Wooden Boat Renovation: New Life for Old Boats Using Modern Methods

Although better than nine out of ten boats afloat today are made of fiberglass, a significant minority of boaters believe that a boat isn't a boat unless it's made of wood. Wooden boats have character. Wooden boats are real. Wooden boats are living things, not plastic stampings from the corporate cookie cutter. But new wooden boats are priced beyond the reach of most families, and building from scratch takes more time and energy than many people have. The alternative, buying a tired old wooden boat and "fixing it up," is harder than it sounds because the available information is written for skilled craftsmen using traditional methods and materials to restore antique boats to museum standards--worlds away from the needs of the average boater. Enter author Jim Trefethen, who rebuilds wooden boats in Marblehead, Massachusetts, using modern materials and methods, such as epoxy laminations, to replace traditional heavy timber framework. Written for the novice, this book tells the reader how to select the right boat; establish a work schedule and budget; buy the right tools and equipment; select alternatives to endangered tropical rainforest woods; repair and modify the hull, topsides, deckhouse, masts, and interior; when, why, and how to use fiberglass; paint and refinishing; repairing electrical and mechanical systems, and more.

Jim Trefethen, a lifelong sailor and boater, is a former technical writer and editor who for the past ten years has made his living renovating and repairing wooden boats in Marblehead, Massachusetts. His approach is single-minded: Fix the boat and get it in the water by whatever means necessary, authenticity be damned.