From Finland with love

… This was the pleasant heading of the article about VENDIA marine plank in Classic Boat magazine (March 2015) written by Scottish Adrian Morgan. Adrian first saw VENDIA on the Internet and was keen to try it, because, as he says himself, he hates ordinary plywood. He has been writing a blog about his project with the Gartside 16ft skiff Bob made of VENDIA. It has been pleasant to read about his project and his satisfaction with VENDIA.

Adrian started to build boats with his father when he was eight years old. Together they built several dinghies and a cruising boat, a plywood Waarschip 570. Two years ago after a career in journalism and working in a traditional boat yard in Ullapool, he began to build boats again himself. The first boat he built was a sjekte called FJ. With FJ he won the best boat at the Scottish Traditional Boat Festival in Portsoy. The boat was an 18ft clinker double ender with a Bermudan rig, designed by Karsten Ausland, who emigrated from Scandinavia to the US in the 1930s.

Adrian Morgan

The Gartside skiff Bob made of VENDIA marine plank.

Adrian has done a career in journalism, mostly writing about boats and sailing for magazines and newspapers. In March Adrian wrote an article about VENDIA marine plank to Classic Boat magazine. Adrian told that he doesn’t like ordinary plywood because it can’t be varnished, as it looks horrible. VENDIA looks like real wood and can be varnished. It is also nice to work, no splinters, planes well, smells good and most importantly comes in handy lengths… I can’t speak too highly of it, said Adrian.

Classic Boat article & Adrian's blogPHOTOS: Adrian Morgan

Pulling boat made of VENDIA marine plank

Designing of a more sporty, so called pulling boat, has started in Kuopio (Finland) by boatbuilding line of vocational school. The aim is to get a quick and sensitive boat to row. There will be three oarlock pairs, which makes the rowing possible also for two persons. The middle oarlock is for single rowing.

PICTURE: Veneopisto, Savon ammatti- ja aikuisopisto

The length of the boat will match with total length of two planks of VENDIA. The sides will be made of four pairs of VENDIA marine plank. Modelling of the structure has begun and there will be also an option for a slide seat. More pictures here >>

The MUF adhesive used in VENDIA marine plank

Phenol formaldehyde adhesive is the most commonly used glue in marine plywood. It is water-resistant and commonly used in plywood industry. Originally the phenol formaldehyde adhesive is colourless but effect of air and oxygen convert the phenol into brown. That is why the dark glue seams stand out in plank board joints and edges if wooden boat is made of normal marine plywood.

When developing VENDIA marine plank our goal was to create a marine plank that is beautiful and durable. We wanted to get rid of the dark seams of normal marine plywood. When we started to develop VENDIA marine plank, one of the criteria in addition to the water-resistance was that the glue should be colourless. Our choice was MUF adhesive because of its colourless feature, water-resistance and strong references. MUF adhesive is commonly used among high-quality marine plywood producers.

The MUF adhesive is a two-component glue including adhesive and hardener. It is Weather Boil Proof (WBP) glue and meets the requirements of British Standard 1088 for marine plywood. The glue has passed the boiling test, which means that the glue must withstand boiling of 24 hours. In addition to boiling test, we have also made the absorption test of impregnating agents. In the test we had Owatrol, Hempel and linseed oil mixed with zinc naphthenate and it proved that all these impregnating agents were absorbed well also through the glue layers.