Do Not Glass The Bottom Of An Old Wooden Boat Ever!!!!

[hoytedow]

Originally Posted by troy2000

I don't necessarily agree one hundred percent. The fact that someone glassed over a hull doesn't always mean they did so because the hull was so deteriorated they had no choice. They may simply have chosen to do so.

Covering Wooden Boats With Fiberglass by Allan Vaitses has been around since 1981, and sales of it are still going strong. A lot of people have followed his advice.

I do agree it runs up a caution flag. And if someone did it as a last-ditch, desperate maneuver to keep the boat afloat, you probably don't want it...

If you would read my post more carefully, I didn't say wooden; I said planked. I regularly fiberglass over the plywood wooden boats I build.

Originally Posted by The copper guy

JUST DON'T DO IT
MY VOTE:GLASSING OVER THE BOTTOM IS DEATH TO THE BOAT AND SHOULD BE OUTLAWED!!
There is NO Doubt, NO Question, No Mistake, (IT JUST DESTROYS THE BOAT) IT IS IRREVERSIBLE (This is just my opinion)

Well, that is a nice OPINION............

The NO doubt, NO question Part, you should have left.

Though not completely out of the blue, if related to "cheap repairs".

Done well, and done at the right time (not to cheat a customer), done with the right material, there is NOTHING wrong!
I do not recommend sheathing, due to the many hundred mistakes one could make, and commonly are made.
But IT IS A GOOD WAY TO ENCAPSULATE SOLID; HEALTHY WOOD!


Just recently, I sailed a 1966 built, wooden boat in Winter conditions without any doubt about seaworthiness.

But that was a professionally built and professionally sheathed (30 years later) vessel, not the average crap barge.


the poll is not worth talking......... btw.

[troy2000]

Originally Posted by hoytedow

If you would read my post more carefully, I didn't say wooden; I said planked. I regularly fiberglass over the plywood wooden boats I build.

Vaitses' book was about covering existing planked boats with fiberglass, not sheathing new plywood boats.

[Boston]

might sound kinda lame but my old grand father Robby wouldn't take on anything that wasn't wood. I learned a lot from that grumpy old guy and one might be a innate distaste for fiberglass. When I moved away from the Cape I could have taken a job in the local marina ( inland but still ) but basically it was 100% working with fiberglass. Not for me. I just dont really trust the stuff and I just dont feel like being covered in that stuff at the end of each day. Ill just stick with wood and be happy with it.

I can say with a lot of confidence that wood likes to breath. If you baggy it up your begging for trouble.

best of luck folks
Im out

B

[SuenosAzules]

From my experience over the years with fiberglass over older wooden boats is pretty much what has been covered here. The fiberglass work has to be of good quality, and yes at first when the wood dried the vessel becomes significantly lighter even though the extra weight of the fiberglass and resin was added. However, long term effects over the years is that the wood does not breathe properly and in areas where moisture collects from the fiberglass overlay wood rot occurs. It may be a short term solution as for the couple mentioned on the first page the circumnavigated the globe, but long term, I would stick with either a fiberglass or wood boat without the overlay.

[ancient kayaker]

There have been several posts commenting on the difficulty of drying a glassed-on-one-side boat. Is there an issue whether the boat in question is dry-moored or frequently hauled, vs launched and left? It seems to me that a boat in the water is hardly likely to get any more saturated as a result of having glass under her. Once hauled, that's another matter of course.

[SamSam]

Originally Posted by troy2000

I don't necessarily agree one hundred percent. The fact that someone glassed over a hull doesn't always mean they did so because the hull was so deteriorated they had no choice. They may simply have chosen to do so.

Covering Wooden Boats With Fiberglass by Allan Vaitses has been around since 1981, and sales of it are still going strong. A lot of people have followed his advice.

I do agree it runs up a caution flag. And if someone did it as a last-ditch, desperate maneuver to keep the boat afloat, you probably don't want it...

