I want opinions from Motoryacht folks about...

Ah but who's going to varnish that hull?

What's a "bergie field?"

I suspect he meant bergy. Small pieces of ice from an ice berg

Ah soooo. Thanks.

Bergie bits are one to three ton chunks from a calving iceberg. They won't sink a well built wood and/or steel hulls. I've never seen a fibreglas boat survive even a glacing blow. Aluminum hulls dent a bit depending on the speed at which they lost their engine power.

Who's gonna paint the hull - not me but - duh a yard.

Here's another one - the JUBILEE that fits the bill - and supposedly in Rockport, Tx too. Should be easy enough to find there. It will probably be the only GIANT sailing vessel. Was built in 2002 for charter in Panama and refit in 2012.
https://www.**************/boats/2012/gulet-turkish-3679425/

http://www.guletworld.com/gulet_building.html

Never heard of those either, and I flew multi engine turbo prop seaplanes for a living.
As for the Dornier Seaplane, remember those as a slightly older design, but a great concept, keep those engines and props away from spray and salt, maintenance cost will go way down compared to wing mounted engines.

Gulet wooden boats?
Maybe a good choice in the higher latitudes but horrible in the (sub) tropics, rain and sun will do it’s best to destroy wood as well as varnish in short order.
(I do however expect modern wooden boats to be protected better than the old ones, cold-molded and coatings with far better UV protection than regular varnish, otherwise a maintenance nightmare. )
Wooden boats are great to look at, and to admire the workmanship of the craftsmen who built them, they sail good as well, not for me however, worked man arse off owning and maintaining a teak and mahogany Yawl in the Caribbean 35 to 32 years ago, never again.

I'll take a good solid wood boat anywhere in the world. They used to say that one year in Florida equals ten in any other part of the world. We used to spend eight months every year fishing in the Galapagos and most fishing boats were wood. Only in the last 15 yrs or so, have fibreglas boats been used out there. They don't last long due to the constant sun bombardment and condensation. That and the constant required maintenance. Wood doesn't have that problem. My old gulet hull was 75mm thick on the hull sides, the deck was 55mm and the keel was one solid piece of cypress 203mm. Sure you can build a cold moulded boat, coated with epoxy, but it's not the same. I just saw this on another forum.....a wood constructed vessel from Ireland. The wood is from Portugal where the keel is laid. https://www.wallaceyachts.com

Just of the sake of discussion, as I have no plans on having a wooden boat nor have I owned one, but I hear many times from sailors that a modern cold molded wooden boat is not like anything from the days of yore. Like you said, current coatings and probably manufacturing technology must be far better.

The heat and humidity of tropical locals does make sense and regardless of improved construction technique and products will still be a tough place for a Gulet to hang out. I seems anyway. yr2030 has much experience and is telling us otherwise, eye opening perhaps?

The new generation SeaStar is a different airplane. Complete GRP fuselage, more seaworthy and much more durable. Certified to newest FAR standards. It can land and take off in rough waters, were a normal floatplane would capsize upon touchdown. Have flown the old version and the new one. Not bad at all. Will post more pictures.

The Gulet is more or less a classic Jongert made of wood. The turkish yards are very good builder in wood. Skills that have been forgotten in Europe. The last big wooden sailboat in Germany was Hetairos build by Abeking and Rasmussen in 1993. But this was cold molded. I doubt, A&R would accept such an order today.



A dream in wood and a great performer.

The origin of the Gulet is basically a fishing boat. The original underwater body is designed for carrying a big usefull load and not for sailing performance. Coincidentally I did a little sailing race with one Gulet in the eastern Med. The Gulet cant go high on the wind and on cross type winds they have a lot of drift. But from the wind they sail pretty well. They are very wet boats with only little freeboard.

But as Norseman said, in warm and humid climates, a nightmare as far as maintenance is concerned.

I don't care who you are, that's a work of art.

We used to see cargo and sometimes outfitted for net fishing in Arabian Sea. They are not true sailboats, but are dependable motor sailors. Current models use large twin MTU, MAN and CAT engines in the 600-750 hp range. My Granddad built hulls and interiors in Bodrum yards. https://www.wondergulets.com/en/gul...rkey-and-greece-about-gulet-origin-and-models

They have visible cabins/salons vs a true sailboat which has a clean deck and tiller/wheel. They are quite luxurious, not spartan and yes they have all the necessities of life - ensuite. The galleys are well designed with multiple burners and ovens. They are very stable, don't heel very much even in a stiff breeze. There are several in charter in Panama and Bahamas.

True enough: Back in the old country , (Norway) a wooden boat would last 100 years or more, just pour rock salt in the bilge and keep caulking her with tar and let Odin know this boat is blessed forever.
In Florida however, the life expectancy for a wooden boat is 35 years, if that.
(Not my opinion, but against my judgement I baby sat a 46’ Crocker after it was surveyed by a boat builder/surveyor from the UK, old school who stated the 35 years, he was spot on)
I did every maintenance thing I could think of, copper plating the seams, hauling out frequently, yet the Crocker sprung a plank and sank overnight even after I had 4 bilge pumps installed, just in case it would spring a plank)

A wooden boat in warm waters is like an ice cube in hell: It won’t last long.

Well, fortunately for us we are in the high latitude North Atlantic and Arctic half orf the year. A good Norwegian hull like the six built for Malahide are certainly stronger than today's plastics and some aluminum. 70mm x 9.7m planks require a crane to move them into place.

https://www.****************/cruiser-reviews/a-true-trawler-yacht

There are two currently for sale = Sovereign on another forum (tw) is asking $715k and
https://www.**************/boats/1972/southern-marine-malahide-trawler-yacht-3499589/