the boatbuilding.community

Marine plywood was once the most popular material for boat construction by amateurs. It was knocked aside by ferro-cement, which thankfully did not hold the No 1 spot for very long. Now most amateurs buy a GRP hull and deck to fit out while those who want to build from scratch themselves generally choose steel.

Most people still believe that wooden boats are guaranteed to have rot problems. What has slipped by them unnoticed is that most of the wooden boats which they see are pretty old, often from long before the days of GRP. Many far newer GRP boats are in worse condition, with osmosis, gelcoat cracking or delamination.