CC Ski Boat for regular seasonal use?

[PJohnson]

My wife and I love the old Chris Craft wooden boats and are considering buying a 1959 Ski boat. We have zero experince with wooden boats.

She is concerned about using it regularly during the summer and skiing behind it. I would like to use it as intended with the only exception being that it will be trailered to and from the lake rather than being kept in the water.

Since it would not be left in the water, I am planning on having the bottom fiberglassed (?) by a professional and very reputable expert restorer.

Is this a reasonable approach?

Any advice & experience is greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Phil

[marshmat]

A glassed bottom would give you some peace of mind if you're trailering a lot. Plain wood really needs to be wet all the time to fit right. The expert restorer is a good idea; if he's good, you won't be able to tell it's glassed until you're about a foot away from it. If you don't want to glass but still want to trailer, then wrapping the bottom in cloth with a trickle of water from a perforated hose will help keep the planks at the right moisture content.

[PAR]

Depending on the hull construction method employed and the general condition of your little Chris, you are pretty limited in the 'glassing of your boat.

Traditional wooden construction and 'glass don't mix well, some building methods are more amenable then others in this regard, but as a rule most don't take to it well. The value of this antique craft will be considerably degraded with a cloth sheathing also.

This usually boils down to the wooden structure requiring the wood to absorb some moisture, so it's joints can get tight, in order to keep out water and maintain tight, strong connections in the structural members.

When a structure like this gets a coating of cloth set in epoxy, it does keep out the water, but also prevents the structure from getting tight. This means all the fasteners will now be bearing loads the mating surfaces of the joints should be. Before long the fasteners work loose and a bunch of new issues have crept into your project.

All boats require a scheduled maintenance routine. Some building materials can go for very long periods with considerable neglect in this area, with little damage. Traditional wooden constructed vessels, will show signs of ill health reasonably quickly, if this is allowed to occur. What I'm saying is, a well cared for traditional wood boat will live a long, long time and doesn't need 'glass or goo filled coatings to provide this. I have three boats in my yard at the moment, 48, 45 and 35 year old wooden boats, none have 'glass on them and two of the three have their original planking intact, except for the odd repair or three. These aren't museum pieces, but used and loved old wooden craft that are kept covered, provided plenty of ventilation and kept clean. They are all trailer boats, though one really isn't legal to trailer (to wide) but I do. They don't live in a garage, but do have a tarp cover, which is replaced each year and their trailers fit nicely without placing undue strains on the hull.

Keep it clean, use it regularly, provide cover from the rain and sun, keep the finishes in good shape and insure plenty of ventilation in and around all the areas inside the boat and they'll last quite some time. A sheathing of cloth in epoxy will provide you with some additional abrasion resistance, very little additional strength (none worth mentioning, unless a very thick sheathing) and can cause other issues to give you fits. It will not decrease your maintenance schedule any and it will decrease the value of the boat.

I work on these types of boats most exclusively. If you pulled into my yard with these ideas, I would strongly recommend you not do it. If you insisted, I'd send you to someone willing to do this to a 60 year old classic, rather then have my reputation tied to what would likely happen just a few years down the road after it's bottom is sheathed and dinged up a little.