click on a few other url's you will find attached to some of the
posts here.
There is a wealth of experience you can draw on if you are really
serious.... but I do really recommend that you hire a boat for a
holiday before parting with any borrowed cash on this project.
Tony H
Dave Mayall
<fizz...@ntlspamlessworld.com> wrote:
>Canaldrifter wrote:
>> On Mar 6, 8:10 pm, biz <fizzy...@ntlspamlessworld.com> wrote:
>>> Oh dear! That's just the kind of pessimistic response I need!
>>
>> Pessimistic? No. Realistic. You are getting good advice. Unless you
>> are an eccentric millionaire walk away now. You'll look back on this
>> experience in 10 years time and go 'phew'.... 'narrow' escape!
>
>Yes - if pessimism is realistic that's definitely what I need to hear.
>But is it really so bad?
No, it's worse.
Dave Mayall
<fizz...@ntlspamlessworld.com> wrote:
>Canaldrifter wrote:
>> Your thinking of buying a leaky wooden boat with a loan???? Look......
>> step back from it. Imagine your best friend is suggesting he will do
>> what you are suggesting you will do. What would you say to him?
>
>If the walk-through survey shows it's leaking I will step back from it -
>and keep stepping.
Save yourself the cost of a survey.
All wooden boats leak. It's just a question of how much they leak.
This is not somewhere that a novice with a loan should be going.
Why do you think you can't get a mortgage on it?
Brian J Goggin
<michael...@which.net> wrote:
>If you have an old wooden boat, you'll soon stop thinking of floating as
>something that boats just do. Old wooden boats don't like floating and are
>continually trying to do the other thing. Short of a complete hull rebuild,
>which turns it into a new wooden boat, an old wooden boat will always leak
>somewhere. [...]
And not just from below the waterline.
bjg
Mike Stevens
Some time after Wendy and I had our second boat, we windered why our
cruising oaytern had changed, involving a lot later average start time than
had been the case in the old boat. We eventurally realised it was the
result of having a non-leaking cabin roof.
David Long
<michael...@which.net> writes
>Brian J Goggin wrote:
>> On Wed, 7 Mar 2007 04:01:15 -0000, "Mike Stevens"
>> <michael...@which.net> wrote:
>>
>>> If you have an old wooden boat, you'll soon stop thinking of
>>> floating as something that boats just do. Old wooden boats don't
>>> like floating and are continually trying to do the other thing.
>>> Short of a complete hull rebuild, which turns it into a new wooden
>>> boat, an old wooden boat will always leak somewhere. [...]
>>
>> And not just from below the waterline.
>
>Some time after Wendy and I had our second boat, we windered why our
>cruising oaytern had changed, involving a lot later average start time than
>had been the case in the old boat. We eventurally realised it was the
>result of having a non-leaking cabin roof.
>
Englishe isn't working very well at present. Or else you're permanently
drunk and can't see your keyboard clearly.
--
David Long
Sankey Canal Restoration Society http://www.scars.org.uk/
A Road to Wigan Pier Webcam: http://www.scars.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/webcam/
St. Mary's Church: http://www.acny.org.uk/venue.php?V=15337&P=1
Neil Arlidge
> biz wrote:
>> Brian Dominic wrote:
>>> On Tue, 06 Mar 2007 18:56:24 +0000, biz
>>
>>>> regular and vigilant maintenance. I don't want to buy a money pit,
>>>> and two marinas I've come across are so fed up with people
>>>> abandoning wooden boats they won't allow them. Any thoughts on
>>>> this?
>>>
>>> If you don't want to buy a money pit, don't buy a boat at all!
>>> Wooden boats are deeper money pits.
>>
>> Oh dear! That's just the kind of pessimistic response I need!
>
> I agree with Brian that any boat is a money pit. But so's a house,
> and if you're ging to live aboard that's a relevant factor.
???
Our house has nearly trebled in value since we bought it in 1991.
The value of my son's flat has risen by 25K in the year he has been in it.
