Texasmark
Supreme Mariner
- Joined
- Dec 20, 2005
- Messages
- 14,558
The following is the way I see it.
I was on this earth before Pearl Harbor. Boating has been part of my entire life.
Looking back at the fiberglass industry in particular, I have a few comments concerning the newly born industry of the time.
None of the super tech gyzmos of today were available then. That is a huge negative in the onset; not being able to "predict the future".
When a resin/catalyst and a glass mat or little strips of glass fibers (chopped glass) came into being it was a new science. Nobody had been there before.
I was there. I participated in the procurement of such for years. I too knew no better.
Wood for stringers was a mechanical marvel of such as it absorbed impact, like you would have hitting a wave at some elevated speed. It was light for it's strength. It was easily incorporated into a manufactured product. It was cheap for what it offered. Plywood for decks (floors) was the perfect answer, whether the mfgr. encased it or not. REMEMBER, REGARDLESS OF WHAT YOU ARE BUILDING, IF YOU CAN'T MEET THE MARKET PRICE THE PROSPECTIVE BUYER CAN AFFORD, YOU HAVE NO SALES.....AKA NO MARKET. Oh, in addition, you are in the business, investing your time and financial resources to make a profit so that you can pay your bills for your investment, house, food, transportation, utilities, maybe a little extra for luxuries...bla bla and the same for your employees. I never worked for free; why should they?
Some boats had no flotation material. I had one I bought in 1960, a 13' Taylor Craft runabout that had an air chamber under the deck....aka floor. Idea was great but after years of pounding, the seals at the interface of the hull to the deck failed and the air chamber filled with water and was a definite problem.
So to keep this short and to the point, don't throw rocks at the manufacturer's of the day. They provided the boating public with what they wanted......boats. Today we are smarter and more cautious. Trying to get into a boat you can afford buying into yesteryear is your gamble. Sorry but that's the way it is.
Mark
I was on this earth before Pearl Harbor. Boating has been part of my entire life.
Looking back at the fiberglass industry in particular, I have a few comments concerning the newly born industry of the time.
None of the super tech gyzmos of today were available then. That is a huge negative in the onset; not being able to "predict the future".
When a resin/catalyst and a glass mat or little strips of glass fibers (chopped glass) came into being it was a new science. Nobody had been there before.
I was there. I participated in the procurement of such for years. I too knew no better.
Wood for stringers was a mechanical marvel of such as it absorbed impact, like you would have hitting a wave at some elevated speed. It was light for it's strength. It was easily incorporated into a manufactured product. It was cheap for what it offered. Plywood for decks (floors) was the perfect answer, whether the mfgr. encased it or not. REMEMBER, REGARDLESS OF WHAT YOU ARE BUILDING, IF YOU CAN'T MEET THE MARKET PRICE THE PROSPECTIVE BUYER CAN AFFORD, YOU HAVE NO SALES.....AKA NO MARKET. Oh, in addition, you are in the business, investing your time and financial resources to make a profit so that you can pay your bills for your investment, house, food, transportation, utilities, maybe a little extra for luxuries...bla bla and the same for your employees. I never worked for free; why should they?
Some boats had no flotation material. I had one I bought in 1960, a 13' Taylor Craft runabout that had an air chamber under the deck....aka floor. Idea was great but after years of pounding, the seals at the interface of the hull to the deck failed and the air chamber filled with water and was a definite problem.
So to keep this short and to the point, don't throw rocks at the manufacturer's of the day. They provided the boating public with what they wanted......boats. Today we are smarter and more cautious. Trying to get into a boat you can afford buying into yesteryear is your gamble. Sorry but that's the way it is.
Mark