Wood Interiors - Why?

[SouthernComfort]

I have always liked the look of the Morris 38. A nice airy and bright, yet traditional interior.





The Morris 46 is another sexy interior. It has that "Officers mess" on a 17th century english ship of the line look.

[mesquaukee]

A well done wood interior age’s well. All the dings, scraps, nicks and scuffs help to develop its character and over time develops into an ambience which cannot be rivalled by white gel coat or paint.

White interiors could be a way to compensate for not having enough hatches to let in light and air.

[Sparohok]

Originally Posted by David M

I would sand and then use an oil based marine grade flat or semigloss finish. I prefer Interlux for interior paint. You will need to use a primer suitable to the finish coat.

Thanks, that sounds good.

I wish I had a photo of my interior. It is mostly white bulkheads with teak trim. It is very bright below deck plus it looks very traditional. Its nowhere near a bleach bottle interior. Its a Sparkman & Stephens design made to look like a lobster boat, so don't anyone tell me that bright below deck is not traditional.

Sounds very nice. Sadly that's not the "tradition" I'm finding looking at used boats. I'll keep looking.

Martin

[cat man do]

I prefer this sort of look

[David M]

A lavender interior....good gawd!

[Sparohok]

Apart from the lavender, I'm with you catmando.

I wonder -- in all seriousness -- whether this is an age thing. I'm in my mid 30s, and looking at boats that were built in the 1990s for people who were probably in their 50s at the time and 60s now. When I hear about the "character" that old battered wood brings to a boat, maybe I'm completely off the mark but that sounds like someone a lot older than me.

I don't mean to bring "age-ism" into this, I'm genuinely struggling to explain tastes that sound like nobody I know. Don't be afraid to tell me I'm completely off the mark

Martin

[David M]

I see where you are coming from Martin. There are as many tastes in things as there are people. Given its someones taste, there really is no right or wrong. Trends do come and go. I just hope stretchy rainbow suspenders and parachute pants never make a comeback.

[Stillraining]

"Interior Wood" is not without maintenance but really it is so easy to do its not even an issue really..Teak mostly just requires a wipe down of oil once or twice a year..no harder then wiping down fiberglass with a cleaner and easier then waxing it..Mahogany may need top coated with a new sealer every few years in trafic areas and 10 years in non and refinished every 20 to 25 years depending on the abuse it gets... longer then that if your a cautious sort of person and always on people to watch what there doing.

Wood also does not have to be stained or clear coated to retain its natural dark, deep , rich ambiance it can be painted...

All our wains coating on our hull interior pictured below is painted white ..it lightens up the interior and is one of the prime reasons my wife fell in love with this boat...it dosent look like a cave, but it dosent look plastic either...yet retains its warm and yet Arie and inviting interior.

Point is.... wood is a very adaptable surface to do what and create what you will with..unlike fiberglass which pretty much has to be covered to change its character...

Bottom line, buy what makes you the most comfortable...I like the look of a striped out sleek racer for what it is and is what i would buy for that venue..I would not care to live or cruise at length in one though.

[SouthernComfort]

cat man do,

I have always wandered what a 100' McGregor would look like

[Curmudgeon]

I don't have fiberglass furniture in my living room, either.

I must say that the Morris Co. has the right idea of how to design the interior of a boat.

[ParadiseDreams]

Originally Posted by Sparohok

2) Style, lots of people saying wood is more homey. But, do a google image search for "home interior" you'll see houses with wood trim and wood "soles" but rarely wood "bulkheads" or wood "cabin tops." So unless you grew up in a log cabin, I reject that this is actually "homey"... just "boaty." As for the chlorox bottle, walk into any new home or condo, chances are excellent you'll see white ceilings and white walls. People like this in their homes, not their boats. I'm not arguing for the utter absence of wood -- wood trim is beautiful in both homes and boats -- but I am wondering why it is so hard to find a boat that uses wood trim in the same bright, tasteful and reserved way that you'll see in your terrestrial home.

Not an expert on boat interiors, but I have seen many homes in my life . Though the walls may not be made of wood, there is a lot of wood in the homes. As I lay here in bed and write this post, I look around my bedroom and I see oak floors, wood doors, wood trim and wood furniture.

I love modern/contemporary style, so I kind of understand your distaste with the traditional looking wood, but from what I've seen in my searches online, there are some very nice looking wooden interiors which don't overuse wood and look very modern.

Take a look at this:



Check out the interiors of the Bavaria yachts...

