"DSK" wrote in message
.. .

Maxprop wrote:
Wooden boat fanatics are just that: fanatics. They love wood & boats,
and when combined . . .


For many, it does have aspects of a cult.


That said, there is no way in hell that a boat with a wood hull and/or
deck will require no more maintenance than a similar glass boat. He
probably had an older wooden boat he wanted to sell. :-)


If you're talking about a wooden boat that is sound, and maintained
efficiently in decent working shape, and don't include long-term things
like ripping the seams & refastening, then it is no more work than to
maintain a fiberglass boat of similar size & style in high-gloss yachtie
condition.

It takes about two or three hours to buff the gelcoated topsides of a 36'
fiberglass boat. It takes no time at all if the boat is Awlgripped. The
same process of a wooden boat with topside paint (not linear polyurethane,
which is rare on wooden boats) is generally not necessary annually, but such
boats will typically need repainting about every 4 or 5 years to keep them
looking bristol. A sanding and painting, if properly done, will take well
over 20 hours or preparation and another 4-6 hours of masking and painting.
Glass (4-5 years): up to 15 hours maximum, Wood (same period): 24 hours
minimum.

Brightwork: most recent glass boats have none. Most wooden boats have
acres.
Bottom: glass: reapplying antifouling annually, or not if well coated with
Teflon paint or ablative, wood: sanding and painting annually, and an
occasional need to repair small areas of defective caulking, if the boat is
carvel planked. If the boat is cold-molded, it may take no more time than
glass.

Deck and house: glass: virtually no work required, beyond a bath, wood:
similar, except when the Dynel or canvas needs to be replaced, which is a
multi-week job encompassing many hours. Then painting is necessary. If the
deck is wood (common with wooden boats, rare with fiberglass) a certain
minimum amount of maintenance is necessary annually.


I generally say that maintaining a wooden boat is 10% more work than
fiberglass, and having owned several of each, feel confident this can
backed with figures. The difference is that the wooden boat will have
certain labor & skill intensive things done to it every ten years or so,
by which time you will probably have sold it to somebody else.

You can't simply dismiss those maintenance items. Amortized over a number
of years, the labor time is greatly skewed against the wooden boat.


The biggest difference between fiberglass and wood is the consequence of
neglect. If you neglect a fiberglass boat, you have a mess to clean up. If
you neglect a wooden boat, you have mulch.

I agree with your last sentence. Most wooden boats are neglected, the
owners believing someone else will bring them back somewhere down the road.
Then the labor and costs are astronomical.

Max