BassBlaster said:
I'm not looking for a fight either, just making a point. I dont know how a boat made out of pine is lasting decades without a whole lot of maintenance. After glueing carpet or some other covering to the lumber, it can no longer be maintained. There was a thread recently where someone was changing thier layout so they removed thier wood decking that had been treated with spar and installed just a year earlier. In the pics, you could clearly see mold and rot allready on the wood. That tells me, a wood deck isnt going to last more than a few years, even if it is properly treated prior to installation because you cant retreat it after it is covered. I dont have a problem with anyone using wood. To each his own. I do have wood on my transom. If I had it to do again though, the transom would also be aluminum.
Plywood decking is best coated in resin and then carpeted. Lots of fiberglass speedboats use this method (resin impregnated marine ply) and the wood lasts 10-20 years, sometimes longer.
I'm not familiar with the particular boat you've referenced, but if I had to guess i'd say the gent had the carpet wet a fair bit in either use or storage and that will cause any wood to deteriorate. Even resin coated wood. The type of carpet is also and issue. All carpet holds water until it evaporates, even the non backed waterproofed poly stuff i have ok my deck. Paint sheds it immediately.
Pine plank on the dories we used ro build lasts with no more than a coat of paint. Some of the fancier ones made from more "exotic" woods usually gets a coat of spar varnish, mostly because the wood looks "pretty".
Now, you do have to scrape and repaint every couple years, especially if it chips.
We are talking dories here though: they fo in the water, they do thier thing and then they're hauled out of the water.
Pine planked cape islander fishing vessels get antifouling copper bottoms and marine grade paint above the waterline. Those typically are hauled out once a year and cleaned/scraped/painted.
We had a 38 footer cape islander that was oak spine and stem and pine planked hull and deck. It was 25 years old when we bought it and it would now be around 40 years old now. Saw it sitting in its slip at the yacht club last year looking like the day we sold it. We did have to replace the stem in it while we owned it. Wood is not impervious, but lasts a long time if cared for properly.
Cheers