Monroe Sharpie EGRET on ebay

[Steve Paskey]

Nice-looking boat, but the owner's asking a lot. It's been listed for more than a year on Yachtworld at $22,000.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2452441443&category=26433

Any comments re the unusual construction of the bottom? The ebay listing says that it's 3/4 inch white pine "cross- planked with 1/2" okoume ply and epoxied over with 2 layers of glass."

http://newimages.yachtworld.com/9/4/5/0/8/945087_3.jpg

[Jack Heinlen]

Any comments re the unusual construction of the bottom? The ebay listing says that it's 3/4 inch white pine "cross- planked with 1/2" okoume ply and epoxied over with 2 layers of glass." Yeah, I think that unless done unusually well it probably sucks.

[Jack Heinlen]

It's flat bottomed, eh? Why combine techniques that way? What's the point of the pine planking combined with ply? It seems a bad compromise, made in the mind of a builder with limited experience. That bottom is gonna be nuthin' but trouble. Two cents.

[Captain Pre-Capsize]

Must be a rookie with a long history of grounding out - wants to play it safe. Why did he stop half way? He should have made an Oreo cookie out of that pine and put another layer of ply. :D

I wouldn't be interested anyway since it is so hard to capsize in the shallow water this guy plans on sailing in. Wouldn't be able to live up to my name...

[Jack Heinlen]

It might be a good boat, though the price seems sharp. Maybe not. But that bottom is a worry.

The fellow built it. They did their best, the builder. But I wouldn't buy it, unless the price was a whole lot better and I really wanted this type.

If it had a traditionally planked bottom I might, if it had an epoxied bottom, all ply, I might. But the way it sits...

Sad really. It might be a very good boat.

[imported_Conrad]

Nice boat, and the price is probably fair. The Honda and trailer will set you back almost $6K by themselves. I doubt you'd make $20/hour building it yourself after covering materials, sails, etc.

I too wish the bottom was just fir ply, a couple of layers with some glass/epoxy. But maybe the cross planking is finished bright in the cabin for that traditional look. I don't think it will really cause too many problems, especially since it would likely spend most of the time on the trailer.

It sure looks good with the dark blue hull! smile.gif

[swingking]

George Buehler is into plywood over planking:

http://dieselducks.com/woodconstruction4.html

I think his 50' calls for 2" thick hull.

[imported_Conrad]

Hey, that's right! And a number of high-end custom sport fishers are built the same way. Or what's the difference between that and ply/veneers over strip? I really don't think it would be a problem- just not the easiest way to do a flat bottom.

[Meerkat]

Is the complaint about the ply over the traditional (for a sharpie) transverse planking?

If the boat is trailerable, wouldn't such a method be wet until the boards take up if done traditionally?

As I see it, the plywood seals the plank seams and the fiberglass covers the plywood - what's the big deal? No fun to have to bail a trailer-sailor if you have to bail the first 4 hours of every outting...

[Sam F]

Originally posted by Meerkat:
No fun to have to bail a trailer-sailor if you have to bail the first 4 hours of every outting...That would make it a Bailer-Sailor :D

[Bruce Hooke]

Originally posted by Meerkat:
Is the complaint about the ply over the traditional (for a sharpie) transverse planking?

If the boat is trailerable, wouldn't such a method be wet until the boards take up if done traditionally?

As I see it, the plywood seals the plank seams and the fiberglass covers the plywood - what's the big deal? No fun to have to bail a trailer-sailor if you have to bail the first 4 hours of every outting...I suspect the concern may be that water might get down between the planks from the inside and then be trapped between pine boards and plywood and lead to rot in both...

[Steve Paskey]

Bruce, that was my thought exactly. Unless there's an absolutely watertight barrier on the TOP surface of the pine, I would think that any water inside the boat would collect between the two layers, with nowhere to go and no way to get it out.

[ 01-07-2004, 08:13 PM: Message edited by: Steve Paskey ]

[Jack Heinlen]

Basically, yes Bruce and Steve and Meer, that's my complaint.

How are you going to seal the pine planking?, and since you can't, easily, it's going to move, and when it moves it's going to cause problems.

I just think it's a stupid thing to do. Why do it? Why not two layers of half inch ply, or even a single layer of 3/4 with some light stringers and/or floors?

I could be wrong, but I just don't think it's well thought out and will sooner or later cause problems that are very difficult to fix.

I could be seeing it all cock-eyed.

[ 01-08-2004, 01:52 AM: Message edited by: Jack Heinlen ]