KJ wrote:
So,*I was wondering if any of the forum folks own any woodies (or have owned)*or if you know any folks that own woodies.** KJ
I would guess that perhaps half of the regular participants on the Grand Banks owners forum have woodies.* I know a few of them personally.* Not sure what you want to know about them, but a wood boat in excellent shape is no more work to maintain than a grp boat in similar shape.* Some of the things you need to do are different, but it's not like if you have a wood boat you are constantly dealing with it.* There are things you have to be more vigilant about.
There are people on the GB forum who have brought wood boats back from being almost total write-offs.* Doing this sort of thing requires a large variety of skills and a lot of time.* And everybody on the GB forum who has a woody, either in great shape or "a work in progress" loves the fact that it's wood.* They have all sorts of reasons for this, from the practical to the philosophical, but the fact is that I've never seen any posts on the forum from a woody owner complaining about the fact their boat is wood and wishing it wasn't.* They ask the shipwrights on the forum how to do such-and-such and they discuss various kinds of repair or maintenance techniques, but as a group, I think they are the happiest bunch of boat owners I've come across wih regards to their attitudes toward their boats..
Probably the biggest difference I can see between a wood boat and a grp or metal one is what happens if they get neglected outside (as opposed to being in a boathouse).* The systems in a boat will be basically the same be it wood, glass, or metal.* So if neglected, they will all react the same way.* But in terms of the hull and superstructure, a neglected grp or metal boat simply gets real dirty.* That's about it.* A neglected wood boat will eventually start to leak moisture through cracks in the paint, dried out sealant and seam material, and so on.* And once the wood starts getting wet the door is open to the formation of rot.
There is a grp GB36 of the same vintage as ours--- either a late '73 or early '74--- in a boathouse near our dock.* We have been on our dock for the past ten years.* The GB in the boathouse has never moved once during that time, nor have we ever seen anyone on it and we are at our boat almost every weekend year round.* I have no idea what shape it's in since we cannot access the locked row of boathouses.* The boat is covered with dust and grime.* Every system on the boat may be shot.* But the basic structure of the boat will be in as good a shape as our boat that gets used on a year round basis.* If the GB in the boathouse was a woody, maybe not so much even though it's out of the weather other than the bow.* But if this boat was a woody and kept outside and totally neglected for the last ten years, it would very likely be approaching the point where it would be declared derelict by the Port and unless the owner took some sort of action it would be hauled over to Seaview and cut up.
The boat pictured below is a woody.* It's an Alaskan 45 built by American Marine in their Kowloon Yard (across from Hong Kong) at the same time they were starting up their Grand Banks line in the same yard.* It is aesthetically just about the best looking recreational boat I have ever seen.*
Dreamer is owned by Bob Lowe, one of the two founders of the GB owners association.* For many years Bob owned and operated Oak Harbor Boatworks on Whidbey Island, a yard that worked on anything but specialized in the maintenance, repair, and customization of Grand Banks boats, particularly woodies.* I doubt there is anything about GBs--- wood or glass--- that Bob has not encountered, maintained, or repaired.* I have never been aboard
Dreamer but having seen numerous photos of the boat's exterior and interior on the owners forum over the years I would be willing to bet that
Dreamer is in better condition inside and out than almost every boat owned by the members of this (and the GB owners) forum including the almost-new ones.* And it's a wood boat built in (I believe) the late 1960s.
So wood is good if you know how to maintain it (or have the money to hire a person who knows how to maintain it).* I have only dealt with one wood boat in my life, but if I had the time--- I don't and probably never will--- and the knowledge, which can be learned easy enough over time if you have the basic aptitude for it, I would not rule out a wood boat if we were in the market and came across the perfect boat for us and it happened to be wood.* But I don't think one should approach it thinking that a wood boat is just like a glass boat only it's made out of wood.
-- Edited by Marin on Friday 18th of February 2011 12:02:17 PM