Which Hull Material is BEST: Wood | Sailing Wisdom

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This is the 1st in a 5 Part Series on Hull Materials.
Wooden sailboats have been the standard hull material for thousands of years. Now that modern materials have come into existence, how does a wooden hull compare to other boat hull types? Is wood better than fiberglass or aluminum?
In this video, I interview a full-time cruiser who is traveling around the world on a classic wooden sailboat from England. We get to hear first-hand what it's really like to have a wooden boat.
0:00 Intro
0:27 Thoughts on a Wooden Boat
1:20 What if you hit something?
2:03 Advantages of a wooden hull
3:11 Disadvantages of a wooden hull
5:37 Things to Look For and Avoid When Shopping for a Wooden Boat
8:43 Outro
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[@todddunn945]

A big practical negative of an older wooden boat is that such boats are very hard to insure. Most insurers won't even talk to you about an older wooden boat. There are a few companies that will insure a wooden boat, but it definitely takes some looking to find them. Second, it is almost impossible to get financing to buy an older wooden boat. So you should be prepared to pay cash, or perhaps use a home equity loan. Now there are wooden boats and then there are wooden boats. What I mean is that there are lots of ways to build a wooden boat. What I was referring to above was a traditional carvel or lapstrake planked hull. Wooden boats can also be built with strip planks, strip planks with a cold molded outer layer and pure cold molded. Some very high end yachts are cold molder with a fiberglass overlay (inside and out). Those composite hulls are generally treated like glass hulls for insurance and financing. The big advantage to cold molded wood is that the boat can be build without frames and can be built as a one off without the cost of molds such as are used in glass construction. Then there are plywood boats. Plywood boats are all over the place in quality. Build quality is really important with any wooden boat, where build quality refers to both construction materials and how well the boat is put together. Poor materials can ruin the best built wooden boat. One note, there is no real problem with using stainless fasteners ABOVE the waterline on a wooden boat. That said, everything below the waterline should be the same metal (all bronze, all copper or all galvanized steel. I am a wooden boat owner (1936 cruiser) who maintains the boat. It can be VERY expensive to pay someone to maintain a wooden boat.

[@RiggingDoctor]

Thank you for your very in depth insight. Insurance and financing are two major roadblocks to wooden boats even though they will never manifest themselves as a physical item on the wooden boat. Excellent points about the metal fasteners!

[@DowneastThunderCreations]

One huge advantage of having a wooden boat is being able to find some sort of wood and fasteners (even if not ideal) to use in a pinch for making emergency repairs in almost any port in the world. In many out of the way, third world ports, you may not be able to find or have access to welders, steel or aluminum materials, fiberglass cloths, polyester resins or epoxy resins, etc. BUT - you can almost always find wood in some form or another and it can be worked with hand tools if there is no electricity available. If there are no screws or nails of any kind, dowels and wedges can be fashioned with hand tools if necessary. Roofing tar will do well for a bedding compound and sealant, and old cotton t-shirts ripped into shreds can serve as emergency caulking. This sort of thing can keep you going until you arrive at a location where you can make proper repairs. I have nothing against boats made with other materials (and I've owned those types too), but I've always been partial to wooden boats.

[@RiggingDoctor]

I would also add that in remote third world countries, their boats are wooden so you will be able to find skilled laborers to help carry out repairs!

[@walterdavis4808]

I got a 55 year old wood boat , she's big . Every time she's out of the water i dream about fiberglass ! Lol

[@pmnfernando]

one can fix steel, aluminium and grp boats with wood in an emergency. wood makes for an excellent repair material, not necessarially the best building material. proven material without a doubt, very good mechanical properties. easy to repair?! that depends on the skills of the owner. imo grp is the most user friendly material wise(easier to learn, easier to redo if you make a mistake) then metal, then wood, traditional boatbuilding its a science that needs years to be honed in, wood-epoxy/composite boatbuilding (im talking home built stuff obviously) you can read a couple of books, go to forums and start building following some plans. ppl that never built a thing in their life before, have built boats that way. not happening with traditional boatbuilding, which also implies, heavier machinery (Tally Ho vlog as an example), you dont have that in grp and metal. boating as a hobby will make wood a good material, as plenty of time will be spent looking after it, boating to go places or as a live style makes other materials the best because no one wants/can spend a lot of tme fixng the boat apart from all the necessary fixing which isnt small to begin with heheheeh

[@todddunn945]

If you are voyaging away from your normal suppliers, it is a good idea to keep a few hundred fasteners on hand and some planking stock so you can make proper repairs. Fasteners are easy because 500 fasteners will easily fit in a drawer. Planking stock is a bit more of an issue due to the difficulty of finding a place for 8-10' long planks.