Earnest has lost around 7K in the 8 years I have owned it (that is pretty
un-typical, if I had gone down another builder route it could well be worth
20K less.)
I spend more money on maintaining Earnest than I do on our house...
As for wooden boats!!!
Ask Ian Clarke exactly how much he has spent on "Straight Across" since he
has owned it!...it must be MORE than what Earnest cost new!
--
Neil Arlidge - NB Earnest - The Wilderness years...
Follow the truly independent TNC at : http://www.tuesdaynightclub.co.uk
Visit this site and help save our waterways from the DEFRA cuts
http://www.saveourwaterways.org.uk/
Neil Arlidge
I have stopped Ian Clarke's boat leaking above "my" bunk!
CS
employment to a craftsman who is rebuilding them in various sections.
My friendly surveyor says never buy wood - but then went and got one.
Found him under the hull replacing planks. The only economical way to
own one is to have lots of time off and do any work yourself!!
Mike Stevens
> Mike - whatever you're using to translate your messages from Olde
> Englishe isn't working very well at present. Or else you're
> permanently drunk and can't see your keyboard clearly.
Sheer exhaustion after getting all the SOW event reports onto the web site!
Canaldrifter
> In message <557i4hF22ukd...@mid.individual.net>, Mike Stevens
> <michael.stev...@which.net> writes
>
> >Brian J Goggin wrote:
> >> On Wed, 7 Mar 2007 04:01:15 -0000, "Mike Stevens"
> >> <michael.stev...@which.net> wrote:
>
> >>> If you have an old wooden boat, you'll soon stop thinking of
> >>> floating as something that boats just do. Old wooden boats don't
> >>> like floating and are continually trying to do the other thing.
> >>> Short of a complete hull rebuild, which turns it into a new wooden
> >>> boat, an old wooden boat will always leak somewhere. [...]
>
> >> And not just from below the waterline.
>
> >Some time after Wendy and I had our second boat, we windered why our
> >cruising oaytern had changed, involving a lot later average start time than
> >had been the case in the old boat. We eventurally realised it was the
> >result of having a non-leaking cabin roof.
>
> Mike - whatever you're using to translate your messages from Olde
> Englishe isn't working very well at present. Or else you're permanently
> drunk and can't see your keyboard clearly.
>
Nutty professor syndrom.... £$->=
Tony H
Brian J Goggin
<michael...@which.net> wrote:
>David Long wrote:
>> Mike - whatever you're using to translate your messages from Olde
>> Englishe isn't working very well at present. Or else you're
>> permanently drunk and can't see your keyboard clearly.
>
>Sheer exhaustion after getting all the SOW event reports onto the web site!
So that's how the sow got on David's webcam lens.
bjg
Pete C
>Think I should not risk it and try and find myself a nice <tongue in
>cheek>easy</> steel-shell?
Buy steel or grp, then buy a small wood boat to do up.
Then slowly work up to a liveaboard size wood boat, do it up and move
on.
cheers,
Pete.
biz
> http://canaldrifter.blogspot.com/2006/07/canaldrifter-thinking-about-buying.html
Great! Thanks a lot for that. I reckon I've considered about 90% of it
already, but really good to have it all in one place.
I've been scouring the net for months about the subject of living
aboard, and only just come to arranging finance, talking to surveyors
and insurance agents, posting posts etc.
Next week I'm going to do my walkthrough with a surveyor, for a hundred
quid. He's a really good guy, and is the type to get carried away
talking about boats! Should be great value for my hundred, and well
worth it even if I don't buy the boat.
I've posted some photos up, but don't want to put the URL on usenet!
Just too lazy, really, to sort out something else. If anyone's *really*
interested to see, let me know and I'll email the URL.
Worrying result today - an insurance company gawped at the low price of
12k! He suggested it should need thousands of pounds' work doing on it
if it's going for that price. Scary...
biz
> Are you a real wooden boat enthusiast? - I suspect not!!
Not especially, no. I mean I appreciate the look of well-looked-after
varnished/polished wood - who doesn't? And I vastly prefer working with
wood compared with glass fibre, and I simply don't have the tools to
work well with steel. But this is not going to be an example of great
woodworking...
