by DanaDCole on Mon Jan 18, 2016 10:58 am
Just a few quick comments:
It looks like the meranti is about 23% heavier than okume. That is a significant amount (maybe 40-50 lb of cut plywood?), but not that much considering the overall weight. I still think it might be a good idea to use the meranti up to, say, the side panels, then finish the higher parts with okume. That way you have the heavier, stronger, more water-resistant parts down where you need all that, and you could eliminate some of the ballast or keep it if you want a super-stable boat.
John designed the boat so that it could be recovered from the water with a Honda Civic. The boat, including ballast, motor, etc. is already at or above the posted weight limit for the Trailex trailer (900 lb), but from what you have said I doubt you'll be splurging on a $3,000 trailer. A steel trailer is going to be about twice as heavy as an aluminum trailer, so you need to figure that into your hauling vehicle decision. BTW, I am using a Honda CRV to haul my boat and so far no problems at all, but I did buy the Trailex.
One reason CLC recommends okume is that they get it from sustainable forests, if that sort of thing matters to you.
Good idea to use BS 1088 meranti where it will be submerged because of its much higher rot resistance. As long as it is sealed in epoxy, this doesn't matter, but what if a submerged area is abraded down to bare wood and you don't know about it? This is obviously more significant for boats that "live" in the water most of the time. With my trailer modifications (see my post, "Modifications to Trailex Trailer") I can inspect every square inch of the hull while it is on the trailer. If your keel is mostly invisible inside the keel trough there could be damage you can't see. If the boat stays in the water (or sits on soaking wet carpet in the keel trough) meranti will still wick up water and eventually start to rot, etc.
I apologize that I was not aware (or had forgotten) that CLC approves of BS 1088 meranti. So there is no reason not to use it, but I still like the idea of using lighter plywood higher up on the boat. That would probably only require a couple sheets.
