RW Salnick wrote:
But others have made the point: You had best be ready to do the work..
there will be a lot of it. Wooden boats want very much to turn back
into mulch. It will be your responsibility to stay ahead of this process.

All that taken into consideration, a well cared for wooden boat is
truely a thing of beauty...

Thanks for that Bob

Just a thought, but is the horrific amount of work on wooden boats
people keep talking about because their experiences have involved
maintaining varnished wood? I mean the boat I'm considering has no bare
wood at all. The superstructure is all made from ply and painted
several coats of battleship grey!

I know a few wooden dinghy owners who spend a lot of time sanding and
varnishing their dinghies, but surely if you just slap a load of paint
all over it that's lower maintenance than keeping up the healthy
polished wooden look? My boat in question is certainly not going to be
a great example of beautiful wood.