Maintenance costs

[Gerhard]

I love wooden boats. My dilemma is that people keep scaring me away from them by telling me that I'm going to be spending my entire paycheck on maintenance and repairs. I'm certainly not a woodworker but I can handle scraping and painting and varnishing, etc. My question is what do people spend annually on maintenance on a sound wood boat versus a fiberglass one. I'm assuming a 40 foot sailboat or so starting in seaworthy condition. I know this is going to vary all over the place, but I'd at least like to get some opinions.

Thanks in advance.

Gerhard

[Steve Lansdowne]

Seems like WB had an article on relative maintenance costs for wooden vs. glass boats not too many issues ago.

[Meerkat]

The Pardeys had something about maintenence costs in one of their books a few years back. I recall a few things that they had to say.

* If you keep after it on a regular basis, such as having a little varnish touch-up kit, keeping up with a wooden boat isn't a lot of work over a season.

* It's easier to restore a weathered wooden boat then a weathered fg one.

I do recall too that they said that the maintence costs on a 40' boat worked out to about $1,000/month over the years - this includes the rare costs of renewing rigging and sails and other major expenses, so it's not a $1,000 bite every month. They where talking about a professionally maintained boat - yard does all the work.

(Don't shoot the messenger, these aren't my words!)

I myself have noticed that costs for things go up with the volume of the boat, not just the length. A mainsail for a 35' was 2x the one for the 30' boat.

Of course, the Pardeys have an agenda about going small...

[Scott Rosen]

If you're talking purely maintenance, not dockage, mooring fees, etc., and you're able to do all of the paint and varnish work, then there's not much difference at all between wood and glass.

Every once in a while you'll have a big project--replace decks, repair frames, planking, floors, keel etc. But you could easily go 20 or 30 years without having to do any major work, if the boat starts out in sound condition.

However, the work grows exponentially with the length of the boat. In other words, add ten feet to a 30 foot boat and you may double your work.

[imported_Sean]

I agree with the above. It has everything to do with size. Much of the pleasure I derive from my old 25 foot sloop is in being able to do the work myself. Even if there is a learning curve and it is slow it is much more pleasurable than working with fiberglass. And, my boat is 55 years old. I doubt there will be a fiberglass one that old that does'nt need a total rebuild.

So for me wood is the way to go !

All the best.

[brad9798]

Wood doesn't really cost more than f-glass if you stay on it (as others have said).

I do a bit every week (1-2 hours) and she is fine ... and has been for over three years now.

Keep her painted/varnished and she'll be just like a f-glass boat 99.9% of the time.

A lot of folks in my marina tell me they spend next to nothing each year on maintenance and that they LOVE f-glass.

One look at their boats, and DUHHHHHHHHHHHH, it LOOKS like they spend NO money- chalky, dull, dirty, etc.

Too many people think f-glass is their ticket to boating bliss- they buy one, use it for five or six years without doing a damned thing to it- then guess what? They have the same problem as WOODEN boat after 5-6 years sitting in the water:

-Need to be repainted/varnished

-Need a bottom job- blisters everywhere, which incidently are much more serious than a soft spot on wood if let go.

-Their window seals leak just like a wooden boat, etc.

The guy two slips down from me just hauled is boat for the first time in SIX YEARS! (a 34 Carver Santego).

By the time he had it blistered and re-sealed, epoxied, painted, waxed and buffed, etc. he spent $10,000.

Guess what: That's less than I spend in a six year period for bottom paint, cleaning, repairing a soft spot, etc.

Now, unlike others, I do NOT think that f-glass boats are evil by nature (I have two fiberglass vessels), there are just different dynamics at play.

If you do not want to become part of your boat and just want a toy- go f-glass. It will be easier most of the time. If want to get into the boating experience, go wood.

The beauty, and attention-drawing qualities of a nice wooden cruiser are priceless.

A nice wooden boat: $20,000
Annual maintenance: $2,500
Knowing that every f-glass boat owner is secretly envious of you: Priceless

[Gerhard]

Thanks all for the responses. You all have made me rethink my requirements for a boat! I might just give wood a try this time. If I wind up with one, probably be on here a lot more looking for advice!! I'll keep looking around and certainly am not going to eliminate wood boats from consideration. They are so much nicer to look at.

Gerhard

[JimConlin]

Gerhard, if you do decide to get a boat of any size, hire a good surveyor who is knowledgeable regarding the type and material of the boat. Don't unknowingly buy the prior owner's deferred maintenance.

For 25 years, I owned a solidly made fiberglass boat, an Alberg 35. Some observations on the long-term maintenance of a 'glass boat versus another material:

All boats have systems. Their maintenance needs are independent of the hull material.

Sails are the same

All boats need structural maintenance at intervals. Old glass boats get mushy deck cores.

All fiberglass will eventually need paint at intervals. The frequency of re-painting depends on your standards, the amount of wear and tear, the stability of the substrate and the kind of paint used. I finally settled on the following intervals:

Bottom annual ablative paint eliminates stripping
topsides 7 years LPU paint
deck 7 years LPU paint
cockpit 3 years alkyd paint
brightwork annual varnished
interior 10 years alkyd

The real time-saver is the LPU paint on the big glass areas. This works because of the stabillity of the substrate. On wood structures, YMMV.

Hope this helps,
Jim

[andy scheen]

The real issue, which is often overlooked,isn't really the material of the boat it's the age and how much use/abuse it's seen.Old boats are going to have question marks, period. The project I'm working on now needs a ton of work but a lot of the issues are definetly non hull material related. Sea-cocks are frozen or broken, hoses are cracked and brittle, paint and varnish are peeling, batteries are past there usefull life etc. Maybe we should rename this page "The Old Boat Forum" (no offense to you new builders out there)since thats where most of the issues seem to come from.

I think where a lot of people get into trouble with maintenance cost is letting the yard do all the work. 80 bucks an hour can add up pretty darn quick. Diligence is the other critical area. A couple squirts of goo around a chain plate or cleat every once in a while can prevent major headaches down the road.

I like to tell people I prefer wood boats to glass for the same reason I prefer cotton shirts to polyester.