I have a pretty strong opinion about using wood or plastic to make
the hatches from but it is not about which lasts the longest or
requires the least maintenance. MY opinion involves what looks the
best and which maintains the traditional looks of a maybe 40 year
old boat. Our Boats are antiques! When Albin built the Vega they put
wooden hatches on the boat because it was traditional and back then.
A boat without any wood trim was considered an abomination by most
buyers. They could have made all the trim fiberglass and it would
have been cheaper for them. There were a few boats built back then
that didn't have any wood trim and they did not sell well and that
of course may have been for other reasons as well? Over many years
of keeping boats in marinas I have noticed and a few friends and I
have talked about it on occasion. When a guy likes his boat, as he
leaves the marina to go home he walks nearly sideways looking back
and admiring his boat and you can see it on his face. The man that
doesn't is the very man who's boat ends up setting on a marina back
lot in total disrepair. Pretty boats last longer than ugly ones as
do finely shaped and sea kindly and sea worthy boats. The Vega has
all these attributes. She has a minimum of wood trim and I
understand replacing it with plastic if you don't like wood. The
Vega was trimmed in sepella not teak and not plastic. IF you like
the wood but are too lazy to spend a couple hours varnishing once a
year you might be seeing the last of her because you are not going
to care for her looks much and every time your eye travels across
those hatches you will wince and gone will be a certain pleasure
that you receive from your boat. It reminds me of buying a fine
stallion and shaving all his hair off. IF you like plastic hatches
by all means have them. For a lot of years I had wooden boats
because I considered them a thing of beauty to be maintained and
sailed for a lifetime. Now we have glass boats that with a minimum
of maintenance will last a life time. There are pretty boats setting
in slips and sailed most weekends and there are some derelicts on
the back lot. The only difference between them is maintenance.
--
Doug Pollard
Albin Vega Sea Legs 2225
KK4YGO
the hatches from but it is not about which lasts the longest or
requires the least maintenance. MY opinion involves what looks the
best and which maintains the traditional looks of a maybe 40 year
old boat. Our Boats are antiques! When Albin built the Vega they put
wooden hatches on the boat because it was traditional and back then.
A boat without any wood trim was considered an abomination by most
buyers. They could have made all the trim fiberglass and it would
have been cheaper for them. There were a few boats built back then
that didn't have any wood trim and they did not sell well and that
of course may have been for other reasons as well? Over many years
of keeping boats in marinas I have noticed and a few friends and I
have talked about it on occasion. When a guy likes his boat, as he
leaves the marina to go home he walks nearly sideways looking back
and admiring his boat and you can see it on his face. The man that
doesn't is the very man who's boat ends up setting on a marina back
lot in total disrepair. Pretty boats last longer than ugly ones as
do finely shaped and sea kindly and sea worthy boats. The Vega has
all these attributes. She has a minimum of wood trim and I
understand replacing it with plastic if you don't like wood. The
Vega was trimmed in sepella not teak and not plastic. IF you like
the wood but are too lazy to spend a couple hours varnishing once a
year you might be seeing the last of her because you are not going
to care for her looks much and every time your eye travels across
those hatches you will wince and gone will be a certain pleasure
that you receive from your boat. It reminds me of buying a fine
stallion and shaving all his hair off. IF you like plastic hatches
by all means have them. For a lot of years I had wooden boats
because I considered them a thing of beauty to be maintained and
sailed for a lifetime. Now we have glass boats that with a minimum
of maintenance will last a life time. There are pretty boats setting
in slips and sailed most weekends and there are some derelicts on
the back lot. The only difference between them is maintenance.
--
Doug Pollard
Albin Vega Sea Legs 2225
KK4YGO