Trojan Boat Forum

Bill, now that's harsh! Of course, you could be discribing ANY boat!!

Out of curiosity. All the instructions I've seen for wood boats nowadays, Glen-L and the like, typically end with coating the hull with epoxy or even a layer or two of glass.

Would this alleviate a lot of the maintenance issues on the hull?

Your right, the cost of insuring a wooden boat is high. The premium for my woody was 50% higher then the premium for my F36, even though the woody was upraised for less, but they were with different companies. I didn't want to question the rate for fear they might want a current survey or drop me. When I inquired with other companies they wanted a current survey. The cost of the survey made changing companies cost prohibitive. I just bit the bullet and paid the premiums, but I had insurance. Chicago harbors require proof of insurance be for issuing the harbor permit sticker.

The epoxy coating on a hull gets damaged easy, bump the dock a few times. Fiberglass overlay was and is common but it does delaminate in time and condensation gets in between the glass and the wood, not to mention bilge water getting through, result,,, rot. I have restored several wood boats in the past and I loved them all. Would I do it again? NO. Twenty years ago there was a big percentage of wood boats in every marina and they were easy to insure and marine stores were suppling everything needed for wood boats. Today, not so, like the other guys said if you can afford the insurance will you be able to find a marina that will let you stay. There is still enough wood maintenance projects on a glass hulled boat to keep a person happy and busy. But if you really really really love them then nothing else will take there place. The creeking of a wood boat is special just like the slap that grandmas screen door used to make when it closed.

AuxiliaryComms wrote:Out of curiosity. All the instructions I've seen for wood boats nowadays, Glen-L and the like, typically end with coating the hull with epoxy or even a layer or two of glass.

Would this alleviate a lot of the maintenance issues on the hull?

No, That is about the worst thing you can do to a wood boat. When a woonen boat is first launched, it must soak. As water is absorbed the wood expands and seals the joints, and the hull becomes water tight. Glassing the hull traps water between the wood hull and glass hull. The wood hull flexes , the fiberglass breaks away and you wind up loose spots all over the boat. Once the water is traped the rot begins.

gjrylands wrote:

AuxiliaryComms wrote:Out of curiosity. All the instructions I've seen for wood boats nowadays, Glen-L and the like, typically end with coating the hull with epoxy or even a layer or two of glass.

Would this alleviate a lot of the maintenance issues on the hull?

No, That is about the worst thing you can do to a wood boat. When a woonen boat is first launched, it must soak. As water is absorbed the wood expands and seals the joints, and the hull becomes water tight. Glassing the hull traps water between the wood hull and glass hull. The wood hull flexes , the fiberglass breaks away and you wind up loose spots all over the boat. Once the water is traped the rot begins.

When the boat is first built there in nothing wrong with glassing it . many of the fineist boats are done that way . they are sealed inside and out . They call this" Cold molded" you can't do it that way after it is built . Most boats that are glassed later on are done as hull is starting to have proplems . more like a patch then a repair ! I walk away from a nice Sport fish a few months ago they said it was cold molded . It was not it was glassed over a few years ago . I wound what the glass was hideing ???

paul, say it isn't so..... don't give up your f-36!!!

The last wood boat I had (38 ft Chris), I impregnated the hull with CPES epoxy. I had to remove every trace of old paint first, repair and replace some wood - it took me and wife 2 years on the hard working on it every spare minute. The expense was staggering (that does not include the doctor's bills), but it was definitely the best thing we ever did. After epoxy primer, I overcoated with Interlux Toplac. After 3 years, that paint still looked like new. That was only one project.......