Wood GB 33

[Cold Duck]

Some of you older cruisers might remember "Uncle Bernie" cruising the west coast of Mexico in his 32GB woody. Later he switched to a 42GB Europa. A real Md, he was a fixture in the Mexican cruising world in the '70s and '80s

[SteveK]

1971 GB36, in 2021 before I had a notion to get a bigger boat the bottom was sanded to the bare wood hull. 50 years of bottom paint removed. There was no hint of delamination, the inside is dry except for wen it rains and the lazarette lets some in the pump will run for 15 seconds every other week.
Good for another 50 years with new paint. The GB wood hull is as good as a glass hull, back when hulls were made thicker. I am confident not all wood hull boats were built the same.
Carvel planked Philippine mahogany attached to Yacal ribs. The teak decks are bedded on Thiokol over marine plywood. On my GB36 there were no leaks found under the teak deck.
Survey found a solid hull and deck.
Brightwork of rails does take a lot of work, and most have opted for none in future boats.
The marine plywood house demands a lot of TLC maintenance when regular painting is not done.
I compared the current boat and see many hours each year in attending to the polish of the hull, deck and house. But first a bigger job of cut polishing the many years of oxidization. Just a water wash produced a milky water.

I get tired of hearing wood boats are more work.

[Mako]

I was thinking about this subject and comparing my old steel hull boat (with a mediocre paint job) to my fiberglass fishing boat. The annual effort for waxing/polishing exceeds the bi-annual painting with enamel on the steel hull.

[sunchaser]

[QUOTE=SteveK; I get tired of hearing wood boats are more work.[/QUOTE]

Steve
Some of us older folks remember wood boats well. In fact some of us even owned them. To keep a woodie in very nice shape was indeed an effort.

A walk through our marina will find wood boats and tired older owners. Very few young people today are willing to tackle an old woodie. Yes they are a labor of love even when pristine as compared to an equivalent sized FRP vessel.

As always it just depends on where we choose to spend our time and sweat equity. We had a get time taking care of our last woodie. Last being nearly 40 years ago when young and energetic.

In this case the OP appears to be young and ready to tackle the job. Provided he has the time, desire and funds to do it right it should be a great and fulfilling endeavor.

[Bob Cofer]

As a veteran owner of several wooden boats including one notable GB 32 (Ebbtide) and a current owner of my first fiberglass boat (Puffin) I can say without a doubt that I much prefer a woody. If Puffin was a wooden hull she would be my perfect boat. Just my opinion for what it's worth.

[SteveK]

As we get older what we remember was the work we did back then and it is always exaggerated as those wood boats were much younger too.

Being a DIY guy, I have found wood/glass sail/power all require your attention.
The 32 Woodie Chris Craft was about 20, now would be 60 and did not need as much attention as the 50 year old GB. But that was 40 or so years ago, when I was 40 years younger, so unfair comparison.

[Bob Cofer]

The real trick to keeping a woody happy is defer nothing, ever. If the hull you are looking at is sound then you will have a great starting point.

Check the keel in the bilge where the stuffing box connects. If that spot is soft you’ll have a real project on your hands.

[Mainecoast]

Ugh....lots of potential work there...fiberglass ones are a lot of work as it is.

[Xlantic]

Correlation is not causation.

Wooden boats will tend to be older than FG ones. Are their maintenance requirements due to age or material?

Wooden hulls don’t rot, wooden under-decks and houses do and FG boats of a certain era have plenty of those.

[Alisske]

Wood boats are beautiful. Lines and looks better than any other

That said, they are a labor if love and not the best investment (strictly from a money perspective)

Most folks would sell them super cheap just to see them go to someone who will continue to care for them. .

I say 8k most everything working.

[Captain DJ]

Originally Posted by Cold Duck

Anyone who has owned a wood boat for any length of time has replaced a plank. \

I had a 1969 GB 42 Classic for 15 years and never had to replace a plank. I had to replace the worm shoe in Tarpon Springs, Florida after a year in the Keys. But that was not a big deal. Wooding the hull years later, with a blank check from an insurance claim to "replace any and all rotted wood". None could be found. The real 2-inch thick mahogany planking on Yakal ( SE Asian ironwood) frames makes replacement in under 50-80 year timeframe only really likely with abuse, neglect, fresh water ingress as well as warm weather. You can abuse or neglect a "Tupperware", steel, aluminum, wooden or Ferro-cement boat to an extent that drives it to an early demise. These American Marine works of art may outlast many of the post-2000 Mainship type boats, even with a 40+ year headstart.

I did have to replace a plank on a 60-year-old Chris Craft, but that too was a case of multiple years of negligence and warm, fresh water. Simply keeping the engine space dry with an operational bilge pump would have prevented that maintenance. It did NOT happen under my ownership/stewardship of the CC, but the guy that bought it from me and never did any maintenance on it. It was a dock queen/party barge Batchelor pad for a drunk. That mentality will sink any boat given enough time.

Just my opinion. Everybody has one. When it comes to wooden Grand Banks, maybe the ones that have owned one or more for decades has an opinion that carries more weight than someone that has NEVER and would NEVER own a woody. Just my thoughts regarding the value of expressing opinions. Who knows?

[MVDarlin]

Dont do it! Even if they offer to give to you. You will soon hate boating, because it will only mean work.

