Contemporary Wooden Boat Building

Zurück zur deutschen Version dieser Seite.

Composite Building Technology

My boats have a handmade core of thin marine plywood or solid wood strips. I build the decks from white pine, western red cedar or different mahogany species.
Hulls and decks are sheathed with thin glass cloth and epoxy resin on the outside. This coating cures like varnish and protects the wood from moisture very effectively. It is a perfect water barrier, and the wood underneath does not swell and shrink. Wooden boats, built with this technology, are 100% dry.
The inside of the hull is sheathed with Kevlar^TM fabric and epoxy resin. These coatings make the hull stiff, very durable and tough. I am excited about Kevlar^TM, because it is extremely impact resistant. A kevlar sheathed hull is incredibly resistant against blows, which gives more security against puncture.
The reinforcements in the hull and the rig are built from ultra-light carbon fiber.

This composite building technique results in robust, durable, aesthetic, very light and 100% dry boats. The clear coating preserves the wood in its full beauty and protects it perfectly from water and other elements.

My boats have the potential to survive their creator. Some age will make them just more beautiful. You buy a classic of tomorrow, and you can be proud of her today.

Wooden boats - expensive to maintain?

In former times, the joints between the wooden planks were sealed with cotton or oakum and tar. These hulls were always leaking. After several years, the planks were rotten from water sloshing in the bilge. Repairs are expensive.
Deck and cabin structures were built from solid wood. But solid wood warps - it swells and shrinks continuously. Over time, cracks were forming between the boards, water penetrated in and peeled the paint or varnish off. The damage had to be sealed and repainted.

Today, plywood planks are glued together with epoxy, or several layers of veneers are cold-molded with epoxy. Additionally, the outside of wooden hulls is sheathed with fiberglass and epoxy. The resulting hulls are completely watertight, long-lasting and looking beautiful. Deck and cabin are made of dimensionally stable plywood, which does not warp.

In a restauration, these modern materials and techniques are often the only chance to rescue derelict classic crafts.

Robust and Easy to Mantain

Due to the Kevlar^TM coating and the abrasion-resistant epoxy-graphite layer on the bottom, my sturdy boats will take some scratches and groundings without damage. Treated properly and used with care, contemporary wooden boats are as robust as laminated glass fiber boats. For an almost unlimited life, some maintenance and repair instructions are useful:

Epoxy resin is not very UV-stable. Store your boat protected from direct sunlight in the garage or a shed. If this is not possible, use a dark cover to protect the entire hull from direct sun. Add another coat of varnish if it looses its gloss after some years of use.
Wood-epoxy hulls can lie on the jetty or on a mooring. They are as watertight as good fiberglass boats. Do not let water accumulate inside the boat, or the resulting damage will be as severe as in a GRP boats after several months. In a cold winter, the water inside the hull will freeze and will bend the planks and split the seams.
Deep scratches in the wood core must be repaired. Allow the boat to dry and tape the scratch temporarily with packing tape to keep it dry. No later than the end of the season, fill the scratch with epoxy. This will protect the wood from moisture again.
Heavy damage is no problem. After the collision, seal the dry boat temporarily with packing tape and go on. After the trip, the damage is easily repaired by us or any other talented boat builder. We will cut out the damage, insert a new wood core and rebuild the sheathing.
Store the dacron sail airy and dry to protect it against mildew.

Disclaimer

This is definitely not Queen´s English. If you are a native speaker, please help me to improve this page. Your suggestions are very welcome. If you would like to read other pages in English, please mail me and I will try to translate them.