Wooden deck

Debbie · Post by **Debbie** » Mon Dec 22, 2003 1:32 pm

I recently acquired a Triton which had been abandoned by its previous owner so I know next to nothing about it. While it has a fiberglass hull the deck is made of wood. I'm wondering if anyone has heard of this and if this can give me any information about when it was built, etc. The boat's in San Francisco now but I don't know where it came from originally. Thanks!

Post by **Tim** » Mon Dec 22, 2003 3:10 pm

Hi Debbie,

Tritons were built mostly on the East Coast, by Pearson Yachts in Bristol, RI, but a number of them were built under license by Aeromarine of Sausalito, CA. There are a few differences between Tritons built by Aeromarine and Pearson, but the most important difference is the deck construction. Aeromarine Tritons were constructed with a solid fiberglass deck.

Pearson Triton decks, however, were built with a balsa wood core sandwiched between layers of fiberglass. Perhaps is this what you mean when you say "the deck is made of wood"? Tritons were never factory delivered with a true wooden deck, so if the boat you have truly has a wooden deck, not just a wood-cored fiberglass deck, then it was either extensively rebuilt/modified by some previous owner, or perhaps it isn't actually a Triton. I have seen a number of boats billed as a "Triton" when in fact they are not. A look at the hull shape and some of the details would be extremely telling here--got any photos?

In any event, with more information we can help. Pictures, detailed descriptions of the deck, hull numbers, etc...whatever you have will be of assistance in trying to determine more about the boat. If you need assistance posting photos to this board, please feel free to email them to me directly, and I'll post them. (tlackey@triton381.com)

Anyway, congratulations on your recent acquisition, and please don't hesitate to ask any questions that may arise.

Figment · Post by **Figment** » Mon Dec 22, 2003 9:02 pm

... or perhaps is it a thin (cosmetic) teak deck laid over the factory deck?

wait.... cobwebs clearing in brain..... If this is a true-laid wooden deck.... Isn't there lore of someone restoring a fire-damaged triton? stripped to a bare hull and rebuilt? Might this be THAT boat?
(now there's a fishing expedition!!)

Dave, 397 · Post by **Dave, 397** » Mon Dec 22, 2003 10:58 pm

That guy, if I remember right, got a new deck and cabin section shipped from Pearson.
Dave

Post by **Tim** » Tue Dec 23, 2003 8:48 am

Dave, 397 wrote:That guy, if I remember right, got a new deck and cabin section shipped from Pearson

Correct. Here is a link to the story about that boat, Sandpiper #129. Note that Sandpiper is alive and well, and actively sailed in the Chesapeake. She has an extra small port in each side of the cabin trunk, as I gather the replacement deck was shipped with no pre-cut openings.

The Story of Sandpiper

Post by **Tim** » Fri Dec 26, 2003 2:57 pm

Debbie sent me some photos of her boat. It's a Triton hull, but the deck is unquestionably a home-built modification of the original, with wooden cabin trunk, squared-off shape, wider sidedecks outboard of the coamings, and a modified cockpit. The interior is also modified, though this is not unusual in and of itself. One can only imagine the circumstances that might have caused some former owner to make these changes to the decks, though.

Perhaps, faced with a total recore-type project, someone decided to just start from scrach. Maybe some kind of major damage occured to the deck. We, and Debbie, may never know, given the lack of documentation that she has.

Debbie says the transom bears at least the ghost of the name Aeolus, and an old California registration number that is too old to still be in the state's records.

I see also that at a minimum the boom is wooden, and it looks to me like the mast is wood too--another obvious departure from original, and suggestive of a checkered and violent past for this particular Triton.

Debbie: what sort of condition are the decks in now? It looks like mostly plywood construction, and not very refined either. Is there much rot that you can see?

Also, it's possible you could find some indication of the hull number inside or on the backs of interior drawers, on the chance that some of them might be original. Someitmes the undersides of cabinets, bulkheads, ect. might possibly have a number, but this is highly inconsistent--not to mention dependent on their being in original condition, which, from the looks of things, yours are not and may have been replaced or modified. Check the sails too, especially the main, which might have a number. It might not, either, and a number on the sail doesn't guarantee that it is accurate, but it's a start.

Debbie · Post by **Debbie** » Sun Dec 28, 2003 2:05 pm

Thanks for the response. You are correct that both the boom and mast are also made of wood. The deck is made of plywood and is actually in fairly good shape with not a lot of rot. The one exception is that it sags some underneath the mast which is inadequately reinforced (haven't decided how to deal with that yet). Unfortunately we haven't come across a hull number yet, but you never know. The boat has no sails so that's not an option. In my searching around on the Internet I came across an article written in 1984 that mentioned a boat which was blown up in an explosion and had the deck rebuilt by a carpenter. Could that be this boat? By the way, do you have any suggestions for how to go about getting used sails on a tight budget? Thanks.

Post by **Tim** » Sun Dec 28, 2003 3:08 pm

Would you mind posting the link to that article you mention from 1984? I don't think I've seen that.

I think there are a couple others on this board who might have some good sail ideas for you. There are several large brokers of used sails around, but I'm not too familiar with them.

Figment · Post by **Figment** » Sun Dec 28, 2003 9:35 pm

I might as well get the ball rolling on the used sails topic....

On the east coast, Bacon Sails in annapolis pretty much sets the standard for the used sail market. It's at the point now that most folks around here use Bacon's rating system as the measuring stick even in casual conversation. I've yet to buy from them personally, but I've helped unpack and hoist a number of sails that they've shipped, and in each case the condition of the sail was exactly as advertised. I cannot imagine that the SF bay area doesn't have an equivalent resource, but in that unlikely event, I'd suggest that the reliability of buying from Bacon would be worth the shipping charges.

The most common tip for those searching for used Triton sails on a tight budget is to look for a main from a Shields. Because of the close competition within that one-design class, Shields owners buy new sails when their old ones are "barely broken in" by cruisers' standards, and these sails are usually available with far greater frequency than a true Triton main. The sail dimensions are..... close. The Shields sail will be a bit too big, and probably won't come equipped with reef points, so one would be well advised to factor in a few hundred dollars' worth of modification. We've hashed out this topic pretty well.... http://www.triton381.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=187 but hey it's a long winter and we're always up for more, right guys?

Debbie · Post by **Debbie** » Mon Dec 29, 2003 1:48 am

Thanks for the info. Here's the link to the article I mentioned. http://www.tritonclass.org/articles/train/ The mention of the boat that blew up is in the third paragraph after the first picture.