Good advice
As with everything worth doing, you should look past what’s just on the surface and try and get a handle on the whole thing before you start. I like to think that I know what I’m doing most of the time, and at the very least I feel like I’m aware of my limitations. So when I read the plans for this boat I want to build I can see lots of questions forming. Before I begin, I really want to understand what I’m going to be doing. Loose ends or “I’ll figure it out later” items just aren’t going to work.
Fortunately there are a lot of really smart people out there who don’t mind sharing. I looked at the lumber list and was trying to sort out whether to use White Oak, Sitka Spruce, or Mahogany. First of all, every hardwood dealer I look at lists three kinds of mahogany. The kind called Genuine Mahogany costs a fortune, the others are more reasonable but still expensive. Around this area I can’t even find the Sitka Spruce. So, I was thinking oak or one of the one-off mahoganys would be what I went with for wood. Of course, this is something I don’t know a lot about.
The Glen-L forums tell me that oak is bad in salt water and I intend to use this in salt water. Oak is cheaper though, and I’m still not certain about the mahogany. Enter woodenboats.com. I asked on the forum and got a pretty good answer–Douglas Fir. Way to think outside the box, right? I also got a little good advice about my coaming, advice I’m sure I will follow, and something to think about regarding the finish on my boat.
Fun stuff… 