[@philmann3476]

True, and with traditional plank on frame construction (i.e., NOT plywood, epoxy laminates, or modern "sandwich" composites), the boat is essentially a large number of relatively small wooden pieces fastened together with simple screws or rivets-- which means that repair/replacement of damaged wood is relatively straight-forward, using materials and techniques that have existed for ages. But wooden boats do need constant attention, which, if provided where needed when needed, is not a big deal. But needed nonetheless. As Jon Wilson of Wooden Boat Magazine once said decades ago, "No wooden boat survives without love. But, then again, neither does any other living thing."

[@sprezzatura8755]

Key advantages of wood: it floats. It is the only boat building material that is at home in saltwater. Saltwater pickles wood and preserves it indefinitely. Rot occurs above the waterline due to freshwater intrusion. Fiberglass boats get blisters and water saturation and delamination overtime. Steel rust and need constant attention. Aluminum is very difficult to weld and is lightweight and fast but does not rust however it does waste in its own way. Fastenings on wooden boats become an issue overtime however new technologies are developing composite fastenings which should last many times longer than bronze fastenings. The motion of a wood boat at sea is like nothing else.

[@RiggingDoctor]

Wooden boats are timeless ⛵️

[@shreksswamp9001]

What a shame we never got a boat tour of that old wooden boat. Such a great video and I am looking forward to this series, but boy, I would have loved to have seen this boat.

[@williamfield3348]

One of the few double winners of the America's cup of 1967 and 1970 was the Intrepid. A wooden built boat. Mahogany on white oak frames. She was, is so good that she is still competitive against aluminium built boats that were built later and almost made it to compete to what would have been the only tripple defense of the title. She was restored not too long ago and is still sailing. If the right wood is chosen, there can be little if any sacrifice in speed. Especially used in conjuction with modern materials, can even produce a superior boat. Ie wooden hull with thin carbon fibre epoxy waterproof shell, with ply in the right places, making a lightweight composite structure. Wood is trigger than steel, weight for weight. Mixing the old and the new to make a superior boat. Maintainable, robust, tough, ease of repair and lightness. And one can do it oneself with all the right tools.

[@HandyMan657]

That was cool, thanks man.

[@danpetro3155]

great info and looking forward to the rest of the episodes of this mini-series!

[@RiggingDoctor]

Thanks!

[@jamesadams1064]

Great interview Herbie. Looking forward to the rest. Ahoy Maddie!!

[@RiggingDoctor]

Hello! Merry Christmas!

[@melinda5777]

This is a beautiful boat, from what I can see. Glad you did this interview. Gave tons of information !🇺🇸⛵⚓

[@RiggingDoctor]

She really was beautiful!

[@TimberGeek]

I would be quite comfortable with a wooden hulled cruiser but looking forward I'm more likely to get something light and easily trailerable.

[@RiggingDoctor]

Stitch and glue builds from Chesapeake Light Craft are very light!

[@coastlineguardianscic8370]

My old Hilliard had massive squares of lead way down in the keel. Beautiful she was, and after watching this I wish I'd never given her away

[@RiggingDoctor]

They really are gorgeous boats!

[@tonywrobleski5185]

Thanks

[@MM_in_Havasu]

Cool video! My boat has a fiberglass hull and is built like a tank, although it's a totally different application than an ocean-going sailboat. It is a 22' speedboat-type hull with large displacement V8 engine & in/out drive unit, mainly used in fresh water lakes and rivers, and the fiberglass construction is perfectly fine for this sort of use. Thanks for the interesting content of wooden hull material, very interesting!

[@RiggingDoctor]

The episode on fiberglass hulls will be on Friday! Everyday we are putting out a video on a different hull material.

[@goneswimming5636]

Great video!

[@RiggingDoctor]

Thank you :)

[@Mylifelovingit]

I like this series you have started

[@RiggingDoctor]

Thanks! I thought it would be cool to get first hand opinions on the matter.

[@jeannem6723]

I very much agree! Fair Isle did a few interview type videos that were super informative too, but I think you've hit a good niche, you have the opportunities to find interesting cruisers with great boats and great stories, and it really is a break from the usual fare. There really is a limit to how much you can say about me, me, me.

[@tim_bbq1008]

Wood boat advantage: it's pretty, it's possible to repair with ordinary carpentry tools, and it's less expensive than fiberglass or metal. Lots of good reasons for a wood boat.

