My fascination for yachts and wood has led to several restorations of wooden yachts. Although I mainly dealt with steel as part of my marine engineering schooling, wood has a much more accommodating character. Incidentally, that love gradually developed without losing sight of the properties of other substances. Clearly one cannot do without the other.
As a young machinist, I had a lot to do with repairs. Making something that was broken or worn out, polishing it and making it smooth again so that it shines beautifully under the lamplight. A job in the crankcase of a large slow revving engine, large conrods, white metal bearing slips dripping with oil, nicely worn and shiny. So strong, so tangible. I had never held real wood in my hands before.
That real wood came when we bought a Trewes sailing yacht. There, the combination of steel and wood was my first confrontation with what the years can do to materials. Built in a combination of steel and wood and usually it does not last long. The wooden planks of the hull are much more durable than the steel ribs where they attach to.
