[PUP] $100 per barrel oil

[Mark Tilden]

Scott, Larry & Group:

There's a boat yard in Portland that builds almost entirely custom one-off
boats (sail and power) using the West system wood-epoxy composite. I sailed
one of their boats San Francisco to Hawaii in the Pacific Cup race. This
construction technique is extremely durable, and because it's based on Epoxy
resins, it's considerably less susceptible to blistering and osmosis.

In these boats, the inner and outer skins are cedar and/or mahogany and they
are cored with closed-cell foam above and below the waterline. Of course,
weight savings is crucial in the performance of a sailboat, so that more of
the weight can be placed in ballast. The cored composite structure is
pound-for-pound much stronger than solid fiberglass. Yes, you have to be
careful about sealing it properly if you drill any kind of holes below the
waterline, but the closed cell foam core saturated with epoxy on the
interface with the skins prevents water from migrating through the core and
is very resistant to deterioration. This is a more expensive way to build a
boat than a solid fiberglass skin, but they end up being very durable strong
hulls. This company has built sailboats using this technique up to 75' and a
couple of power catamarans used in the dive/tourist trade in Hawaii.

Check out www.schoonercreek.com for more info.

Capt. Mark Tilden
"Koinonia" Selene 59

-----Original Message-----
From: passagemaking-under-power-bounces at lists.samurai.com
[mailto:passagemaking-under-power-bounces at lists.samurai.com] On Behalf Of L
H
Sent: Tuesday, March 04, 2008 10:47 AM
To: Passagemaking Under Power List
Subject: Re: [PUP] $100 per barrel oil

Scott,

The modern way to build with wood is called wood-epoxy composite 
construction.  Epoxy is used to bond the wood and fiberglass together.  The 
epoxy is nearly impervious to water intrusion, unlike polyester resin.  This

is not building a wooden boat and covering with fiberglass/epoxy, but is 
usually laminating a hull with thinner wood bonded and covered with 
epoxy/fiberglass. Because the wood is sealed in epoxy, the hulls are quite 
durable.  This style of construction is used in lightweight multihulls. 
Check out information from West Epoxy Systems or System Three in Seattle.

Larry H

Scott wrote,


>I know what a wood core is, but I didn't realize they form the boat
> from wood then add the glass?  Perhaps I have that wrong as well.  My
> next comment would then be, coring below the waterline?  Ugggggggg. I
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