[omoore]

Forget the doomsayers. I purchased a 1971 wooden GB 42 in 2002. The boat was in good shape and had been winter stored inside. It was a Lake Superior boat. Brought the boat to NC 10 years ago. I quickly learned that any break in the paint had to be addressed quickly. Heat and high humidity can quickly lead to rot.

The Lehman diesel as was mentioned is virtually indestructible. 380 ci, cast iron block, mechanical fuel injection 109 hp--(120 was a marketing number I was told by the Pres of Lehman) typical running rpm-1650. Compared that with an aluminum block Yanmar running at higher rpm.
Get a detailed survey from a surveyor with wood boat experience. Ditto an engine survey. BTW there are no shortage of parts.
Get a cost estimate of repairs if needed and make your decision.

As an aside a glass boat is not necessarily cheap to maintain. My 58 Hat MY had a lot of brightwork. Polishing and waxing was costly. Re-bedding the windshield in the pilothouse was costly, ditto portholes.

If you are handy you can do much of the work yourself. I, for one enjoy it. The engine is accessible. I have replaced water pumps, alternators, injectors and gapped the valves and more myself. By comparison I did no work on my Detroits or Cats.
Let us know what the survey found and your decision. Good luck!

[ronobrien]

Originally Posted by Mike GB32

What is a reasonable purchase price for such an adventure given my limited skills

I would say that you would need to be prepared to do a lot of maintenance and repair. I love my fiberglass 32 but I wouldn't own her if I couldn't do 99 percent of the work myself. I enjoy it. A wood boat would likely require more attention.
I'm not saying don't do it. I am saying (in my opinion) you would really need to love the boat and love working on her.

When I was searching for a boat I had a broker on the lookout. I was only specific about 2 things. It had to be diesel and it couldn't be wood. I just didn't want that work.

[omoore]

A quick add. Many people mistakenly think a glass boat is all glass. Not so. Bertram used 2x4's and plywood covered with
glass as many learned when they had to replace a transom. Also engine stringers are often lumber yard wood covered with glass. Pacemakers were one of the very worst examples of wood structure under glass. Even my very expensive Magnum 46 had a plywood deck under glass which I learned when the survey for a buyer from Italy found a very large area of foredeck that had to be replaced.
Even worse, that encapsulated wood was covered with polyester of some sort not epoxy!!!

[Marinex]

All boats have their maintenance. We have owned our GB 32 1967 for the last 11 years and the key to wooden boat ownership , or any boat for that matter, is buy one that has been cared for and not neglected. That way you are starting at a known commodity and while there are always surprises it will minimize the list.


We love our 32GB and I think the main reason is that we can do absolutely all the work ourselves and we can keep the boat yard bills to the minimum. If you already have the skills in woodwork and mechanical they are very simple boats and built like a brick. We have over 8000 nm on ours since purchase and the Lehman keeps ticking along. Fuel pump, water pump spares are onboard but so far we haven't used them. Do all your annual maintenance as specified and we send an oil sample out each year to keep an eye on the engine. Simple and reliable.


If you are looking for the weak points:


Top of steel fuel tanks can rust, our tanks were replaced with aluminum by a previous owner.


The cabin house plywood needs to have the paint kept up or water will get in there, under the windows and the windows themselves can leak causing damage there. The step down area can get soft underneath the step to the aft deck, check for rot underneath.


We have never had the deck leak through, they did an amazing job originally.


Hawse holes can allow water into the area below the hawse, we ringed ours with fiberglass as the early boats just had a plate on each side of the hole and wood in the middle.


Under the rear door sill area should be inspected as water can damage there over time.


Hope this helps! as per the wood vs glass debate, I would call it a draw. We haul in a self service yard and while we are touching up wood and painting I see glass owners polishing and repairing little bumps from the dock where it has cracked.


I think all boat owners are crazy but isn't that why we are the characters we are?


If you have questions send me a PM

[Otrtrucker1960]

We just bought a 1967 GB 36 in July. We are having to do a complete refurbish. She sat in a shed, at AYB in Chesapeake, Va unused for over 6 years. Mold on every surface, inside and out. When she was hauled out for survey and bottom paint, the paint fell off in sheets. So it was taken to bare wood and redone. We live in Great Bridge, so the boat stays at AYB. Planning to take her out in the Spring for short excursions. Then head South in the fall of '23. It's a lot more work than a "turn key" boat. But we love it. More pride in doing it ourselves, than just paying someone else to do it.

[SteveK]

Good on you for taking on this project.

Welcome to the forum. When the time is right posts work in progress photos

[Cigatoo]

Originally Posted by Otrtrucker1960

We just bought a 1967 GB 36 in July. We are having to do a complete refurbish. She sat in a shed, at AYB in Chesapeake, Va unused for over 6 years. Mold on every surface, inside and out. When she was hauled out for survey and bottom paint, the paint fell off in sheets. So it was taken to bare wood and redone. We live in Great Bridge, so the boat stays at AYB. Planning to take her out in the Spring for short excursions. Then head South in the fall of '23. It's a lot more work than a "turn key" boat. But we love it. More pride in doing it ourselves, than just paying someone else to do it.

Welcome to the forum!
This will be a beautiful classic boat when done properly. If I had the wherewithal this would be in my top 5. Just love a wooden boat!
Pictures would be greatly appreciated. Maybe best to start a new thread so that we can follow along.

[Pete Meisinger]

Wait, What?? 5200 troweled on and then fiberglass applied? Are you serious?

I would really like to see that.

pete