[@RiggingDoctor]

And, if you have a wooden boat I will be admiring it in the anchorage :)

[@PaulGriffith]

There is a yearly Wooden Boat Festival in Madisonville, Louisiana, just across the lake from New Orleans.

[@RiggingDoctor]

I have been wanting to go to one of those for years!

[@braithmiller]

When I was looking for my livable world sailable home I was open to all material types depending on condition. When I saw the add it was immediately my first choice given my budget at the time. Like most costs are higher than initially expected to launch then sailing shape. Worth it and most unique, not for everyone certainly. Another downside is limited things you can do to insulate in a cold climate. Needing to pickle your interior hull if you really want to eliminate rot. My closest sister ship is 1930 Tidal Wave, Touchstone is 1973. Heritage preserved and used, should out exist myself.

[@RiggingDoctor]

She is absolutely beautiful! Love the bowsprit and ketch rig!! I looked at wooden boats extensively but found our home in a fiberglass boat built over a wooden frame. While I don’t have garboards to leak, I still have timber floors and keel to check and keep happy :)

[@braithmiller]

@@RiggingDoctor Thanks. It will be time, much effort and money to return to full condition. Tidal Wave is a one off original built in the Minneford, ME Yard under Phillip Rhodes. Touchstone was built in Shelton, WA a builder modified version of 40 years of Rhodes refinement. One day it will make it to the East Coast.

[@PyeGuySailing]

Personally I think aluminium is the best hull material, then fiberglass, Steel, then ferrocement, wood, and then carbon fiber in that order. Everything is a compromise but for me, this is the order of preference.

[@LoanwordEggcorn]

Same. Aluminum is the least bad for the environment and most durable. (Plastic composites are very durable, but bad for the environment.) I might even put steel before plastic, but it rusts.

[@Soundsofthewood]

Wood to me is rather pretty old fashion. People only really used wood back the day is because it made the most logical sense for the time. Technology has gone a long way since then. Yeah they had steel, but they never figured it would float.

[@scottdowney4318]

I own and use a wooden 1970 37 foot eggharbor which I maintain and have done significant hull repairs over last 20 years. I learned that the OEM builders built the boat in ways guaranteed to rot and fail in about 20 years. I though have been fixing all their mistakes. A serious issue is a strong prejudice against wooden boats by marina owners and other people at marinas, some will absolutely hate your wooden boat. Marina owners may think it will sink in the slip and you will abandon the boat or cause them a lot of trouble, or the boat will look ugly and rotten. Such as if they haul the boat and it breaks when lifted, wooden boat owners have sued or simply walk away from the boat. In my area lower Chesapeake Bay, VA, I know of 3 marinas will refuse you a slip saying they dont want your business, or refuse to haul out the boat. Your best place to go is marinas where they have wooden work boats that they will haul out. Other marinas may not haul out your wood boat unless they know you and you have a slip rental with them.

[@RiggingDoctor]

My dad has a 1985 Egg Harbor! People’s perception of wooden boats is the biggest problem they face. It’s hard to get insurance, and then adding all those issues too! Thank you for keeping your classic going! I greatly appreciate looking at wooden boats in anchorages.

[@HB-sw9dk]

My Dad had a 1948 Chris Craft 36' It as kept in a covered slip in Puerto Rico and was a labor of love. Kept the boat till 1972. I saw a good number of wood repairs done on the bottom through the years.

[@scottdowney4318]

@@RiggingDoctor It is quite a bit of work keeping up with things on a wooden boat, but a lot of damage is caused by the way they were built and the materials used. Right now dealing with the steel drifts (spikes) OEM drove thru the floors (white oak joists) into the white oak keel. They are badly rusting in the forward lowest bilge due to water tends to stand there. What happens with steel and oak is it destroys the wood, turns it black and delignifies wood to black mush. It is not too bad in totally submerged wood, like the keel is ok, but where the wood is not water flushed like higher up, the acids produced by rusting steel dont get washed away, and the wood completely disintegrates around the 5/8 steel drift upwards of anywhere from an inch to 3 inches away. So I have been cutting out the bad wood, and gluing in pieces of Treated SYP to the bottoms of the entire length of the floors. Can be as much as 2 or 3 inches up from the keel worth of wood. Then running an oak reinforcement piece along the top of the floor outward to where the stringers sit on the floors, gluing and screwing new oak to the original oak. This will make the floors stronger than new. I have to repair at most 8 floors, all in this lower bilge section. The rest of the floors, the water drains away, so has been ok. I dont plan on replacing those drifts. My keel overlaps the garboard planks, so it can not fall away from the hull. And I have a giant bronze bolted skeg under the keel. OEM cheaped out and used iron-steel drifts. Back then would not have cost much to use bronze drifts. This is an example of standard practice limiting lifespan of a wood boat.