Originally Posted by Sparohok

4) Weight -- I stand corrected on strength/weight -- although I think it's a bit beside the point. The boat's hull is already there, and a lot of the wood and liners that get added isn't there for structural or functional reasons. Also, while solid fiberglass arguably loses to wood on strength to weight ratio, cored fiberglass wins hands down.

I think you might have a point about the weight, but the point is slightly moot. Though fiberglass may weight more per unit of volume it's also very strong and has a high strength to weight ratio. Again though, the point is moot.

JMHO

[Maren]

Originally Posted by Efraim

I'm starting to wonder if the original post was a joke.

No, I think it's a fair question. Probably based on having seen some really dark interiors though.

There is another point to tease out here. Some of these really light interiors are also really open interiors. Good for coastal cruising but not so much in heavy seas ... unless you like being thrown what I'm estimating as 20' or so. Still, if you're coastal cruising, why would you want a claustrophobic interior wich is suited to water sailing">blue water sailing?

[Maren]

Originally Posted by Sparohok

OK so here's what I'm getting:

1) Maintenance -- I'm getting some saying it's more upkeep, some saying it's less. This is really the crux of the issue for me, and I appreciate the feedback, especially those saying it is easy to maintain. How often do you refinish the wood interior of your boat? How much work is it? ...

On the exterior, wood is a lot of work. On the interior, not so much.

2) ... As for the chlorox bottle, walk into any new home or condo, chances are excellent you'll see white ceilings and white walls. People like this in their homes, not their boats. I'm not arguing for the utter absence of wood -- wood trim is beautiful in both homes and boats -- but I am wondering why it is so hard to find a boat that uses wood trim in the same bright, tasteful and reserved way that you'll see in your terrestrial home.

I like light colored interiors, too and will be using white and blonds woods (industrial cork & bamboo actually). But my interior is wood. But through the modern miracle of paint the transformation will be made. I suspect I'll keep a bit of the dark stuff as the framing is Honduran mahogany. As for upkeep, it really depends on the interior. A lot of heavy wood interiors are heavy because the oils have fully oxidized, not to mention attracted dirt and salt. So a scrubing, possible bleaching and either re-oiling or varnishing is in order. Others or sealed in epoxy which will eventually turn yellow but tends to be golden in color anyway.

4) Weight -- I stand corrected on strength/weight -- although I think it's a bit beside the point.

Yes, but it was a point you brought up in the first place.

[stillbuilding]

I agree that much yacht construction leans too much to the traditional wood appearance. Maybe because it of the traditional image, maybe to "play safe"in the supposition that the market is a conservative one, maybe because it is still an easy material to work with, there are many with wood-working skills (and boatbuilders have to find highly skilled people for anything else) and maybe because it requires a conceptual leap to find a more modern idiom. A quick glance thru any of the glossy magazines will demonstrate clear alternatives but tends to be more custom made or high end. There is some difficuly in finding workers familiar with composites and synthetic materials. Probably best to look to shop fitters for these skills.

[Sandero]

As an architect I have faced the issue of what people "like" in terms of style in their homes. Tradition seems to make them feel more grounded and secure, connected to the past, as opposed to part of some passing fad. I see many people who have "high" tech everything, but live in traditional homes which could have been built 100 or more years ago. These homes have the most up to date systems in them - electric, HVAC, plumbing and mechanical and none of these were part of the aesthetic style they live in and are comfortable with.

Sailboats represent similar issues as far as aesthetics go. One one hand a sailboat is a complex MODERN engineerying marvel. But it is derived from some rather low tech principals and designs. To the outsider, if it has masts and sails it's a sailboat and to them this reminds them of the past, the tall ships and so forth to the time when wood was the ONLY material to construct a boat. And then there was metal which appeared in the larger vessels many of which still were wind driven.

There is no "need" to use lots of wood, when stronger, more adaptable materials are available. So in fact the use of wood in many cases is a legacy which grounds us in the past. But even wood is now high tech laminate in many cases.

Look at Brenta which is an Italian company which has a modern interpretation of a yacht. They have teak decks and some wood on the interior, but have stripped away all the "necessary" traditional aspects and created a modern sailing machine.

Most people are not comfortable being on the cutting edge of aesthetic design. Most will not like Brenta for THAT reason alone. There may be technical reasons to reject them as well.

Sailboats are a technology rooted in the past and this cannot be denied. Wood is a connection to that past and a technology which is not going away. Wood still works for MANY applications and will not likely be replaced for a while.

Most people simply do not think about these things and respond "emotionally"... which is perfectly valid, but in my opinion accounts for taste.

B-YACHTS