Would you purchase a boat with this much wood?

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rduhon

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"Would you purchase a boat with this much wood?"

Sure. Why not?

I must admit, I would be unlikely to own one of these particular boats, as i do not care for the type, design. But there is nothing wrong with the use of wood, fully encapsulated in epoxy and 'glass. In fact, that is an excellent material, especially for "one-off" construction. Light, strong, cheap ( in one-offs ).

As with all materials, it has a care and maintenance schedule particular to the specific materials, but the maintenance is no greater than any other type, and the care is no more difficult; just different.

<< rant on >>

The use of wood ( epoxy encapsulated wood in particular ) in boats currently has an undeserved bad reputation in boating, mostly due to the improper use of the material by boaters who do not understand the strengths and weaknesses of the material.

Epoxy is the best of the polymers, having the lowest rate of water intrusion. Wood is an excellent structural material. By combing the two you end up with a strong, stiff, lightweight composite that can rival steel. But you must preserve the integrity of the "capsule". And you must build it correctly from the get-go.

If the wood is properly saturated with resins to ensure proper adhesion, you are off to a good start. Then you must not pierce the capsule. This iw where most failures occur in those boats where the owners complain. ( ie: is is poor care/maintenance by the owner )

Done properly, this material can produce boats superior for many purposes to those made of steel, aluminum or solid FRP.

I'll take a properly made and cared for epoxy encapsulated wood boat over the other materials any day. It is that good.

You do not see much of it for two main reasons:

a) This is a very labor intensive construction method, and it is not well-suited to "production" boats.

b) Due to owner/operator mis-handling of the material, their errors have given it a bad rep ( promoted by production boat builders who want you to buy their inferior production boats )

In my opinion.

<< rant off >>
 
That particular type of boat was originally all wood and lasted for years. The design is mainly for fishing, crabbing, clamming etc, and as such was mainly in salt water. Salt water reputedly helps prevent rot and preserves wood.
 
It is a center console bay boat. Used mainly for Redfish and Speckled Trout fishing.
 
It is a nice boat, but one that I have no use for... but the Q was, "would I own one with this much wood?" and, yes, I would.

It looks like a nice, flat bottom, center console, skiff. The catch is that I have pounded my spine enough that I do not wish to do more damage. I'll bet this one would beat you up in a chop.
 
Umm, why not. It's probably the strongest method of building a boat and done well, as in this case, the boat will last longer than you will. "Wood" is not the problem and never was.
 
So you wouldn't worry about screws backing out, or water getting under the fiberglass rotting the wood?
 
i don't think water getting under the glass is an issue as resin bonds very well to wood. one concern woudl be poorly sealed screwed allowing water in the plywood and rotting but hopefully they have backing plates and bolts for railings, cleats, etc...

I would prefer a foam core like Divinycel which is much lighter and cant rot but marine ply is just fine.
 
Albury builds boats in Abaco on Man O War Cay they are still built with plywood reinforcement then Polyester and fiberglass layup. It is a very heavy and durable boat. Hand layed up and no chopper gun.

Spelling
 
Plywood is stronger than foam in most cases. So long as the fasteners are bedded properly, you won't have leakage. Core leakage is one of those things that happens purely because of neglect. Neglect at the time of installation, as well as neglect during the life of the fastener due to owners not monitoring the vessel. What's more, if the fastener hole is fully bedded with resin, you can't hurt the core even if the fastener leaks, and again this is not difficult or costly to do.

For us to give up on coring, means we have to give up on the entire possibility of a boat being built as specified. If that is true, then the whole thing is suspect, right down to the laminate. Now, given the fantstic laminate failings we have seen with Bertram and coring silliness from Searay, as consumers maybe we can't rely on specifications at all. But as boatbuilders, I think we surely would be able to take full accountability for quality control. One has to wonder whether coring issues are actually ignored or engineered because they are not difficult to avoid. For some reason its just not a priority.

I admit that I like solid glass box stringers formed over a foam core because there is simply no way to hurt them, even if you saturate the foam core (yes most foam cores will suffer from water adsorption). I like it because I don't have to trust someone elses ability (or do I? how do I know they didn't screw up the layup of the glass if we can't trust them to do something as simple as sealing wood?).

But if you want to build the strongest boat at one of the lightest weights, at the lowest cost then you almost certainly want to use wood. What's more, it is NOT difficult to seal a wood core. So, again I say that if the boat is built well, we have no standing whatsoever to blame the wood as a failure point. We should be blaming QC, but we don't, we blame the material.

I don't get it. We seem to be committed to throwing one of THE best boat building methods under the bus, simply because we wish to avoid hurting some person's feelings along the way. Somebody screwed up, lets put the blame where it belongs.
 
Properly installed and maintained, I would not worry about "screws backing out, or water getting under the fiberglass rotting the wood"

Do you worry about thru-hulls leaking? No, because you properly install and maintain them. It is the same issue.

Most boat owners ( and some manufacturers ) do not how to properly use screws with this type of construction. Done correctly, it is a total non-issue.

Of course, I do not like to use screws anywhere on a boat, except where forced to do so due to design. Screws are not the best choice in any situation where the connected objects are subject to strong vibration and flexing and or heavy loads. Glue ( epoxy ) or thru-bolt is vastly preferable. Just remember to "protect the capsule" when you drill a hole through it...
 
The biggest disadvantage is the weight issue and as most have mentioned persons not sealing behind them selfs when penertrating the core material.

So long as the layup and tabbing are done well and the vessel is cared for properly it should out last most of us.
 
Al, I disagree a bit with you regarding weight.

Cored composites are lighter than solid composites. ie: solid glass/epoxy laminate vs cored glass/epoxy laminates. You are correct that a plywood core is not the lightest of core materials, with end-grain balsa and foam being lighter.

Plywood, however, is more suitable to "one-off" construction than balsa or foam due to the ease which which you can avoid voids and adhesion issues.

( Ref: "Boat Strength" by Dave Gerr )
 
Hi Bill, I was referring to the vessel having a plywood core. Ill make sure to be a little clearer next go around. Good thing i have you on watch!
 
You said that SO politely! :)

Simple clarification. No real arguments.
 
my brother is a very serious redfish/trout angler out of Port O'Connor, TX. he has a Majek boat and loves it! google majekboats!
 
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