Anybody doing any backyard boats using composites instead of wood? If so,
where are you getting your composites or are you making them?

The reason I ask is that I own several boats, and I don't care what people
say about how great wood is it has rot problems. In my climate we get
extreme heat and very dry temperatures which are hard on any material. Wood
dries out and shrinks to extremes in a climate where 20% humidty is
considered hoigh, and 120F+ temps are not uncommon.

Please don't jump all over my ignorance about using wood. I have been
reading and studying on this and other boat building topics for several
years now, and I read this group from time to time. I really just want to
learn more about composite materials that might be available for transoms
and stringers. I know about how long wood lasts, and I am somehwat familiar
with Jacques "encapsulation" process, but in the real world you make holes
in your boat and over the years holes get wallowed out from removing
changing and remounting equipment, motors, depth sounders, etc... I try to
reseal every penetration with copious use of 3M 5200, but I can see where
things can slip by. When you think in terms of years much less decades it
doesn't take much.

I had a wood transom replaced in my Skeeter bass boat last year, and the guy
I spoke with at Skeeter offered to sell us some composite material for it to
replace the wood. This really brought my attention to the use of
composites.

--
** FREE Fishing Lures
** Weekly drawing
** Public Fishing and Boating Forums
** www.YumaBassMan.com