> Wooden boats are for wooden boat enthusiasts with either
> deep pockets or plenty of time and joinery skills.
>
> Having said that, there ARE enthusiasts out there and a well
> maintained wooden boat can have much more character than a
> steel or GRP boat, but don't expect a high resale value.
Please correct if this is wrong, but is the horrific amount of work
people keep going on about attributable to maintaining aforesaid
varnished/polished look? I mean the hull I'm getting is just painted.
There's no bare wood at all. The superstructure's all just marine ply,
glassed over and painted a fairly dismal battleship grey! Just
wondering if people's impression of wooden boats is the hours and hours
they've spent keeping varnished wood looking good. Certainly the
surveyor looked at me curiously when I mentioned the reaction I've got
on this group!
Canaldrifter
>
> Great! Thanks a lot for that. I reckon I've considered about 90% of it
> already, but really good to have it all in one place.
Thanks. Nice tio get some psoitive fedback. The updated version of
this will be on sale at Crick Rally this year at £2 (refundable to
those who join NABO).
> Next week I'm going to do my walkthrough with a surveyor, for a hundred
> quid. He's a really good guy, and is the type to get carried away
> talking about boats! Should be great value for my hundred, and well
> worth it even if I don't buy the boat.
Wise decision. I';m sure we'd all like to hear what he has to say.
>
> I've posted some photos up, but don't want to put the URL on usenet!
Why not?
> Just too lazy, really, to sort out something else. If anyone's *really*
> interested to see, let me know and I'll email the URL.
Yes please: vice dot chair at nabo dot org dot uk
>
> Worrying result today - an insurance company gawped at the low price of
> 12k! He suggested it should need thousands of pounds' work doing on it
> if it's going for that price. Scary...
What have we been trying to say ?
In boating trems yiu get what you pay for... or less....
Good luck
Tony H
Phil
> Please correct if this is wrong, but is the horrific amount of work
> people keep going on about attributable to maintaining aforesaid
> varnished/polished look? I mean the hull I'm getting is just painted.
> There's no bare wood at all. The superstructure's all just marine ply,
> glassed over and painted a fairly dismal battleship grey! Just
> wondering if people's impression of wooden boats is the hours and hours
> they've spent keeping varnished wood looking good. Certainly the
> surveyor looked at me curiously when I mentioned the reaction I've got
> on this group!
If everything is painted and the plywood superstructure has been glassed
over, this is probably an indication that a previous owner has attempted
to cut down on maintenance time/costs ? Plywood superstructures are
renowned for developing difficult to cure leaks.
By their nature, wooden boats are subject to constant structural movement
due to heat, cold, wetting, drying...... and if you will be cruising, by impact
damage. Be prepared for wet bilges and damp upholstery being the norm!
For most owners of old wooden boats, the priority is normally not having
a perfect varnished finish - more a case of attempting to maintain a dry
interior.
Phil
Mike Stevens
Not in the case of the experience I posted. The hull in question was a
shortened Joey boat that had spent the first thirty or so years of its life
hauling coal of whatever around the Birmingham canals. Not a polished piece
of wood in it. Hull sides were 100-year old rotting oak, bottoms ditto elm
and the cabin top 50-year old rotting masonite. Hull finish was tar,
cabin-top finish was Woolworth's gloss paint.
David Long
<fizz...@ntlspamlessworld.com> writes
>Phil wrote:
>> Are you a real wooden boat enthusiast? - I suspect not!!
>
>Not especially, no. I mean I appreciate the look of well-looked-after
>varnished/polished wood - who doesn't? And I vastly prefer working
>with wood compared with glass fibre, and I simply don't have the tools
>to work well with steel.
The beauty of steel is that it doesn't require anything more than
repainting periodically - with replating of the hull, or parts of it,
being a task most of us leave to experts. You should get at least 30
years out of a steel hull before it requires any serious work - so
paying a welder to sort it for another ten years isn't too bad.
>But this is not going to be an example of great woodworking...
