Something worth considering in a much maligned cruising destination, a bit more of Webb Chiles plans, and a little love at first sight...
Today my email had a number of notes filled with no small amount of
outrage, dismay, and horror that I might suggest using a plywood
product that is not labeled marine... Obviously, some of my readers are
much more trusting than I am in regards to the veracity of what passes
for a marine industry and so-called standards these days.
Which I guess is OK... I suppose there needs to be a body of folks who
buy stuff on the home shopping channel, guzzle $4 beers at beach bars,
and collect on those offers of money from those nice folks who write
from Nigeria about all of that money they have waiting for you.
Right now there is a whole lot of Chinese plywood labeled "marine"
floating around... Some of it is good to excellent, and some of it is
truly awful. Same thing could be said for a lot of the plywood coming out of
South America. The point is, that whatever wood products you buy to
build your boat (or use in projects for your boat) needs to be looked at
and judged on its own merits and not on a stamp or the fact that the guy at
the yard tells you it's "marine"...
Since some of my current projects on "So It Goes" involve pulling out
some bits of interior that is still in good shape, it's given me a lot
of chances to examine how non-marine plywood has held up over
forty-something years protected by a little paint at most... Truth is, I
love our CAL 34 but there were a lot of corners cut way back when to
make the boat a profitable one. Not that I'm complaining as the interior
ply with a veneer of teak overlay has held up way better than anyone
could or should reasonably expect it to. Where it has failed or exhibits problems
is where previous owners have done some wood butchery of one sort or
another and done it badly...
So, when all is said and done, I'm still going to suggest that you be
open-minded about using more affordable species of lumber and plywood
when/where it makes sense and when/where you can responsibly satisfy
yourself that it is of a quality that will do the job.
Listening to Save Ferris
So it goes...
Why Bikes?
1 week ago
