Details of Classic Boat Construction: The Hull

Rating:
Summary: Great Boatbuilding Book
Review: As a novice boatbuilder I have found this book very informative. I especially like the Appendix on adhesives. Any would be expoxy boatbuilder would do well to read it and take head.

Rating:
Summary: Great Boatbuilding Book
Review: As a novice boatbuilder I have found this book very informative. I especially like the Appendix on adhesives. Any would be expoxy boatbuilder would do well to read it and take head.

Rating:
Summary: Magnificent Display of Traditional Boat Building!
Review: Larry Pardey's volume on Classic Boat Construction is itself a classic. Hundreds of photos, detailed construction descriptions and pro/con lists that let the reader decide. My father and I are about to start construction of another Taleisin and have two copies because we fought over the first one! Recommended to any wooden boatbuilder, even just to find out the things they don't tell you in other 'text-books'.

Rating:
Summary: The way it's done.
Review: What to say about this book...it shows you wooden boat construction at its very, very best. Starting with raw lumber and simple hand tools, Larry Pardey takes us, step by laborious step, on the odyssey of building a truly world class cruising yacht, his 30' Taleisin. Not only is every step of the hull construction detailed, but we also get "real world" time and cost estimates so there are no illusions as to how much time and money each step will take. There are superb "pro and con" treatments of aspects that have a variety of solutions. If there are multiple ways to tackle a job, he makes two columns and discusses the pros and cons of each in detail. Usually you just get the author's opinions without any extra information.

This book is famous also because of it's very important final appendix on epoxies in salt water craft, and how epoxy often is weakened to the point of failure by salt water, repeated stress, and heat - 3 things that a sailboat gets plenty of. I am told by many epoxy fans that this chapter "is now out of date", but I don't remember any amazing new epoxies coming out that make Pardey's findings defunct. George Buehler says it best - epoxy works best when it's backed up by a bolt. "Praise epoxy but pass the nails".

Also note the title "The Hull". That's all you get. When it comes to decks, houses, rigging, etc., you're on your own. Hopefully Pardey will bring out volume 2 on the rest of the boat.

He's a masterful carpenter and his work is glorious and gleaming, fully among the best of yacht-quality work ever done. This is something you need to seriously soak in. This is THE BEST, and not necessarily realistic for the average home boat builder. This book represents a set of skills that you probably don't have, and may find difficulty developing in your lifetime, unless you are really dedicated. Also, there is the time factor. It's one thing to look at a photo of fastening planking on the frame and say "I understand that...I can do that!" and it's quite another to realize how many HUNDREDS of hours are involved in just a few of the aspects of the hull construction. Pardey could work on his yacht full time - he didn't need to do other work to pay the bills. He was also in the prime of his health. Most Americans only have this kind of time if they're retired, and that often means not as strong as we once were. If we're young and strong it means we have to work for a living. So, this particular boat might be best aimed at the youngish man who doesn't have to work very much for his living. Either that or you'll spend about a decade of weekends on this boat.

If you want to get on the water a little quicker than that, consider George Buehler's "Backyard Boat Building", for salty and sea worthy crusising yachts that the average man or woman can build themselves in a year or two, and actually take to the Caribbean, or further. I'm not saying don't aspire to Pardey's level, but remember that you live in the real world. It's better to build a simple boat than to not build a fancy one. It's better to go sailing than it is to spend your free weekends for 2 years screwing down teak decking. But, that consideration aside, there is no better guide to traditional yacht construction than this.