I'm considering buying a 19' 50's era custom-built wood runabout. I'm
also considering putting fiberglass onto the hull to get it into the
water sooner and to keep the maintenance down.

Any suggestions? The boat has been out of the water for a few years, so
the wood is pretty dry. The hull is in pretty good shape, so I'm not
covering up a pack of problems. I'm thinking of doing the work myself;
it looks like something I could handle and I have the space in my shop.

Thanks for any advice.

WCD wrote in message ...
I'm considering buying a 19' 50's era custom-built wood runabout. I'm
also considering putting fiberglass onto the hull to get it into the
water sooner and to keep the maintenance down.

Any suggestions? The boat has been out of the water for a few years, so
the wood is pretty dry. The hull is in pretty good shape, so I'm not
covering up a pack of problems. I'm thinking of doing the work myself;
it looks like something I could handle and I have the space in my shop.

Thanks for any advice.

In short, if the hull is ok as you say, paint it and launch it. If you
put glass on this type of boat you will have much more trouble, and
much sooner. Scotty

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

Like Rufus said. Glass sheathing is just a way to extend the life of an
otherwise unsalvageable wood hull. It is probably the fastest way to
destroy a decent hull short of actually demolishing it.

WCD wrote:
I'm considering buying a 19' 50's era custom-built wood runabout. I'm
also considering putting fiberglass onto the hull to get it into the
water sooner and to keep the maintenance down.

Any suggestions? The boat has been out of the water for a few years, so
the wood is pretty dry. The hull is in pretty good shape, so I'm not
covering up a pack of problems. I'm thinking of doing the work myself;
it looks like something I could handle and I have the space in my shop.

Thanks for any advice.



--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com

Rufus wrote in message news:8wcCb.510431$Tr4.1423564@attbi_s03...
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).

I have never had any delamination or wet rot problems as you
described.

I had a homebuilt plywood 26' sailboat covered with glass that was 25
years old when I sold it with absolutely no problems.

I have lived aboard my 1961 40' sailboat for the last 7 years. Strip
planked mahogany glassed over. The glass and wood are both in perfect
condition on this 43 year old boat.

Both of these boats inner hulls were never painted and stay bone dry.
On the occasion where I had a rainwater leak, ect. and got water in
the hulls, after the bilge pump removes the standing water the rest
just evaporates away.

Note that both of these boats were glassed when they were newly built.

In article , steve
wrote:

Rufus wrote in message
news:8wcCb.510431$Tr4.1423564@attbi_s03...
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).

I have never had any delamination or wet rot problems as you
described.

This "won't stick" idea comes from the days before epoxy was available
at reasonable prices. Polyester doesn't stick to bare wood very well.
It does relativly well when the wood is new but pretty bad if the wood
is used. Once read in a book that if one wants polyester soaked glass
to stay attached to used wood, it needs to be mechanically fastened
(nailed).

Modern epoxy does very much better and an entire new style of
boatbuilding erupted when it became financially feasable.

Jeff

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 visited a boat shop on Grand Manan Island in the Bay of Fundy
two years ago and my observations would lead me to believe that
what you say about polyester not sticking to wood is incorrect.
This shop built and refurbished commercial lobster boats up to about
40 feet in length. At first I had my doubts. The owner, a great old guy
in his 80's, showed me a traditionally planked boat that he had
polyester fiberglassed over about 15 years prior. The boat was made from
white cedar and white oak and much of the trim was maple.
The boat was still in good shape, no rot, except for the maple trim
pieces which were above the waterline.
This boat was fiberglassed only on the outside. The interior was bare
wood with some areas painted. This boat was being heavily used as a
commercial lobster boat. The boat was back in his shop to replace
the outer rubrails and gunnel trim and to put in a polyester patch
that had worn through where they dragged the traps up over the side.
He explained that the trick was to dry out the wood throughly.
This shop had a heated concrete slab floor.
I asked him about epoxy and he said he would not allow it in his shop
because it was toxic.
Being a long time advocate of the wonders of epoxy I was very surprized
to see all of this but it is hard to argue with reality. Especially when
you see it from people who depend on the materials for thier lives.
Perhaps they were successful using polyester on wood because of the cold
water temperatures and salty water. I don't know, except in this case it
worked.

