The Voyages of H.W Tilman

[John Stone]

This book was loaned to me by a former Marine and mountaineer/sailor friend of mine. I had heard of Tilman but had not read any of his books nor was I familiar with his voyages. It's about 950 pages. The writing is honest, descriptive, and detailed. It is filled with thoughts on sailing and his observations on the nature of men.

This is an anthology of his eight sailing/mountaineering books. The expeditions take place from 1954-1977. All his voyages were made in Bristol pilot cutters and all occurred in the high latitudes with pick-up crews.

A Brit, Tilman served in WW I and survived the Battle the Somme--one of the most brutal battles of the modern age. After the war he took up mountaineering climbing in the Himalayas summiting previously unclimbed peaks and conducting route reconnaissance on Everest eventually used by the successful British summiting expedition in 1953. In WWII he fought in North Africa and then parachuted into Yugoslavia and fought with Tito's partisans. After the war he felt he aged out of high altitude climbing and turned his attentions to expedition sailing to the high latitudes to climb less accessible unclimbed peaks, which is the focus of all eight books.

The writing is superb. The adventures hair raising. Talk about brave, daring, determined, intrepid souls.... The sailing description are as good or better than any I have ever read. This is not a fast read. It took me a year to complete it. You'll want access to Google Earth as you're going places you probably never heard of. You're going sailing into the Southern Ocean, the Chilean Fiords to climb glaciers, up the Red Sea. You'll get trapped in the ice off the east and west coast of Greenland, Spitzbergen etc. two of your boats will sink from beneath your feet....

And for of you who think you're too old for offshore adventures, Tilman did all this age 56-79. I rate it a 10/10.

[Jim Walsh]

Tilman was a great writer and quite a fearless adventurer. His crew turnover rate was exacerbated by his belief that every man could survive for months on hard tack and salt pork. No one ever had a more appropriate name for their vessels. Each seemed to be mischievous in one way or another.

[John Stone]

Tilman was a great writer and quite a fearless adventurer. His crew turnover rate was exacerbated by his belief that every man could survive for months on hard tack and salt pork. No one ever had a more appropriate name for their vessels. Each seemed to be mischievous in one way or another.

They ate some hard tack in the beginning but I think they ate pretty well in later voyages. He had some great crews and some real losers. How he managed it was fascinating.

Anyway, I have always loved the wood pilot cutters but I have to tell you after reading about how these boats leaked horribly requiring constant pumping and the rigging of plastic sheeting over all the bunks to divert deck leaks away from the bunks...do I ever love my watertight fiberglass boat.

The whole resurgence in wood boats is a sham in my opinion. It feeds the wood boat building and restoration industry but has to cost owners a fortune. The wood is not near as good as it used to be, boat building lumber is shockingly expensive, and the boats seem to require more frequent refits.

I love the mystique of wood boats but the cost to maintain is high and the resale value low. That's not to say I would not build one but that's the only way I would own one--if I built it and I don't have enough time left for it. So FRP all the way.

[John Stone]

For those interested in Tilman but reluctant to read a 950 page tome I recently picked up a copy of a well regarded biography on Tilman called High Mountains and Cold Seas by JRL Anderson. I have not read it yet but certainly looking forward to it.

[tjr818]

. . . Anyway, I have always loved the wood pilot cutters but I have to tell you after reading about how these boats leaked horribly requiring constant pumping and the rigging of plastic sheeting over all the bunks to divert deck leaks away from the bunks...do I ever love my watertight fiberglass boat.

The whole resurgence in wood boats is a sham in my opinion. It feeds the wood boat building and restoration industry but has to cost owners a fortune. The wood is not near as good as it used to be, boat building lumber is shockingly expensive, and the boats seem to require more frequent refits.

I love the mystique of wood boats but the cost to maintain is high and the resale value low. That's not to say I would not build one but that's the only way I would own one--if I built it and I don't have enough time left for it. So FRP all the way.

John,
More than a few people might disagree. Please, when you have a chance, read this book:

IMG_1558.jpeg

[John Stone]

Deleted because I hit submit while I was typing. LOL.