>
>> Wooden boats are for wooden boat enthusiasts with either
>> deep pockets or plenty of time and joinery skills.
>> Having said that, there ARE enthusiasts out there and a well
>> maintained wooden boat can have much more character than a
>> steel or GRP boat, but don't expect a high resale value.
>
>Please correct if this is wrong, but is the horrific amount of work
>people keep going on about attributable to maintaining aforesaid
>varnished/polished look? I mean the hull I'm getting is just painted.
>There's no bare wood at all. The superstructure's all just marine ply,
>glassed over and painted a fairly dismal battleship grey!
It's sounding worse... why's it glassed over? Is there any decent ply
beneath?
>Just wondering if people's impression of wooden boats is the hours and
>hours they've spent keeping varnished wood looking good. Certainly the
>surveyor looked at me curiously when I mentioned the reaction I've got
>on this group!
You've got in touch with a canals newsgroup - we don't have shiny
varnished boats. All hulls are blacked, whether of wood or steel, and
superstructures are painted in garish colours. You don't see wood -
except inside, where many of us have shiny, varnished woodwork.
Brian J Goggin
<fizz...@ntlspamlessworld.com> wrote:
>Please correct if this is wrong, but is the horrific amount of work
>people keep going on about attributable to maintaining aforesaid
>varnished/polished look? I mean the hull I'm getting is just painted.
>There's no bare wood at all. The superstructure's all just marine ply,
>glassed over and painted a fairly dismal battleship grey! Just
>wondering if people's impression of wooden boats is the hours and hours
>they've spent keeping varnished wood looking good. Certainly the
>surveyor looked at me curiously when I mentioned the reaction I've got
>on this group!
Well, you see, there are really two types of wooden boats, defined by
two types of owners.
One type is the craftsman-built, beautifully maintained vessel, owned
by an enthusiast. It could be of any size from a canoe to an
ocean-going multi-masted yacht. It looks great, costs a fortune and is
likely to find a buyer amongst other enthusiasts if or when it does
come up for sale. So it's probably a good investment, provided that
you have either a lot of money or a lot of time and skills or,
preferably, both.
The other type is a cheap old wreck that has been much modified ---
probably using marine ply --- by a previous owner. The work here is in
preventing it from sinking, and preventing living conditions getting
too squalid (mould, condensation, cold etc), before you are ready to
abandon it. Assume on losing every penny you put into it --- look on
the money as a sort of substitute for rent --- and you may be
pleasantly surprised by getting a pound or two for it when you leave
it. Alternatively, you may be unpleasantly surprised by having to pay
for it to be hauled out of somebody's canal or river, broken up and
mostly disposed of in landfill.
bjg
Canaldrifter
wrote:
> On Thu, 08 Mar 2007 23:15:12 +0000, biz
>
Thsis turns out to be an old ex RN sea-going patrol boat with two
stonking great diesels in it!
Interesting project though. I recommend asking Biz for the image url.
It is worth a view.
Tony H
Brian J Goggin
wrote:
>By their nature, wooden boats are subject to constant structural movement
>due to heat, cold, wetting, drying...... and if you will be cruising, by impact
>damage. Be prepared for wet bilges and damp upholstery being the norm!
>
>For most owners of old wooden boats, the priority is normally not having
>a perfect varnished finish - more a case of attempting to maintain a dry
>interior.
Good points.
If the boat was originally designed as a pleasure craft, or even as an
open boat, it will probably have been intended for short-term use in
fine weather. And it may be poorly insulated. If you're living on it
full time, and still more if you're heating it, you will need a lot of
ventilation to keep the damp under control. It might not sink the
boat, but it could make a very unpleasant living space.
bjg
Al Thomason
Have been watching your question, and replies on this forum, as well
as another popular one :-)
I am a wooden boat owner, and about a year ago posted my experience,
which I am copying below. Though I am located inthe USA, I think most
of this translate over the sea as long as you are in an area that
still works with Wood. (Living in Florida might be an issue...)
