Is it difficult to sell a wood Grand Banks?

Caulking is an art form. As the seam widens you pull a bigger loop but how much bigger is learned by experience. Seams can be evened out with a making iron driven in before caulking with cotton but if a seam is really wide it should be splined -cut open wider with a router( now days) and another piece of shaped wood fitted to make a new plank edge.
All time consuming. As to the driving it is all about the sound. The right amount of caulk driven to the right depth sounds right. Too much or too little sounds wrong.
Love wooden boats just have no desire to own one. Any time I think my steel boat is a lot of work I think about wood boats. Then go happily back to grinding and painting and sometimes welding.

Marin said:

Yes they do. This is something we have been working on for our own boat for some time now.

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Marin

You mention that tongue-in-cheek... or are you really looking into that type resting place for your GB??

If so... what are your findings? Sounds interesting.

Plenty FRPs waiting to become sea life habitats. Seems to me the eventual disintegrations of fiberglass portions like gel coat, resin, and laminate fabric would become detrimental to fish and other creatures of the deep.

Art said:

Marin

You mention that tongue-in-cheek... or are you really looking into that type resting place for your GB??

If so... what are your findings? Sounds interesting.

Plenty FRPs waiting to become sea life habitats. Seems to me the eventual disintegrations of fiberglass portions like gel coat, resin, and laminate fabric would become detrimental to fish and other creatures of the deep.

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This has been a great thread. If you are really going to bite on this recurring BS troll at least have the decency to start another thread and not hijack this good one.

Art-- It's a lot of jumping through hoops with the regulatory agencies. The primary considerations are environmental and considerable effort (and expense) is required to sanitize the boat. However at this point we feel it's the direction we're going to go. Every state is probably different so what applies here may not apply in other locations.

Per Craig's very valid comment above I'm not going to discuss this anymore other than to say it's been something we've been working toward for a long time now. We've been pulling a hell of a lot of fish out of these waters for the last 30-plus years. Seems to us we ought to give something back.

CPseudonym said:

This has been a great thread. If you are really going to bite on this recurring BS troll at least have the decency to start another thread and not hijack this good one.

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Geezzz Craig... Unsettling T-Day weekend??

IMHO - A little Segway for any thread is not end of world! What Marin mentioned is important. Also, as he has a GB it seems still somewhat in line with OP's inquiry regarding GB... although his looked at is wood. Might even convince him to go FRP rather than wood.

Pack Mule said:

On a carvel planked hull how are the butt joints dealt with? Are they gapped a little to allow for cotton caulking and seam compound . Are the planks beveled also on the edges to allow for caulking . Keeping the water out of the end grain seems more of a problem to me .

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Yes.
Slightly "V" shaped. About 1/32" to 1/8" at the root to 1/8 to 1/4" at the surface (hull sides ect). That varies w the size of boat, the width of the plank and the kind of wood used. Some strip planked is tight enough to not need caulking if planks are narrow enough. Half the plank width = half the seam width.

But there are lapstrake, batten seam, double planked, strip planked and of course carvel. Batten seam works quite well (I had one) and leaks little when launched. I don't understand clinker or lapstrake. Had one of them too and it leaked a lot. Both were 16'. Double planked usually is w diagonal planks and a cloth bedded in w Dolphinite or similar oil based soft bedding compound. Most old canoes were like double planking except the outside planking was canvas w bedding compound under .. painted on the outside. But some canoes are lapstrake and some are actually double planked w very thin planks and canvas/bedding compound between.

BryanF said:

Caulking is an art form.

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Sure is, and if you don't enjoy it or don't want to pay for it, wooden hulls aren't the way to go.

On the other hand, if you are lucky enough to have some spare time and some spare cashflow, a unique wooden boat is a joy to play with.

But then as a serial woody owner I would say that wouldn't I?

On the other hand, some people will spend tens of thousands of dollars restoring a classic wooden boat. Here, a sloop Bird class:

I know this thread has drifted some but since we are talking planking I couldn't help myself . This board showed up this morning while ripping lumber for flooring . It looks "plank ready "except that it's kiln dried .
We get these sometimes, they are usually on top of lumber stack right out of kiln .

markpierce said:

On the other hand, some people will spend tens of thousands of dollars restoring a classic wooden boat. Here, a sloop Bird class:

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Although I can't find pics to show, the son of a famous painter (TH Benton) dragged a hulk of a Muscungus Bay sloop out of a marsh (claiming it was THE one his Dad painted) So he had a restoration done, all tax deductible since it was the 'obj'ct d art' and the IRS bought it! As I Recall the lead from the keel was the only thing that was reused from the hulk. (I was the one who pulled the stopper from the cauldron as the keel was recast!) Money has no ends, as long as there's enough of it to accomplish the task.

Also a wooden boat. In Vancouver a restoration of a similar ( looks so much the same it is often mis-identified as an 8) boat is underway at my YC. The picture is an example of an 8 metre class sailboat. The boat under refit (in the water) is a "Bird" class, though it is not from the SF Bird class, but the Vancouver Bird class, of which only 6 were built, in the late 20s, early 30s. I don't know of any others surviving, and the owner of this one is getting on. As he hasn't had the boat out in the last couple of years, his friends have undertaken the refit, to get him out on her, one last time.

With constant attention, 100 years is attainable for a woody.

I wanted to thank everyone for their comments. Im not sure what the answer to my original question is except perhaps my original question is irrelevant. Obviously the boat is a cost and not an investment. But hopefully with the cost will come a lot of enjoyment. So I guess the question becomes what is the best strategy to employ to convince my wife that its all worth while.

Also for me there is more of a metaphysical issue. I just don't want to believe FF's comment in the post I reference where he says about wood boats:

"Plan on 100% loss as use cost."

Sure over the years maintenance and slip fees will equal 100% the cost of the boat but he wasn't talking about those. 100% loss? I just have a hard time with that. But then again maybe I don't, since the same thing can be said about the cigars I smoke. But at least with the cigars, so long as I don't smoke and keep them properly humidified, retain their value. One would hope the same could be said about a nicely maintained wood boat.

Anyway - speaking of wood Grand Banks; Im finding that in addition to the nice one I found originally there are few others in the area for around the same price. To me they are all deals at the 20k mark. One has a virtually new engine - I'll bet they spent at least 10k just on the engine if not more. This is not to mention the radar gear and other electronics.

Finally I would like to clear one thing up for all you naysayers. So far in my investigations I am not finding any marina's or insurance companies that have a problem with wood boats.

So I guess that pretty much discredits those of you saying such things ;-) . I am now officially in the Bob C (post #25) camp.

"As for all the BS about insurance, yards and maintenance...if you don't live in that world you don't have a clue. These boats are insured, enjoyed and maintained every day around the world."

Based on this post, perhaps your original question should have been "Tell me all the reasons why I should buy this cheap wooden boat I'm looking at."

In the four pages of responses, I'm pretty sure your original question was answered.

Good luck with that boat.

It sounds like a nice boat that's I pretty good shape . I say if you want it go for it . If you keep it up and looking good you may just have the nicest boat on the dock that someone hopes it comes up for sale someday .