They do it here all the time on older shrimp boats using the Vaitses process but with a difference. The hull is cleaned up of loose paint and stuff then a layer of generic 5200 is troweled over it and a layer of 24 oz woven roven is imbedded in that. When the 5200 sets up somewhat the WR is wet out with polyester resin and when that is at the green stage heavy monel staples are shot in every 6" or so. A few more layers of mat and WR complete the sheathing, then some gelcoat and bottom paint that some people add a bunch of cayenne pepper to. They've been doing it here at least 20 years and once had a big article in National Fisherman about all the boats coming from the Carolinas and Gulf states to have it done. I don't think they'd still be doing it if it didn't work.

[akkevin]

I was always under the impression that glassing a wood boat hull is a not a good thing as the wood always flexes to some extent. This leading to cracks that hold water against the wood, rotten planks under a fiberglass shell, that is a bad combination even if the frames where still good. To take her out would require a calm day and a good supply of safety and rescue gear in an area that has at least moderate traffic and hope for the best. But from the previous posts you have about 5 to 10 years to do that, so where is she on the scale of "sure" to "OH S&*T".

[troy2000]

Originally Posted by akkevin

I was always under the impression that glassing a wood boat hull is a not a good thing as the wood always flexes to some extent. This leading to cracks that hold water against the wood, rotten planks under a fiberglass shell, that is a bad combination even if the frames where still good. To take her out would require a calm day and a good supply of safety and rescue gear in an area that has at least moderate traffic and hope for the best. But from the previous posts you have about 5 to 10 years to do that, so where is she on the scale of "sure" to "OH S&*T".

So how do you account for all the boats that are still sailing, years after they were 'glassed?

If cracks in the fiberglass let water in and that's a bad thing, what about all the boats that have no fiberglass--and therefore stay wet all the time?

Seems we have people on one side saying it can't be done without creating a disaster, vs people on the other side who do it routinely.....

[dskira]

Originally Posted by The copper guy

FIRST LET ME MAKE CLEAR.
NEW CONSTRUCTION IS PERFECTLY ACCEPTABLE AND INDEED AN IMPROVEMENT!!
I APPLAUD THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW COMPOSITE BUILDING METHODS AND LOVE
BOTH THE STRIP BUILDING AND COLD MOLDED VESSELS BEING BUILT TODAY THEY ARE SUPERIOR TO OLDER METHODS IN EVERY WAY. (GLASS WILL STICK TO NEW WOOD) This is in noway part of the discussion!!!

There are many reasons why people want to glass there old boat and that is there
decision to make. (IT IS THERE BOAT)

THE PROBLEM IS: They are often misinformed by well meaning guys, Who are also
misinformed, The boating magazines remain MUTE on the subject as many of there readers are new to boating or have limited experience. (AND THEY JUST SELL MAGAZINES AFTER ALL) Even WOODEN BOAT MAGAZINE DOSE NOT DISCOURAGE THE PRACTISE? It turns out a lot of there subscribers have one? so much for what looks like a tradishional boat builders RAG! I have asked them to publish something on the subject but to date i have had no reply.

OK You want more choices, IT IS OK IF: YOU WANT TO DO IT TO YOUR BOAT FOR WHATEVER REASON!!!! IN THE FULL KNOWLEDGE THAT IT HAS ITS LIMITATIONS?

BUT YOU CANNOT IN ALL GOOD FAITH SELL IT OR ALLOW IT TO BE SOLD TO SOME INNOCENT WHO SKIPPED THE SURVEYORS REPORT IN THE BELIEF THAT ITS GLASSED OVER WHAT CAN GO WRONG???????
Fortunately very few will ever go anywhere with it BUT WHAT IF THEY DID??????
As a long time cruiser often in wooden boats, I have never met anyone traveling any distance in one of these death traps,
Is that because no one actually sailed of into the sunset on one or because they were never seen again?????
There are only a limited number of people qualified to answer the question? But it is there duty to speak out, If this was your son and his family buying somone elses
abortion don who knows why? or when? wood any experienced sailor allow them
to go to sea?


THE QUESTION IS AND ALWAYS HAS BEEN IS IT ALRIGHT TO SELL IT ON . YES/OR NO

Why you scream?
Daniel