Old Wooden Boat Lifespan

Tim R. · Dec 9, 2008

You will need to be retired just to keep up with the maintenance.

Varnishing the cabintop is one thing but the topsides would keep you very busy. Does anyone know if that is varnish? Or what is the product of choice for a topside finish like that?

Wooden boats last forever if you want. I have seen wooden boats restored here in Portland that had more rotten wood than good. When is it dead? When you replace 75% of the boat, is it still the same boat? I guess it is really the idea of the original that is lasting.

This looks like a nice one:
http://www.yachtworld.com/core/list...rrency=USD&access=Public&listing_id=17504&url=

Even though she looks to be pristine, she needs some major work.

sailingdog · Dec 9, 2008

Umm... The USS Constitution is over 200 years old... so wooden boats, properly maintained do have a very, very long lifespan.

Ross · Dec 9, 2008

"Curlew" owned by Tim and Pauline Carr was built before 1900 and they sailed her in the southern ocean with a base in South Georgia Island for many years.
http://www.nmmc.co.uk/index.php?page=News_Centre&pagefrom=News_Archive&sort=&select=&newsid=31

Tim R. · Dec 9, 2008

sailingdog said:
Umm... The USS Constitution is over 200 years old... so wooden boats, properly maintained do have a very, very long lifespan.

I am not sure there is any part of the USS Constitution that is that old dog(except maybe her cannons and ship's bell

). Even her original cannons were replaced! She had been put away to rot and rebuilt many times. Obviously she was subject to battle and repairs/modifications were made but if you follow the history of this ship, the only substantial maintenace done to preserve her has been in the last 20 years. She has been subject to no less than 3 major restorations in the last 50 years and was unable to sail on her own for 116 years.

Rick D · Dec 9, 2008

Wooden Boats

I had one wood boat for 19 years. They are needy things. Toughest things for me were keeping deck joints joined, and dry rot away from inside the hatches. The hardest thing to monitor is anywhere there is closed space. Nice finished interiors covering the ribs are your enemy.

The nice parts are no waxing (it's easier to repaint than wax) - two coats of varnish twice a year (two weekends for a 26' if I started on Friday) - easy installation of gear (no sub-pans, no liners) - warm inside (natural insulation) - and the ohs and ahs of passerbys.

I am still part owner of a 92 year-old launch so I can still get my fix of wood Boats. My bias is something like a Choey Lee or a Kettenburg. I'd keep her on the smaller side for maintenance reasons.

sailingdog · Dec 9, 2008

Be that as it may, she's still the same boat, even if all the wooden bits have been replaced.

Owning a wooden boat is a work of a lifetime... and takes far more work than I'd be willing to do... but I've seen many lovely wooden boats that are many decades old...and they're still going strong. The key to keeping a wooden boat in good shape is a proper maintenance routine... and it is a lot of work.

Tim R. said:
I am not sure there is any part of the USS Constitution that is that old dog(except maybe her cannons and ship's bell ). Even her original cannons were replaced! She had been put away to rot and rebuilt many times. Obviously she was subject to battle and repairs/modifications were made but if you follow the history of this ship, the only substantial maintenace done to preserve her has been in the last 20 years. She has been subject to no less than 3 major restorations in the last 50 years and was unable to sail on her own for 116 years.

Rick D · Dec 9, 2008

A PS To Wooden Boat Ownership

At least in SoCal, many marinas will not accept a wood boat; lots of yards won't haul them and insurers won't insure them. There are exceptions but few. Much of that is carry-over from derelict days, but it is a problem. And, resale is an issue. Not so much price as the small base of potential owners willing to deal with them.

Tim R. · Dec 9, 2008

I know a yard here in Maine that reserves all the wet spots on it's grounds for the wooden boats to keep them from shrinking as much in the dry winters here.

Fairwind · Dec 9, 2008

sailingdog said:
Umm... The USS Constitution is over 200 years old... so wooden boats, properly maintained do have a very, very long lifespan.

The only original wood in the Constitution are some of the below the waterline timbers..Most of her wood has been replaced several times..

If you have enough money, you can make ANYTHING last forever. When the wooden clipper ships were built, they had a projected lifespan (working life) of 10-12 years. Keeping a wooden hull seaworthy is an endless and often-times up-hill battle..

