[FISHTIGUA]

I think they should all be made of the ultimate carbon fibre.


Wood.

We can all fix it. You find it almost everywhere and its pretty. Infinately repairable, costs do not involve crude oil in production and it all takes craftsmen to do well.

Who doesn't enjoy watching a real craftsman at work, so much skill learned over many years. Or do it yourself.

Guess who grew up in wooden oriented boatyard?

Fish

[CODOG]

Originally Posted by FISHTIGUA

I think they should all be made of the ultimate carbon fibre.
Wood.
We can all fix it. You find it almost everywhere and its pretty. Infinately repairable, costs do not involve crude oil in production and it all takes craftsmen to do well.
Who doesn't enjoy watching a real craftsman at work, so much skill learned over many years. Or do it yourself.
Guess who grew up in wooden oriented boatyard?
Fish

Ah, the heady days of oak timbers and iroko planking. I used to love the smell of wood shavings in the morning. Hand made mahogany toolbox full of 50 year old tools stowed in the Great Shed, sneaking a warm half hour in the steam shed, hammering in a million six inch cut nails with a maul that weighed as much as my girlfriend. The ring of an adze, the shoosh of a block plane. No plywood anywhere except the pub bar.
Ok, I'll stop now.

[Marmot]

"Ah, the heady days ..."

Yeah, from the vantage point of time it all seems so idyllic. You notice that those with the fondest recollections are those who built the darn things, not those who owned and maintained them

As one who was owned by and lived aboard a 1944 built wooden tug/yacht conversion for many years I can attest that while it simply oozed charm from every seam it also consumed either every dollar or every spare hour ... not to mention a great deal of lube oil and fuel to keep that old direct reversing engine well fed.

Wouldn't trade the experience for anything. Wouldn't do it again on a bet.

[Seafarer]

Originally Posted by FISHTIGUA

I think they should all be made of the ultimate carbon fibre.


Wood.

We can all fix it. You find it almost everywhere and its pretty. Infinately repairable, costs do not involve crude oil in production and it all takes craftsmen to do well.

Who doesn't enjoy watching a real craftsman at work, so much skill learned over many years. Or do it yourself.

Guess who grew up in wooden oriented boatyard?

Fish

I did!

Spent many of my young years around Seaport Marine in Mystic - where if there wasn't a customer's wooden boat being worked on, the yard owner was working on one (he even had the shop build a new Sea Sled from scratch for something to do). Our old Huckins was often the boat being worked on.

The hours not spent wandering that yard were spent idling away at Mystic Seaport.

As much as I enjoy having fiberglass and kevlar, the romance (self-loathing?) of wooden boat ownership keeps calling out to me.

[Loren Schweizer]

Originally Posted by FISHTIGUA

I think they should all be made of the ultimate carbon fibre.


Wood.

We can all fix it. You find it almost everywhere and its pretty. Infinately repairable, costs do not involve crude oil in production and it all takes craftsmen to do well.

Who doesn't enjoy watching a real craftsman at work, so much skill learned over many years. Or do it yourself.

Guess who grew up in wooden oriented boatyard?

Fish

The mists of time are fogging your memories of creatures that most on these forums have never heard of: teredo worms [teredos are to wood what Bill Clinton was to Big Macs].

[K1W1]

Hi,

These fellas.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shipworm

[NYCAP123]

Originally Posted by Loren Schweizer

The mists of time are fogging your memories of creatures that most on these forums have never heard of: teredo worms [teredos are to wood what Bill Clinton was to Big Macs].

Ah you science types, "teredo" worms. I just knew them as worms. The results were the same. Truth be knownst I've always had a saying: "If you want to keep me from buying a boat put a piece of wood on the outside". Sanding, painting, caulking, replanking, refastening and don't forget to drop plenty of sawdust in the haulout slip before dropping her in. (Do yards even still save their sawdust?) I've worked on many (getting paid by the hour) which convinced me to never own one. I'm with Marmot on this one although I love seeing them as long as it's someone elses efforts and checkbook getting the exercise.