[@scottdowney4318]

Clarifying, I am pulling the old rusted drifts, a hard story in itself, I have a thread with pics on the wooden boat forum. The last several inches are completely wasted away, so they have contributed nothing to the hull for years. Then I use a homemade long spade bit and a hose to clean the rust out of the hole down through the keel. The oak skeg sits under the keel. So OEM hole was drilled and the drifts pounded in securing floors to keel before skeg was attached. I put 2 oak trapezoidal cut boards on each side of the floors for reinforcement, as the rotten hole the drifts make ruin the strength of the floor. Oddly, not all floor have bad damage, so far only 2 I had to reinforce with side pieces of oak. Others, just a small part of the floor bottom where it touches the keel needed repair. Cant easily replace entire floors, and not worth the effort, most of the floor is still ok, and I am repairing this with boat in the slip.

[@martyn101101]

I drink in the pub on the other side of the river from the boatyard where this boat was built 👍⛵

[@RiggingDoctor]

Small world!

[@martyn101101]

@@RiggingDoctor until you try to paint it 😂😂

[@pavelavietor1]

Hello 👋 nice video 📹 thanks saludos Iberian

[@RiggingDoctor]

Gracias!!

[@peterstarkey1360]

Like the man said , you either luv , embrace & enjoy maintaince , l call it TINKERING ,or you don't....l DO.....cheers

[@RiggingDoctor]

And you have a very good heart :)

[@luckylevio]

TY. ⛵ ⛵ ⛵

[@RiggingDoctor]

😎

[@barrywarren4221]

Wooden boat are nice and pretty to look at, but give me a fiberglass and just wash it. Less maintenance to hull. but still a great video.

[@RiggingDoctor]

I also appreciate wooden boats from my fiberglass home.

[@dickrussell8128]

Ferrocement - I just can't wrap my head around that one. Hey, let's go out in the ocean in my cement boat - - - - I could never do that! Alum the weak spot is the rivets. Steel is probably even more maintenance than wood - to protect it from the elements the Navy never stops chipping, priming and painting them. I remember a friend of my father's bought a steel Chris Craft cabin cruiser (I think it was called the Roamer - he said it was like sleeping in a garbage can with kids throwing rocks at it. :) Yes, there is not one perfect answer. Looking forward to the rest of the series.

[@RiggingDoctor]

The ferro cement video is special!

[@stonetoolcompany3649]

Traditional planked wooden hulls are quite different from most modern owner built plywood hulls that are saturated / sealed with epoxy, and have glass layers encapsulating the ply core. Built properly these have none of the mentioned wooden boat liabilities. They have a high strength to weight ratio, and high resistance to deterioration & long life.

[@RiggingDoctor]

This is why I have a separate video (Thursday) for plywood hulls.

[@TariqKhan-77]

Is this a reupload am sure have already seen this series? plus even though you just uploaded the video am showing as already watched.

[@RiggingDoctor]

It has been available to our patrons for some time while I worked on completing the series. I just finished the last video for it and am now publishing it.

[@marshallmurrell4583]

I love the look of a wooden boat. Would some of the maintenance issues be solved with fiberglass over an unpainted wooden hull?

[@RiggingDoctor]

They tried that and apparently the Wood under the glass rots away very quickly in most cases. It’s just going to be beautiful maintenance.

[@braithmiller]

Good question generally no, oversimplified. This is an option in and findable/buildable as cold molded/ fiberglass over marine plywood primarily. There are some good well built and cared for examples. Downsides exist; repairablity, rot etc. I would choose plank on frame or go fiberglass foam core composite. Not mixing the 2 unless it is a dinghy. Plank on frame is suitable for salt rather than brackish or fresh though they do exist there for less time. My hull is Alaskan Yellow Cedar on White Oak primarily. Well salted, poisoned with copper and many other antifouling-rot resistant processes. A multi- fold antifouling that is certainly unusual. Do not fiberglass over a plank on frame new or used, basically a disaster. I will have fiberglass on the plywood deck and house roof soon enough. This is your primary rain-freshwater rot source. Most are not going to keep up a traditional salt swabed plank deck. Hull planks above waterline actually should be kept saltwater washed internally.

[@walterdavis4808]

The boat has to be built as a wood core fiberglass hull . The wood needs to be 100 % dry or it will rot from the trapped moisture .