[John Stone]

. . . Anyway, I have always loved the wood pilot cutters but I have to tell you after reading about how these boats leaked horribly requiring constant pumping and the rigging of plastic sheeting over all the bunks to divert deck leaks away from the bunks...do I ever love my watertight fiberglass boat.

The whole resurgence in wood boats is a sham in my opinion. It feeds the wood boat building and restoration industry but has to cost owners a fortune. The wood is not near as good as it used to be, boat building lumber is shockingly expensive, and the boats seem to require more frequent refits.

I love the mystique of wood boats but the cost to maintain is high and the resale value low. That's not to say I would not build one but that's the only way I would own one--if I built it and I don't have enough time left for it. So FRP all the way.

John,
More than a few people might disagree. Please, when you have a chance, read this book:

IMG_1558.jpeg

Oh no doubt. The wood boat industry and their info machine is a force to be reckoned with. I might add they are quick to disparage FRP boats. What is it I'm going to learn about the beauty of wood boats I don't know? Nothing as beautiful as Olin Stephen's Dorade. Probably my favorite boat of all time. They spent millions to restore her and I bet her annual maintenance budget would be a shocker. BTW I am a life time member of Off Center Harbor--I drool over the boats like everyone else. Below photo of a small assortment of books featuring wood boats. All read many times. I love them. Wish I was young enough to build one. Nothing as gorgeous as an unpainted freshly planked new wood boat. It's like it was created by God himself.

I took WoodenBoat magazine for years until I finally gave up on them. There is this dirty secret obvious to anyone paying attention. They would fawn over a newly built wood boat and 10 years later would feature it again in for significant repairs. The average person can't afford that. Quality wood is shockingly expensive, if you can find it, and to build a wood boat with poor quality wood is a fool's errand. And there are only a few places with the skill to maintain them to a high standard, if you can afford it. While we have all seen sloppy boat work on FRP boats, that sloppiness is not limited to fiberglass boats. And sloppy work on a wood boat can lead to shocking damage in no time.

I don't think there are that many wood boats out voyaging long term. And that's what I am talking about--voyaging boats. There are a few. Wonderer III is still out there. Taleisin is probably in great shape but she was built by a master with Burmese teak planking and black locust ribs. No one of average means is doing that these days. The wood boats I have see out now are mostly sheathed in glass or are cold molded with glass exteriors. I followed and read all about the gorgeous S&S 40 Sunstone--but Tom and Vicky Jackson lived on her and maintained her constantly. And while wood boats in New England might fair well in the short summer season they don't do well in the tropics long term. Nearly every Cape George cutter I have seen (99 percent are FRP Hull and Wood deck) has all kinds of trouble with deck and cabin tops leaks and wood rot 10-20 years after launch. These are difficult repairs for all but very experienced sailors/shipwrights. And you can't let these boats sit. It can't sit in the water or a boat yard for 4-5 years without major work to get them water tight and able to withstand the rigors of offshore sailing.

If I built the boat, and maintained it constantly then sure. I would do all my repairs--like I do now. What would the Far Reach have looked like if she were wood and sat for 20 years when I got her? As it was, most of what I did was elective. She was structurally perfectly sound. There is not a voyage I have made with her I could not have completed with just a minor refit. A major structural rebuild would have been required had she been wood.

There are wood boats in my boat yard. Moore Marine was there who specialized in Trumpy restoration. Gorgeous boats. Stunning. A huge money pit. I'd see these fawned over boats come back into the yard every couple years for a constant barrage of major work. It took the gloss off wooden boats for me.

It's all fine and good to have a Hinckly 35 pilot (love it) you sail in NE in the summer and have hauled out for the winter and freshened up in the spring but take it out hard voyaging for 5 or 10 years. A solid glass hull FRP boat can come back and upgrade some components, pick up a new main and jib, and make another circumnavigation. A West Sail 32 is practically indestructible. People who buy wood voyaging boats either don't know what they are getting into or have deep pockets and can afford it.

