The perception in the marketplace today is that you should stay away from wood boats. They randomly sink, and gee don’t they take a lot of work? That has not been my experience so where does this reputation come from? Well, to start, wood got old first. First in, first to age, first to show the weakness in design and construction. But what is odd is that the entire segment of wood boats, regardless of quality, has been given a bad rap. As with any product line that has multiple manufacturers and designers you will have good and bad. We don’t throw out every car because Ford built the Pinto. In a way, time has done us a favor. If a boat was poorly designed and/or built, age has most likely removed it from the marketplace, and it is quietly composting somewhere. Some boats were built for a specific price point that successfully got folks on the water but did not have the robustness of construction to last decades-which they were never intended to. The Sabrecraft 26 plywood cabin cruiser was a very inexpensive and lightly built boat with an intended life span of maybe 30 years. Why should that vessels demise be an indicator of the life span of a much higher quality build? Clearly then the life span of a Kia is indicative of the life span and quality of a Rolls Royce.
Proper maintenance is also another key factor. Even the highest quality boat cannot overcome poor maintenance. But here again, folks seem unable to recognize that a clear lack of care by the owner (or owners) is the cause of the problem, not the boat itself.
Fine, we have an idea of a couple of the big drivers of the “wood boats are bad” reputation. But then you say: new is just better with more conveniences and less prone to breakdown… or least it may be under warranty! And I don’t have any problem with that thinking because now you can have a new vs. old conversation which is entirely different. But if you want to stick with your wood boats are old or poorly maintained therefore all wood boats are bad then get ready. There is an old fiberglass boat tsunami coming (actually it is here) with plenty of fiberglass boats past their intended life span or poorly maintained. Now you will have to decide if you want to tar all fiberglass boats with the same brush or flip over the new vs. old discussion- which is really where the decision lies.
Next month: Wood boat owners and their hair shirt or more accurately, the Maintenance Myth.
Todd Powell Boats 