[@braithmiller]

If it is just ‘the look’ plenty of early production hulls had plank mimic details in the mold (above the waterline), so they just look like a bit to ‘perfect’. Remaining interior structure frequently wood. Avoidable rot issues in design details certainly exist.

[@walterdavis4808]

@@braithmiller your boat sounds very interesting. What is it ?

[@MrSmithToday]

Depends on your skill, budget, and sailing.

[@RiggingDoctor]

Absolutely! This is why I interviewed cruisers on these different hulls to see what they really think about it, firsthand! It was fun to hear each person also give their opinion on other hull material types. I especially liked the people who have cruised on multiple hull materials and had a lot of insight on the problems and benefits of the hull material of choice. In the end, it all comes down to (as you said) what you want to do, how much you want to pay, and where you want to go 😉

[@dickrussell8128]

I am amazed by the talent and skills of the Brazilian Shipwrights in the Sailing Yaba series on KZbin. I have never seen such large pieces of wood, especially the purple wood and those men accurately cut, shape and join them using chain saws, and hand tools. What an undertaking.

[@RiggingDoctor]

It really is amazing!

[@Islander185]

If I ever get a boat it will be a wooden one. Whenever I hear the word 'boat' I think of a wooden boat. I like fixing things as well so that probably helps.

[@RiggingDoctor]

Wooden boats are so beautiful! They really are my favorite boats :)

[@stevenplancich6449]

Repairs/Maintenance ALWAYS an Issue with Cruisers…Better to be a Carpenter with Wooden Boat😜

[@RiggingDoctor]

Indeed. The moral of these interviews is get a boat you are comfortable fixing yourself.

[@bryrensexton4618]

👍!!!

[@RiggingDoctor]

Thanks!

[@tollertollertoller]

Why does this video have today's date but there are responses from a year ago?

[@RiggingDoctor]

Our patrons get early access to our videos as soon as they are uploaded. This series took a while to complete and therefore a while to publish. Those comments are from our patrons from when it was first uploaded and given to them.

[@timothyrepp4259]

@@RiggingDoctor I suppose Leo doesn’t know that every doctor has a TARDIS capable of traveling through time and space.

[@RiggingDoctor]

Hah! Quite 😜

[@akathesquid5794]

Titanium. Strong. Tough. High fatigue life. Light. No corrosion. No coatings needed. I wonder why we don't see any.... 🙂

[@RiggingDoctor]

🤔

[@FeelItRising]

or adamatium or vibranium

[@timothyrepp4259]

The Russian navy actually built a few submarines made from titanium.They found challenges with titanium so went back to steel.Unfortunately there’s no perfect material just as there’s no perfect boat,excluding mine of course.

[@livesincanoe9034]

Well first understand that titanium is almost impossible to weld in an oxygen rich environment, then consider that it costs like five or ten times what steel costs, and I think it's quite obvious why we don't make boats out of it.

[@clivestainlesssteelwomble7665]

@@timothyrepp4259 Thats also because they have one of the largest supply's.. The US when it was building the xb 70 bombers and Blackbirds had to resort to CIA back door buying stock from the USSR😳🤭. Its also very hard to work .

[@sea0fgreen33]

Wood has that cool factor.

[@RiggingDoctor]

Definitely!!

[@anthonyrstrawbridge]

.......these arguments before but pleasantly I was surprised to once again hear the selection of using galvanized steel hardware with the wood hull. Probably the strongest argument of all challenges and possibly outweighs the other somewhat organic option. The what to do in the end weighs heavily: and so in the beginning god commanded a wooden hull. So, go plant a tree kids. I don't suspect we'll be reviewing paper boats and inflatable rubbers.

[@RiggingDoctor]

The galvanized steel was for the rigging wire. He was saying that bronze is the way to go for wood hull fasteners. I’ve also heard the joke: “if god wanted us to sail on fiberglass boats, we would have made fiberglass trees”.

[@anthonyrstrawbridge]

@@RiggingDoctor Yes, exactly. Thanks for the clarification. I'm a fan of the galvanized rigging for two reasons. If I remember correctly the chemical interaction between wood, moisture, and steel has a greater potential than brass because well....god made the trees with plenty of iron. Cheers

[@charlespayne1061]

It takes an iron Man to sail a wooden boat and a wooden man to sail the rest.

[@RiggingDoctor]

Very true!

[@markmahan6768]

What the hull? Just pokin' acha...

[@RiggingDoctor]

😎

[@dave-wk4t]

Doc, you need a haircut.

[@RiggingDoctor]

Very much! I just got one a few days ago and was very overdue!