Hull construction

I thought I’d I would talk about timber for plywood boat building. There are two types of Plywood wood I use.

The hull makes a boat; it’s in contact with the water and at times in contact with land so quality is paramount. Marine ply is preferred for hull construction due to the obvious qualities it possesses, but do all hulls have to be marine ply.

The answer is no, my 12ft stitch and glue boat was made from A grade external plywood; I actually used external hoop pine. I can honestly say I’ve never seen ply of this quality, no voids or imperfections at all the cost was half of marine ply. This external hoop pine has Grade A water proof glue so it has similar characteristics to marine ply.  On my boat build I actually fiber glassed the hull which applies another protective layer making it even sound. Check out www.sailboatplansinc.com for my 12ft boat build.