Wooden Boat, What does it take to maintain one?

[jephotog]

What does it take to maintain a wooden boat? I love sailing and woodworking but don't think I would ever want a wooden boat, or at least one that lived in the water. I really enjoy looking at them at the wooden boat festivals I have been to though, but somehow have developed a fear of what it would take to fix up and maintain a wooden boat.

Some recent posts here got me thinking. Someone with a wood boat wanted a bigger, newer wood boat if he had the money. In another thread someone suggested a wood boat as an alternative to another. In my mind the boat being wood made it a complete other type of beast. In reality, how much more work is owning a wooden boat?

[MarkCK]

A wooden boat will take every bit of free time that you have and then you will still have a long list of projects you will never get around to. Thats to keep it in Bristol condition of course. If you have the funds to pay someone else to do it the task becomes much much easier.

Now if you dont mind your boat having a little character it will still require a lot more work than a fiberglass one, but it will become much more manageable.

[jephotog]

Originally Posted by MarkCK

A wooden boat will take every bit of free time that you have

Thats the impression I got. Figured wooden boat ownership was as much of a hobby as sailing the boat is.

What I am wondering in particular is what more needs to be done to keep the boat afloat?

Pull the boat annually?
Topside paint yearly?
Scrub the decks with a holystone?

What are the different maintenance regimens that make owning a wood boat so much more work?

[imagine2frolic]

Depends on the shape one would take ownership of a wooden boat. It also depends on what type of wooden boat it is. Mine is all wood, and I would build yet another, and larger. Then again it is cold molded.

Go to the wooden boat forum, and you will get an idea of what it takes.......i2f

[cormeum]

For us it works about to about 40 hours a year. Keeping up the hull and brightwork is less time consuming than systems work- which is common to all older boats. Projects are projects and in our experience, we all have to deal with them- at least we don't get blistering and soggy cores. Each material has its issues.

Were I to put wood boat maintenance in a nutshell, it's that if you don't want to amount of work to get out of hand, you have to get to it right away. In that regard, glass is somewhat more forgiving. But if you keep on top of it, it's not that much work. Coat of varnish every year, paint every other year, etc.

I think that before Mark CK pontificates, he should get some experience

[deniseO30]

Wooden boats and how they are built has allot of bearing on how much care they need. There is now.. I'd say in the last 30 years or so.. a growing number of wooden boats that are built and or restored with high end materials. They are best described as being in a state of "arrested" decomposition. Also, there are builders that build hulls in wood and epoxy. some are called cold molded, some are strip planked, which becomes a composite hull, very stable, strong, and rot resistant.

Some Old (and new) traditionally built boats are planked.. like the planks on a hardwood or softwood floor only longer.. this is called carvel planking. it is built on purpose to have "gaps" in the seams.. which have cotton or oakum wedged in. the seams were then sealed with tar or putty in the old days, now with high tech caulking. Carvel planking is the most fear producing method of hull planking also.. as it's the kind that needs to "swell" or be kept wet. this type of build also is the worse looking when it drys out from being out of the water.

The other type of planking looks like the sides of a house. It's called "lapstrake" the planks were often riveted and screwed along the edges with tar or caulk in between overlaps. On newer boats that look the same many are are being built in what is called "glued lapstrake" and the strakes are made of plywood.. very stable, strong and very beautiful to see when finished with varnish.

Cormeum is spot on about how little time his boat needs, because his boat has been well loved and cared for I'm sure.

The most important parts to fail in larger wooden boats are, the deadwood, stern post and or stem in the bow. Keel and keel bolts are problems also, Ribs (called timbers) are often easy to repair in the boat. A method called sistering.. about the same as used in building houses.

Big old wooden boats are left to rot.. Big old fiberglass boats are left also.. except, everything but the hull rots!

Study, research, and look at many many boats before you buy.. often you will find them free. I just found a "free" boat. 23ft full keel 82 years old with carvel planking and iron keel, I won't be adopting her but I'm trying to find a home for her.


Anyone should know their limitations when it comes to old boats. glass or wood. So much "stuff" is very costly. Even if the boat itself it well restored or maintained. The cost of sails,spars, rigging, engines, systems, etc are why some people build boats and never finish them.

[alanr77]

Having spent the first 25 years of my life around wooden boats, meaning riding in them as a child, then helping my dad work on his and then maintaining my own, my answer is A LOT. For every four months we used our Mahogany Chris Crafts, Constellations and Romers, we/I would spend twice that sanding and varnishing. They sure were beautiful though. If you have a dedicated passion for them, they are great. If you just think they are pretty-look at someone else's..... AR

[puddinlegs]

Wooden Boat, What does it take to maintain one? Passion.

[Flybyknight]

My first boat was a 26' 1928 Chris Craft run about. That was in the early 50s'.
All I can say is If you can keep the bottom from dry rotting, then all else is
nice like when you stop hitting your head with a hammer.

Dick

[bljones]

Wooden boats loosely fall into three categories;
1. There are high maintenance wooden boats, (planked)and then
2. There are lower maintenance wooden boats,(cold moulded), and
3. Cheap or free wooden boats that will break your heart.

but one thing they all have in common- all wooden boats require passion. A wooden boat will own YOU, not vice versa. if you have wooden boat stewardship in your heart, and you understand that there are no acceptable shortcuts in a varnish schedule, that you really do need a caulking mallet to properly caulk your boat, if you understand that it takes as long as it takes to take up, then you might be one to carry forth the legacy. A wooden boat will take over a large part of your life, and you will be a better person for it. if you worry about how much time maintenance will require, if you'd rather be sailing than caretaking, if you are a procrastinator who won't fix something until it is well and truly broken/rotten/gone, then you aren't ready for a wooden boat.