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Old 01-28-2013, 01:21 PM   #27
Tad Roberts
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City: Flattop Islands
Vessel Name: Blackfish
Vessel Model: custom
Join Date: Dec 2012
Posts: 724
Quote:
Originally Posted by GFC View Post
One of the best replies to this question comes from the current BOAT US magazine. It's a response to a letter with a question about worms in wood hulls. This answer was provided by one of BOAT US's Tech Team, Don Casey. In the original letter the writer said there were some worm holes in the hull of a boat he was looking at. The guys on the dock said to stay away from a wood hull. The writer of the letter was asking about that.

" The guys have a point. Wooden boats do way better in a cold climate, but there are plenty of wood boats in southern waters. The analogy that appeals to me is the difference between wooden and composite tennis rackets. Both are fine in use, but if you fail to take exacting care of the wooden one when not in use, it commits suicide. The composite one just waits. Hulls are like that. Wood boats are wonderful to sail aboard, quiet and substantial-feeling, but extremely vulnerable to neglect. The question you need to answer is, how much time or money are you Willing to commit to maintenance, and how conscientious are you? If you're the kind of person who sometimes lets things slide, or if you life is so complicated that time is sometimes just unavailable, then you should stay away from a wood boat. Wood boats are never a bargain. Wood-boat ownership has to be a passionate lover affair. As for worms; Painting the bottom carefully every years is typically adequate to prevent or at least severely limit worm attacks. A more durable defense is fiberglass sheathing or coating the bottom with a coal-tar epoxy. "

I think his comments about the type of person who should buy/own a wood boat are probably pretty accurate.
Typical gross generalization and downright misinformation from the ignorant. This guy has never owned or maintained a wooden boat, or a steel or aluminum one either......An aluminum boat is "extremely vulnerable to neglect" as well. I spend a lot more time going around our marina re-tieing the lines on plastic boats and never have to deal with the wooden boats, so plastic boats are not for those who "sometimes let things slide".

His pronouncement that "wooden boats are never a bargain" is rubbish. A wooden boat with superior pedigree is just as likely (perhaps more likely due to silly prejudice) to be a bargain as any other boat in any other material.

And his information on bottom maintenance is completely wrong. We now have non-ablative (so called hard) bottom paints that (properly applied) are good for at least 3 years on a softwood hull. Sheathing with fiberglass or epoxy is an extreme measure that usually results in disaster. Far better to maintain the hull in way originally intended, with very judicious use of modern products.
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