Ross · Dec 9, 2008

The cost of keeping and repairing a fiberglass boat is very small compared to the cost of keeping a wooden boat.
Wooden boat owners will remove planks to expose rotted frames and replace them and we as fiberglass boat owners say that a boat is past being worth repairing if a keel bolt fails or the deck core goes bad.
I think most of us neglect our boats to some degree and get away with it, but a wooden boat can't survive long with neglect.
I hope that the day will come when we as a group love our boats with the passion that wooden boat owners bestow on their treasures.

caguy · Dec 9, 2008

Every time I pass though the parking lot I marvel at this beauty in the rough. The boat is a 32 footer made in England. It is made of glass over teak. It was recently brought over from Tahiti. I marvel at the craftsmanship. I am amazed at the fact that he was able to load it onto a flat bed trailer propped up with stands that would make Rube Goldberg proud, and pull it out at the boat ramp using an old truck chained to a motorhome.
In just a few hours out of the water people who live in the parking lot helped him scrape the bottom clean. They were commenting on how easily 3-6"'s of growth came off. The guy has been working on it for about a week. BTW parking is $5/day.

Another boat that I love is the Ker-mor. They no longer own the boat but the website is still there. Has a really nice log of their adventure with the boat, including maintenance with photos.
Hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
http://ker-mor.com/

Frank

This is the boat currently in launch ramp lot at MDR

Pops · Dec 10, 2008

When I was 13 my parents bought my brother and I a 16 foot sailing scow (x-boat by Johnson of White Bear Lakes, MN). We spent hours and hours replacing bad planks & bad fasteners, pounding oakum into the seams and recaulking. Dad helped us with the transom replacement. After launching the boat had to be checked often (even if we didn't sail that day) to pump out the bilge and keep it dry. I didn't have time to go joy-riding with my friends, most of whom spent time in juvenile facilities before graduating from high school. When I was 16 they bought us a 16 foot keel sloop. This boat was mahogany strip and got 10-12 of varnish in the spring after the oakum pounding and recaulking. It had bilge leaks and required constant vigilence to keep dry. I didn't have time to hang with my friends experimenting with drugs (this was the sixties). It was only years later that I realized how smart my parents had been to involve my brother and I in sailing. Besides giving us both us life-long love of the water (my brother no longers sails, he has a houseboat, that he built himself), they taught us the value of working toward a goal and kept us busy in positive ways. Wooden boats are great!

bffatcat · Dec 10, 2008

Wooden boats

A sailing buddy of mine has an has a 24' 1959 Mahogany plank alden sloop He keeps it in
his sister yard not far from where I live, He`s owned it for 25 years and has replaced numerous planks and ribs. The top sides are white the decks are varnished The boat is sound This same guy singlehandedly rebuilt a 1969 Oldsmoble cutlass conv from a wreck to brand new cond. The car is stored in my garage for the winter. This guy enjoys the work
as much as the sailing. It takes a special kind of person to own a wooden boat. My boat is grp

tcbro · Dec 12, 2008

May I offer a compromise for your retirement

How about a fiberglass hull fitted out in teak or mahogany. The fiberglass hull will greatly reduce the concerns of structural integrity (dry rotted ribs and leaky plank joints) yet you can still fuss over the wooden parts. Most wooden boats do not have varnished hulls like the one in your picture, most are painted. With the right boat you will still have the "ahhhh" factor.

Something else to consider, modern epoxy technology has come a long way. They are using epoxy in wooden boat construction as well as restoration. These epoxies go a long way towards increasing the life of wooden hulls.

I love wooden boats but I don't have what it takes to maintain a 33' wooden sailboat. Do like I do, I get my wooden boat fix with my dinghy. It gets a lot of "ahhhs" from passers by.

Tim R. · Dec 12, 2008

Re: May I offer a compromise for your retirement

How about a compromise. I thought about buying one of these before buying my Ericson. It has a FG hull with a teak deck and cabintop. They look great and sail pretty decent. the inside has a wooden boat look look but with more volume.

http://www.hallberg-rassy.com/mistral/hr33-mistral.shtml

http://www.yachtworld.com/core/list...rrency=USD&access=Public&listing_id=75564&url=

Old Wooden Boat Lifespan

Capt. Kermie

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Tim R.

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sailingdog

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Ross

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Tim R.

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Rick D

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sailingdog

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Rick D

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Tim R.

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Fairwind

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Ross

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caguy

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Pops

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bffatcat

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tcbro

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Tim R.

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