Another Steve
SteveJ

Le Grande Raoul wrote:
In article , steve
wrote:


Rufus wrote in message
news:8wcCb.510431$Tr4.1423564@attbi_s03...

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).

I have never had any delamination or wet rot problems as you
described.


This "won't stick" idea comes from the days before epoxy was available
at reasonable prices. Polyester doesn't stick to bare wood very well.
It does relativly well when the wood is new but pretty bad if the wood
is used. Once read in a book that if one wants polyester soaked glass
to stay attached to used wood, it needs to be mechanically fastened
(nailed).

Modern epoxy does very much better and an entire new style of
boatbuilding erupted when it became financially feasable.

Jeff

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

But Steve ...if you recall that polyester is semi-permeable, then putting it
on one side of good dry wood sounds like it would work, no? The dry wood
will give it the best bond it can get, and then later when the boat's in use
water that's absorbed in the wood and glass has a way to escape. If the
structure of the boat doesn't allow too much expansion (as in plywood), then
I don't think the poly bond would suffer too quickly. Epoxy glass would
tend to collect the water at the epoxy/glass-to-wood interface. The initial
bond would be better, but I would guess that a one-side epoxy glassing would
be more prone to rot than a one-side polyester glassing. Epoxy *is* far
better, but you do have to keep it sealed up. Some of the finest wood boats
available, such as Huckins yachts for example, are epoxy glass on plywood
....and sealed on all sides of all wood. As far as toxic substances go,
maybe that fellow who made the remark should read a few MSDS's. I have a
feeling he's going on rumor more than fact on that one.

Brian

"steveJ" wrote in message
...
I visited a boat shop on Grand Manan Island in the Bay of Fundy
two years ago and my observations would lead me to believe that
what you say about polyester not sticking to wood is incorrect.
This shop built and refurbished commercial lobster boats up to about
40 feet in length. At first I had my doubts. The owner, a great old guy
in his 80's, showed me a traditionally planked boat that he had
polyester fiberglassed over about 15 years prior. The boat was made from
white cedar and white oak and much of the trim was maple.
The boat was still in good shape, no rot, except for the maple trim
pieces which were above the waterline.
This boat was fiberglassed only on the outside. The interior was bare
wood with some areas painted. This boat was being heavily used as a
commercial lobster boat. The boat was back in his shop to replace
the outer rubrails and gunnel trim and to put in a polyester patch
that had worn through where they dragged the traps up over the side.
He explained that the trick was to dry out the wood throughly.
This shop had a heated concrete slab floor.
I asked him about epoxy and he said he would not allow it in his shop
because it was toxic.
Being a long time advocate of the wonders of epoxy I was very surprized
to see all of this but it is hard to argue with reality. Especially when
you see it from people who depend on the materials for thier lives.
Perhaps they were successful using polyester on wood because of the cold
water temperatures and salty water. I don't know, except in this case it
worked.

Another Steve
SteveJ

Le Grande Raoul wrote:
In article , steve
wrote:


Rufus wrote in message
news:8wcCb.510431$Tr4.1423564@attbi_s03...

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).

I have never had any delamination or wet rot problems as you
described.


This "won't stick" idea comes from the days before epoxy was available
at reasonable prices. Polyester doesn't stick to bare wood very well.
It does relativly well when the wood is new but pretty bad if the wood
is used. Once read in a book that if one wants polyester soaked glass
to stay attached to used wood, it needs to be mechanically fastened
(nailed).

Modern epoxy does very much better and an entire new style of
boatbuilding erupted when it became financially feasable.

Jeff