I've seen wood lobster boats that have been polyester
fiberglassed over 15 years ago and still good.

Rufus wrote:
Allan Vaitses owned a yard and did this type of work (as well as a lot
of other work) for many years. His family is still in the business
AFAIK. He wrote a book about it. Get the book (library) and see what you
think. It's not an easy job, it's not forever.

There are two intrinsic problems as I understand it. 1) The glass will
delaminate from the wood, one way or another. 2) Moisture will get into
the wood from the inside and the wood will stay wet and rot (because the
bottom is sealed).

There are ways to deal with both, but no real solutions. The system
gives an old rotting boat another few years of useful work life, but
it's not a preservation method.

There may be exceptions and success stories, but I have not heard them
documented reliably - I don't know of any boats that have had this done,
say, 10 years ago that I can find out there today. If anybody does, or
knows (first hand) of problem boats, maybe they'd post.

Rufus

I looked at a couple mahog. runabouts last year that had been "fiberglassed" at
the factory in the 50's and were still in great shape. I epoxy glass my cedar
strip hulls on the outside only. I have had problems with so called
"encapsualtion" but none at all with the outside application.
Greg Sefton

Mantra The epoxy encapsulation must be done right, and then maintained
that way/Mantra. I would wonder if those canoes that had problems (please
describe them for us) were probably beached enough to cause miniscule leaks
in the canoes. Due to the rough rocks around here, mostly lava sponge, I
don't think I'll ever get to build a stripper than I can utilize much ...the
best lakes we have are in lava country (high Cascades, in Oregon).

As far as the one-side epoxy experience goes, it makes me wonder if some
woods do conduct moisture away from the epoxy/wood interface while other
woods do not, e.g. some woods are less rot resistant when only partially
coated with epoxy. Someone should do a study. It's very interesting
though. The encapsulated canoes were probably trapping water in the wood
while the one-side ones were allowing it to be conducted out? Have you any
comments or guesses on this?

Brian

--
My boat project: http://www.advantagecomposites.com/tongass


"Bray Haven" wrote in message
...
I looked at a couple mahog. runabouts last year that had been
"fiberglassed" at
the factory in the 50's and were still in great shape. I epoxy glass my
cedar
strip hulls on the outside only. I have had problems with so called
"encapsualtion" but none at all with the outside application.
Greg Sefton