Hi Bob Davies,

Don't take us too seriously!  We're just havin a little fun.

You could have pointed out that if our "Constitution" had been glass,
the cannon balls sure as hell would not have bounced off her!

In fact, on top of my tupperware hull I've got enough teak to varnish
tp just about qualify as at least a half woodie!

I'll bet my neighbor didn't know that if he had put his boat back in
the water, his quarter inch open seams would have swelled up before he
sunk, providing he kept the crane operator happy, right?

Relative to your comment about burning plastic being toxic, a lot of
people trapped in burning wooden houses die from smoke inhalation,
don't they?  I wouldn't want to be trapped in, or downwind from either
burning wood or plastic!

Good cruising on the Taid's Inn!

Van

1978 / Mogambo / CHB TriCabin 34' Trawler / Alamitos Bay, CA

Hi, Van.

Don't take us too seriously!  We're just havin a little fun.
REPLY
On one of the other lists that Arild and I used to frequent, humor was
banned, as was the asking of any question that called into question the
agenda of the powers that be.  Eventually, they shut the list down, because
they couldn't control what we (Arild and me and others) had to say.  We had
our own version of Fast Fred there, and he did manage to get under the skin
occasionally, but the bottom line was that humor was not welcome.  Nor were
we.  So I welcome the repartee.  Arild could probably tell you that I have a
rather warped sense of humor, and nothing gives me greater pleasure than
seeing people have some fun together.
To that end - Plastic boats certainly have their place - my grandson loves
to play with his in the tub - but "woodies" are classics, and they need to
be maintained and brought back to life.  We bought Taid's Inn to save her
from the graveyard, and she still has many years ahead of her.  Yes, there
are times when they require some expensive work - we had to replace the
transom a couple of years ago because of neglect - but that is part of the
mystique that surrounds them.  To my mind, Tupperware just doesn't provide
the same feel or the same connection to the water that "woodies" do.

You could have pointed out that if our "Constitution" had been glass,
the cannon balls sure as hell would not have bounced off her!
COMMENT
True.  And the ironclads like the Monitor seemed to have a propensity to
become submarines!  If Titanic had been wood . . .
In fact, on top of my tupperware hull I've got enough teak to varnish
tp just about qualify as at least a half woodie!
COMMENT
I always find it interesting that the original glass hulls laid in the early
1970s were about three times thicker than the current ones, but that the
designers insisted on adding teak to hide the fact that they weren't real
boats. <VBG>
I'll bet my neighbor didn't know that if he had put his boat back in
the water, his quarter inch open seams would have swelled up before he
sunk, providing he kept the crane operator happy, right?
REPLY
A quarter inch is a lot for wood to swell, but if that is the way she was
designed, it should have worked.  The cabin might have flooded, like mine
does - the sole is below the waterline - but you have to live with that.
The problem is that marina operators and crane drivers have no interest in
seeing a boat in slings for a week, when they can charge exorbitant fees for
dropping 50 or 60 plastic boats in the same time frame.  Do the math!
Relative to your comment about burning plastic being toxic, a lot of
people trapped in burning wooden houses die from smoke inhalation,
don't they?  I wouldn't want to be trapped in, or downwind from either
burning wood or plastic!
REPLY
Nor would I.  It really doesn't matter what the boat is made of.  It is very
sad to see one go up, or is that down?
Good cruising on the Taid's Inn!
REPLY
Thanks.

Cheers!
Bob Davies
1965 Pacemaker 32 Sedan Express
Toronto

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Many years  ago when I was an electrician in a shipyard the place was converted
over from building wooden boats to fiberglass.

During the war this yard produced  150 foot wooden mine sweepers and  110 foot
fairmiles ( sub chasers circa 1918 design)

The  plastic yachts were molded on the upper story loft where they used to lay
out full scale lofting  plans.

We popped  hull #1 and moved it out onto the roof of the lower assembly shed.

Overnight a strong wind came up and blew the empty hull off the roof and dropped
it twenty feet to the ground below.

Amazingly the hull looked intact. Closer examination revealed a myriad of tiny
hairline cracks al over the side  which was down on impact.

Wisely the  yard owner decided to scrap it.

However one of the workers  managed to convince the yard owner to let him have
the hull for his own project.
Fifteen years later this same hull showed up in the small town  I then lived in.
The hull was still not completely finished but  there were signs of numerous
attempts to patch the original impact damage.

That told me that while fiberglass may be  more flexible than wood, it will
sustain extensive damage from an impact.

By comparison the very first boat that I helped build was wood.

Bringing the boat back from  Georgian Bay  the transport truck  blew a front
tire and rolled off the 30 foot embankment along the highway.
It rolled over during the crash and the  wooden keel was bent at 90 degrees
along a seam.

The half inch  drift pins we had used  didn't break, just bent.
Several planks were scarred from the impact of the truck landing on top of it
and we broke the ruder into three pieces.

Well it took me a summer to fix the damage.  I built a new rudder and cut the
drift pins with an abrasive blade.
Then I used 1/4" steel plated to fish together the  pieces of the keel. the
weight of the plate  served better than any internal ballast.
I continued to sail that boat and finally sold it when it was twenty years old.

Draw your own conclusion about the relative merits and strengths  of wood and
fiberglass

cheers

Arild

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