Hi! We have a 99yr old wooden R-Boat and there is a little bit of rot on some of the hull boards. I would like to replace them. Does anyone have experience with this that could suggest what type of wood you would use? We were originally going for air dried mahogany, but that is not something we an find. Thoughts?
Wooden Sailboats
- Thread starter Katrinka
- Start date
Are you saying I need to have some pictures attached? I can do that, sorry, I've never done a thread before.... more to come.
No worries - we all love photos! Especially of a wooden boat as you are describing! Even if it's just to enjoy the photos! Hahahahaha
There are a number of woods that have traditionally been used for hull planking. I'd suggest you find out what is on your boat currently. If you can't figure it out, let us know.
dj
The R-Boats are beautiful graceful yachts. There are a bunch of them on Lake Ontario.
Fitting new planking on a boat is not a simple task. The boards need to be shaped and bent to fit the frames. If you have never attempted this you may want to find someone with a great deal of experience with wood sailboats. It would be a shame to see this classic rot away in a yard.
To get an idea about planking a hull, take at look at the Sampson Boat Company and Acorn to Arabella YouTube channels. Both channels have a series of videos on planking their boats. It will be necessary to go back a few years to find the videos as both boats are now finished and out sailing.
The forum at WoodenBoat.com will also be an excellent source of information.
Fitting new planking on a boat is not a simple task. The boards need to be shaped and bent to fit the frames. If you have never attempted this you may want to find someone with a great deal of experience with wood sailboats. It would be a shame to see this classic rot away in a yard.
To get an idea about planking a hull, take at look at the Sampson Boat Company and Acorn to Arabella YouTube channels. Both channels have a series of videos on planking their boats. It will be necessary to go back a few years to find the videos as both boats are now finished and out sailing.
The forum at WoodenBoat.com will also be an excellent source of information.
I sailed a gaffer built in 1909 in the South Seas for a number of years. While in NZ I found cedar planks aging under a boat builder's shed. I bought a few and we agreed that if I didn't ask for them in 5 years, they were his again. The point being, you should not replace very old planking with new timber. It is also recommended that you use the same sort of wood when repairing old wooden boats.
This is not a DYI task. The planks need to be cut for the construction method (carvel or lapstrake, for instance), and most importantly, you are going to need a very skilled caulker or the new planks will damage the old ones.
This is not a DYI task. The planks need to be cut for the construction method (carvel or lapstrake, for instance), and most importantly, you are going to need a very skilled caulker or the new planks will damage the old ones.
I agree that matching the original planking is best. But if you have to choose a wood I would first look for cedar. In the referenced video series Acorn to Arabella they used white oak. When they tried cedar they had problems but you have to factor in that they were making full length planks on a double ender. That's asking a lot of the wood. So the choice of wood depends a bit on if you are talking about full length planks or segments.
There aren't too many people who know more about wood for boats than boatbuilder Donn Costanzo (I can't vouch for the spelling). He is retired but you may be able to reach him through The Avery boat shop in Aquabogue NY which he owned prior to retirement. The shop, formerly Wooden Boat Works, prior to the sale to his employee. His retirement boat was featured in Wooden Boat Magazine in the last year or two in an article written by Pat Mundus. As an aside he built a boat I saw using a type of cherry. It was...well cherry. He is a sort of resume for Donn:
www.windcheckmagazine.com
There aren't too many people who know more about wood for boats than boatbuilder Donn Costanzo (I can't vouch for the spelling). He is retired but you may be able to reach him through The Avery boat shop in Aquabogue NY which he owned prior to retirement. The shop, formerly Wooden Boat Works, prior to the sale to his employee. His retirement boat was featured in Wooden Boat Magazine in the last year or two in an article written by Pat Mundus. As an aside he built a boat I saw using a type of cherry. It was...well cherry. He is a sort of resume for Donn:
The Donn of Vintage Wood - WindCheck Magazine
At the end of the North Fork of Long Island, there’s a fishing and boating town called Greenport. For most, it’s the jumping off point via ferry for Shelter Island, long past its origins as a sleepy Quaker refuge. Shelter Island is home to the largest concentration of classic boats out East...
@shemandr - great article!
@Katrinka - restoring wooden boats is an art, a craft and filled with little tricks that "make it work". I used to do a fair bit of wooden boat work but it's been a long time since working on hulls. Your avatar says you are on Lake Michigan. Which side? The Wisconsin side, Michigan side or down south on the Illinois side? Are you a fairly accomplished wood worker? Have you done wood work with complex curves? There are no straight lines in hull planks. As @capta said - then you need caulking - and caulking is non-trivial. There are a number of specialized tools for doing boat caulking. Plus there is a "feel" that you just can't describe in a forum. You need to be at a boat and showing it "hands-on" - (no matter what an AI search engine may wish to say.... LOL)
I'd suggest you find someone local that knows about all of these things. That's not going to be easy. I think I'd call the Gougeon Brothers and ask if anyone there knows a good wooden boat builder. While their business is selling epoxy to use with wood etc. there are lots of folks there that know a lot about the local boat building craftspeople. It may be a long shot, but hey, all they can say is they don't know.
dj
@Katrinka - restoring wooden boats is an art, a craft and filled with little tricks that "make it work". I used to do a fair bit of wooden boat work but it's been a long time since working on hulls. Your avatar says you are on Lake Michigan. Which side? The Wisconsin side, Michigan side or down south on the Illinois side? Are you a fairly accomplished wood worker? Have you done wood work with complex curves? There are no straight lines in hull planks. As @capta said - then you need caulking - and caulking is non-trivial. There are a number of specialized tools for doing boat caulking. Plus there is a "feel" that you just can't describe in a forum. You need to be at a boat and showing it "hands-on" - (no matter what an AI search engine may wish to say.... LOL)
I'd suggest you find someone local that knows about all of these things. That's not going to be easy. I think I'd call the Gougeon Brothers and ask if anyone there knows a good wooden boat builder. While their business is selling epoxy to use with wood etc. there are lots of folks there that know a lot about the local boat building craftspeople. It may be a long shot, but hey, all they can say is they don't know.
dj