Owning and sailing a wooden classic dinghy is a bit different to having a soul-less, modern plastic boat. The rewards are much more, you become attached to the damn thing, it becomes part of the family….but on the other hand you have to put a little more effort back into the boat….without your love and attention, the boat will fall apart.

When everyone had a wooden boat, and they all did their own maintenance, there was lots of knowledge around about how to look after them. It’s harder now, there just isn’t the same amount of boat maintenance know-how around.

This is just a few hints, picked up by CVRDA members on how to go about looking after wooden boats. I hope that, together with the posts under repairs and renovation and the collective knowledge of the forum, they help.