One thing about living aboard, moisture is a real issue. And the hull
material does not really matter. Cooking, washing, bathing, just
breathing adds water to the air. And no mater what you end up with,
you will have to deal with that.
Good luck! And if you have not looked at www.woodenboats.com, would
recommend doing so. Their forum (bottom left had side of 1st page)
has a LOT of experience in it.
-al-
===========================================================
FWIW: I am restoring a 45' Ed Monk/McQueen trawler, wood. The boat
was built in 1961 and had been left with little maintenance in the
Seattle Washington (USA) area for about 6 years when I purchased it.
Most all of my restoration work has been around wood rot basically as
a result of this lack of maintenance. (Not all, there have also been
some issues with the original design, as well as repairs made through
out the boats history).
I have a dry bilge. Fasteners strong (lucky to have all bronze. Both
below and above the water line). Need to maintain the caulking at
each hall out (my last hall I ended up replacing 3 butt blocks,
reefing and recorked about 150' of seams). Paint the boat about once
every 2-3 years. My limited external bright work is Cetal (GASP),
while the interior is Varnished.
So far my experience has been that the actual yearly maintenance work
is not that large. Bottom paint at Hallouts (same), fix seams as
needed (Wood only), make sure rain water intrusion is taken care of
right away (Perhaps same). Wash the boat when dirty (same). No need
to Wax a wood boat though!
To me the biggest issue with Wood Boats is that if you do not do the
maintenance when it is needed they start to deteriorate quickly, and
after some time deteriorate rather fast. So, you need to keep up on
it. Wood boats also tend to have more Bright Work, and often Teak
decks. Those bring their own maintenance issues unrelated to the hull
material. Brightwork can be painted, the Rhino guy called for the
Teak Decks and Walla, you have the same level as some all white FG
boats. But in the end I am not seeing much more work maintaing a
wood boat compared to the FG boats. And by no means is it 10x the
work.
I ended up with a wood boat because frankly, it allowed me to purchase
and operate much more of a boat that I could afford otherwise. I
enjoy working on the boat, and do most of the work myself. I also
think this is key. I also happen to live in the PNW where wooden
boats are still known, and there are skills available.
Now I will also say that there are MANY wooden boats ready to fall
apart, remember most are 40+ years old. I think you need to be really
careful when selecting one, even at a great price. Many of them are
just not worth the effort to bring them back to life, unless that in
its self is the goal. But there are good boats available, and many at
a very attractive price.
To be honest, if I did not enjoy working on the boat I would most
surely have a FG boat. Only because they can tolerate lack of
maintenance for a longer period of time. And if I had to pay someone
every time something needed attention, I just might be more likely to
put it off for a while.
But remember, all boats get dock dings. All boats need the chrome
washed and perhaps polished. All boats need to have rain water leaks
taken care of. And FG boats do have a list of issue all to their own:
Cored decks, Hull Blisters, crazed gel coat, etc. Take a look at a FG
boat that has not been maintained for 5-10 years and you might see
what I mean. (Ever seen heavily oxidized Gel Coat, or an interior
Mold Forest from a leaking deck fitting?)
Not sure this helps you, but just wanted to put out one word that Wood
Boat does not necessarily mean endless work and maintenance. And you
can get significantly more boat in Wood the any other material.
-al-
starcla...@googlemail.com
> On Thu, 08 Mar 2007 23:15:12 +0000, biz
>
ur even worse
im so glad u have a steel boat and i hope you keep it in a marina and
never go anywhere with it beause i would hate to share a lock with you
Brian J Goggin
>ur even worse
>im so glad u have a steel boat and i hope you keep it in a marina and
>never go anywhere with it beause i would hate to share a lock with you
Well, yes. I'm sure you would. You'd have had to cross the Irish Sea,
for a start, and the teredo worms would have eaten your bottom before
you got this far.
But around here we always allow the tree class vessels first into the
locks: they absorb the impact so much more quietly than the crunchy
fibreglass boats.
And they're so handy for bonfires and barbecues.
bjg (44 tons)
--
bjg
Kill the box: TV Turn-Off Week 23 to 29 April 2007