maintenance schedules on wood hulls.

This is my first post, tho I'm amazed at the wealth of information. I've read most of the posts and tried to find these answers but the answers seem to assume you know the following information.

I've never owned a wood boat and am more than a little leary about them, however Their lines are so classic, and the more I read, it seems that just like any other boat or vehicle, if you keep up on taking care of them, they take care of you. I've been looking in the 46 to 60 range and want to make sure I Have a good understanding of the associated costs. I am primarily concerned with the Hull costs as I understand the mechanical costs a bit better.

Mostly this will be a live aboard after I get the restoration done On the Puget Sound. WHile I have some specific questions, I know that these will be very general answers. I'm mainly looking for some general maintenance schedule so that I can have a semi accurate annual maintenance cost to make sure I don't buy more boat than I can maintain.

Slip fees and haulout fees are easy.

what would insurance run on these? I've been looking at a 58' 1914 and a 1948 52 Monk Grandy. I'm just looking at a ball park estimate and a reassurance that they can be insured. I've seen some reference to the age precluding insurance, or perhaps making it prohibitively expensive. on glass boats it seems to be 1 to 3 percent of worth per year.

What about bottom paint? Once again I know they vary widely but if their was a middle number or a range like 3 to 6 dollars a square foot or something of that nature, it would help me out tremendously in evaluating boats. ANd how often would you need to do this? I assume this is a yearly item especially on wood but hey i might be wrong.

Bottom paint is something I can do so I was simply looking for materials cost.

What exactly is refasten and recaulk? And more importantly how often must this be done. I have read the physical procedures for the recaulk, and understand the fact that the screws wither away and pull from swelling, but once again how often must this be done?

Is refastening simply the act of taking out the screws, evaluating the board for rot and putting it back on with new screws in a larger size? If that is all then I can do that, but is their something else I am missing?

How often do boards go bad? Is this just something we as wood owners put up with or will a good maintenance schedule preclude this?

Most of the boats I am looking at say "sound hull" So if the surveyor says this is so, how long will that hull last with good PM.

Is their a good Book on Wooden boat restoration? I am looking at the teens to 50's era boats as this is the type of boat I want. Thanks again.

Josh

 

Josh.

Join here.

http://www.woodenboatvb.com/vbulletin/upload/

Good luck,

Pericles

 

Josh,

Here is a book that will help. It breaks down the entire process of restoring and maintaining a wooden boat. Joining forums dedicated to wooden boats will be a big help. The book will get you started and teach you some of the fundamental requirements, terms, some idea of relative costs, etc. Once you know the basics you will gain much more from the forums.

Great project idea. Good luck!

 

Charlie,

Sounds great, but you forgot to name the book.

Thanks

Josh

 

Oops! Sorry, Josh (hangs head in shame and embarassment ).

Here:
http://www.amazon.com/Wooden-Boat-Renovation-Modern-Methods/dp/0070652392

Bonuses to make up for my goof:
http://powerboat.about.com/cs/classicantique1/a/morwood_history.htm

http://www.boat-links.com/linklists/boatlink-01.html

http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/archive/index.php/f-18.html

http://www.amazon.com/Restore-Your-Wooden-Boat-Those/dp/192886211X

 

That does look like a good book. I ordered it yesterday, along with some others. These other links look good. Thanks again.