Hi all,
How much maintenance would a wooden dinghy be if bought secondhand but in good condition? I'm considering a wooden pacer.
It would be stored under cover, so dry but exposed to wind.
It would be used for at most a few weeks a year. By kids learning to sail, mostly, so I expect it would get a bit bashed up.
How often do they need painting?
What other maintenance would it need?
Thanks!
Hi Tenar.
It depends on what "good condition" really means. Do you have any photos?
Stored under cover, washed down and kept dry and out of the sun, maintenance would be easily handled in 2 or three weekends a year.
The secret is to keep ahead of any small jobs the need to be done.
Sorry it is a bit of a vague answer.
As mentioned, glass fibre is basically maintenance free.
gary
Yes agree with Gary - there will inherently be initial maintenance on your all timber boats components (it is assumed that the spars are aluminium) depending on the condition as bought - would expect some re-varnishing, exterior hull paint patch touch ups, renew some fasteners which show rust weeps or bends, some halyards and sheets, maybe a stay or two, rudder and centreboard edges and bottoms to be faired and re-varnished assuming they are varnished timber, some pulleys and blocks renewing if the sheaves are worn or chipped, sails - take to local sailmaker and have his apprentice repair them. The rudder and cboard may need some epoxy high strength filler in local dings. Any fasteners which are compressing the adjacent timber is a sure sign of rot in the timber, as well as dark / black ply under varnish adjacent to fasteners. Numerous fasteners may have too small a washer fitted, or no washers which is no good. Large and extra large ss washers are available, depending on the diameter. Rudder fittings on the transom are a very typical site of this problem.
If the hull is dynel epoxy sheathed and 2 pack epoxy or poly painted this will be a lot better than single pack enamel.
You say stored under cover - the ideal is in a closed shed so wind blown rain or dust doesn't encroach. Any sunlight on the boat will uv damage the surface coatings and timber. Any water and dust getting into the hull will make mud and resulting rot in the timber. A tarpaulin over the boat on the trailer, open at the bottom to breath, would be ideal.
If the standing rigging has not been renewed for (say) 10 years then it probably should.
There is surprisingly little information on the web on small ply boat maintenance. See a couple of articles here - a tad wordy............
greatwoodboats.com/HowToMaintainAndPreserveTheSmallWoodBoat.pdf
www.diy-wood-boat.com/Boat_Care.html
Interesting 3 local articles here;
www.australianhartleyts16.org.au/maintenance/hull-maintenance
www.heronsailing.com.au/Heron%20Buying%20Guide.pdf
www.125assoc.com/Building.asp
If you went down to your nearest clubs sailing Pacers they will very quickly advise on maintenance schedules which for your few weeks per year will be a lot less than the national championship title contenders.
Some web articles talk about a rule of thumb of annual maintenance being "about 10% of purchase price". There would be a wide variation in this............as above depending on the condition at purchase and what the aspirations for the boat were. And what the "bashing" treatment to the boat was in use.
Go buy it and get stuck into it, enjoy it.
I'm budgeting one day a month for general maintenance/ cleaning on a old wooden yacht. I think it's very important to keep it well ventilated to stop rot.
tbh I really enjoy my chore day. I find it very relaxing and enjoyable
tbh I really enjoy my chore day. I find it very relaxing and enjoyable
That is the best way to deal with maintenance.
Chopes, Zen and the Art of Boat Maintenance.
gary
Not a dinghy.
A 30 ft timber displacement celery top cabin cruiser.
Takes a lot more basic and general maintenance than the 30 ft fibreglass flybridge cruiser that we have as well,
So much so that we are going to move it on soon...hopefully.
Just too time consuming.
I like looking at other peoples timber boats more than l like working on ours.
Just found this from Michael Storer which is excellent and focused on small ply yachts.
www.storerboatplans.com/faq-info-about-materials-and-methods/fixing-up-old-and-antique-plywood-racing-sailing-dinghies-international-cadet-sabre-sharpie-cherub-heron-snipe-lightning-windmill-fireball-ts16/
West System have published this but more for larger boats.
www.westsystem.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/wooden_boat_restoration_and_repair.pdf
Hmm, you're putting me off wood... Probably a good thing.
"under cover" is in a multi-story apartment garage. It's exposed to wind pretty much right off the Bay. The bikes tend to rust faster, we find. Not much choice there: it's what we have and we are lucky to have a second car space to park a dinghy.
To be to fair to plywood My VJ, heron, and Ts 16 where ply, maintaince is part of boat ownership and teaches another set of skills, would you put wet sails away ? At present I have two ply dingys one ply clinker that lives in a shed so it doesn't count in this conversation the other is a 10' pram that is my tender and its treatment is anything but tender ! I built it 6years ago and that was the last time it was in a shed, it's either on the davits in the water or upside down on the river bank, been dragged over rocks used as a work platform when grinding and painting topsides of the lass. It is exterior epoxy Dynal sheathed and inside epoxy sealed as would all modern ply boats. Has been repainted once and could do with a tidy up now. And repainting gives the opportunity for change of colour scheme. 
Would taking the dinghy back to bare timber and giving it a good coat of Everdure inside and out help to preserve it ?.
Would taking the dinghy back to bare timber and giving it a good coat of Everdure inside and out help to preserve it ?.
Hi Sam
That would all depend on what you find after you have put all the work into removing the old surfaces.
Tends to be A LOT OF WORK with all those nooks and crannies.
gary
If the Pacer looks like its been loved and doesn't have paint flaking off it and all banged up or full of holes where people have moved or deleted fittings just go and buy it and enjoy the hell out of it. Timber is a fantastic material for boats, easy to maintain, simple to repair if needed.
Wooden pacers are only ply, as long as its been maintained (which by the sounds of it, it has been). It shouldnt be difficult to maintain. Big planked boats are what become a pain in the arse to maintain (although i like maintaining wooden boats like ChopesBro). So buy it and enjoy it, you can always sell it.
For your needs i would be more looking for a glass boat though if im honest. Glass hulls are extremely durable with not much maintaince. The kids can bounce off rocks and run into the jetty without hurting anything.
