"biz" wrote in message
...
Hi group

OK, now I've exhausted my search around usenet and the wider web for
information on this topic I thought I'd post for some fresh thoughts and
ideas.

I'm considering buying a wooden boat as a liveaboard, and I have some
major concerns. Almost everyone I come across - surveyors, brokers,
finance houses, insurance companies, usenet posters - seems to balk at it
to lesser or greater degrees. It seems established that they require
regular and vigilant maintenance. I don't want to buy a money pit, and
two marinas I've come across are so fed up with people abandoning wooden
boats they won't allow them. Any thoughts on this?

I've been quoted GBP950 (about $1800) for a survey on the hard, and the
surveyor will do an initial walk-through to see if it's worth going ahead
even to that stage. It's 45 feet long, and is carvel constructed. I don't
yet know the year or specific hull material. The beams are about 2" x 2".
I'm going to go along tomorrow and try to have as many of the floorboards
up as possible so that I can go through with a bradawl and check for
sponginess.

Think I should not risk it and try and find myself a nice tongue in
cheekeasy/ steel-shell?

Biz



Biz:

For about 20 years I was such a wooden boat nut I built a couple and
subscribed to WoodenBoat magazine religiously.

That's what it is. A religion.

Boats are built of wood because it was at one time the superior material.
Better than reeds (on the Nile) for example. Or hides. Even ships were
built of wood.

Until iron (first) and then steel came along.

And for smaller boats fiberglass.

Substitutions are usually made because a superior technology has emerged.

Sure, stick with wood for purposes of tradition and nostaglia. NOT for
practical reasons of maintenance and durability. And certainly not for
economy. Here, as everywhere, you get what you pay for.

So ponder first: do you want to be a boat maintainer? (I have a friend who
LOVES to take care of his wooden boat. Nothing wrong with that. That's his
hobby. He doesn't pretend to be a sailor.) Or do you want to spend more of
your time boating (or, for a liveaboard, living?)

The choice is clear if you REALLY know what you want.

Best,

Dick B.
M/V "Annie" (a fiberglass tugboat)