[Marmot]

It didn't take long to discover that a 65X22X12 foot wooden box in the water consumed more time and money than a 36x22x34 inch alternative.

[FISHTIGUA]

Originally Posted by Loren Schweizer

The mists of time are fogging your memories of creatures that most on these forums have never heard of: teredo worms [teredos are to wood what Bill Clinton was to Big Macs].

Loren

In over 40 years of Dad's boat in the waters of the Caribbean, he did own a boatyard but he never let anyone else out of the family work on it, we had one worm.

In '91 we got a worm around one fastening that created a bit of a weep. After trying to bung up the hole with sawdust from below, we bit the bullet and replaced the plank, oh and put a new teak deck on in our spare time. Job done in three months. Several years after selling her, the new owner has had no other problems.

She was a pretty little 30' sloop designed by Charles Nicholson, hull laid before WW11 but put in a shed near Falmouth, Uk, unfinished until afterwards. She was called Bacco.

I still miss a beat when I see her in St. Barts.

Fish

[Capt J]

Originally Posted by NYCAP123

Ah you science types, "teredo" worms. I just knew them as worms. The results were the same. Truth be knownst I've always had a saying: "If you want to keep me from buying a boat put a piece of wood on the outside". Sanding, painting, caulking, replanking, refastening and don't forget to drop plenty of sawdust in the haulout slip before dropping her in. (Do yards even still save their sawdust?) I've worked on many (getting paid by the hour) which convinced me to never own one. I'm with Marmot on this one although I love seeing them as long as it's someone elses efforts and checkbook getting the exercise.

I agree with you there. A classic trumphy is a beautiful boat as long as you are not the person walking around in a 360 degree circle with a paint or varnish brush 5 days a week. LOL

NOW, a cold molded sportfish on the other hand is a great hull....... speed/ lightweight, strength, and not nearly as maintanence heavy as wood.

[FISHTIGUA]

Originally Posted by Capt J

I agree with you there. A classic trumphy is a beautiful boat as long as you are not the person walking around in a 360 degree circle with a paint or varnish brush 5 days a week. LOL

NOW, a cold molded sportfish on the other hand is a great hull....... speed/ lightweight, strength, and not nearly as maintanence heavy as wood.

J

Looking at the flared bow of a Carolina charter boat should inspire you to get the paintbrush out. Bristol fashion beats a Broward.

[K1W1]

Hi,

Isn't a cold molded boat actually a wooden boat?

[FISHTIGUA]

Originally Posted by K1W1

Hi,

Isn't a cold molded boat actually a wooden boat?

Yes K1W1

Its just one of the more modern wood construction methods. One of my favourites is cedar strip laminates.

This is where thin small strips of wood that are soaked in epoxy are stapeled (yes I did say use a staple-gun} are fixed to a wooden mould, when hardened remove the only-halfway-in staple and apply the next layer diagonally with thin strips.

Very strong and light. Can you beat this for carbonfibre.

Also K1W1 do you remember a boat in Cannes called 'Acachou' a 120' cold moulded motoryacht designed by Jon Bannenberg (my least favourite designer)? It had rubbish lines, as normal from Jon, though he was constrained by how far he could bend plywood. If he had used the above system he could have created a real beauty with Riva-like varnished topsides.

Fish

[AMG]

Originally Posted by FISHTIGUA

It had rubbish lines, as normal from Jon, though he was constrained by how far he could bend plywood. If he had used the above system he could have created a real beauty with Riva-like varnished topsides.

Acajou (138 feet) was built with triple planked mahogany at the Esterel shipyard near Cannes and the topsides were varnished, but the outer planks were in an angle which gave it a special effect.

[K1W1]

Hi,

I am familiar with the ACAJOU having worked for a previous owner of it.

Built by Chantiers Navals de L’ Esterel, Motor Yacht Acajou was named after the very material of which she was built. The immensely strong Esterel mahogany hull absorbs vibration and sound, enhancing the pleasure of cruising at speed in safety and comfort.