Would I love to build a H28. Sure. Was designed to be build in a back hard. What a fun project. But the wood is not so great now. I don't know what it would cost...probably a couple hundred K in materials alone. And in 20 years she would need structural work unless I used the highest quality wood and built her to a standard far beyond my skill set and then religiously maintained her.

That's what I mean by it's a sham. They are lovely, capable, soulful creatures...but then there is all that other stuff....

No thanks. I am an FRP sailor all the way and limit my wood work to the interior, the bowsprit, coamings etc. I might build an Ilur or a Tess yawl one day but epoxy over ply and it to be garaged or at least covered when not in use. A 21' FRP Sea Pearl makes more sense to me....

Anyway, I know I am on a tear but that's my feeling on it though I confess I still get seduced by the lore of wood boats in moments of weakness.

And so I better stop now. I need to get back to those mahogany coamings I'm building in the garage. Nothing like the smell of wood shavings....

[John Stone]

I was beat about the head and shoulders by Tim--AKA tjr818, so I ordered the book--Wooden Boats. Should have it in a week or 10 days. I'll report back. Probably a separate thread.

[gonesail]

Tristan Jones had some good things to say about H.W. Bill Tilman.

[John Stone]

Tristan Jones had some good things to say about H.W. Bill Tilman.

I read a bunch of Tristan Jones when I was a kid. I enjoyed his stories. Sort of the "everyman's adventurer." Then we found out he made a lot of his stories up.... but so did Bill Shakespeare. LOL. Anyway. That's interesting. Thanks for adding it to the thread. Excellent.

[Ben Miller]

The wood boat industry and their info machine is a force to be reckoned with.

Are the March blahs getting to you, John? They're a real thing up here in Michigan, I'm not sure about North Carolina. We're not talking about the DeBeers diamond monopoly, or the oil & gas industry. I don't think we need to "reckon with" a bunch of beardy old guys who get their kicks out of wooden boats. They enjoy them, and a small subset also has the financial resources to support that enjoyment. Good for them! We get to enjoy looking at their boats in the water, while also enjoying our own lower-maintenance Clorox bottles. Which, let's be honest, also require an outlay in money and time that the average person would probably find difficult to afford. It's all personal choices and preferences and what makes the dream come alive for that individual. I know you're on the same page.

[Jim Walsh]

When I was a youngster (eons ago) I would occasionally take a walk through Dodson’s Boat Yard, in Stonington, Ct.. Back then a kid could wander around the yard, marina, and the boat building sheds without drawing undue suspicion. The sounds and smells were a wonder to behold. The same familiar faces of the boatwrights were the constant, the boats under construction or in for repair were the variable. It was the twilight of an era for many of the yards which were, just then, seeing the first fiberglass aberrations.
Dodson’s catered to about a dozen Concordia Yawls, among numerous other wooden boats, sail and power. Only a couple had painted hulls, the majority were finished bright, and they wanted for nothing. The mahogany planked hulls were a thing of beauty. When a Concordia was contracted the owner specified whether the hull would be painted or finished bright, at an additional cost. When the hull planking was selected for a bright finished hull only the best was good enough, no cosmetic flaws were allowed. For the painted hulls the planking only had to be structurally sound as it would never be seen under multiple coats of paint.
I know there are still places, primarily Down East and in the Pacific Northwest, where the yards and labor force exist to cater to those with deep enough pockets to continue the wooden boat ownership tradition but I’m glad I was able to witness the last few years when wooden boat ownership was sill considered the norm.

[John Stone]

The wood boat industry and their info machine is a force to be reckoned with.

Are the March blahs getting to you, John? They're a real thing up here in Michigan, I'm not sure about North Carolina. We're not talking about the DeBeers diamond monopoly, or the oil & gas industry. I don't think we need to "reckon with" a bunch of beardy old guys who get their kicks out of wooden boats. They enjoy them, and a small subset also has the financial resources to support that enjoyment. Good for them! We get to enjoy looking at their boats in the water, while also enjoying our own lower-maintenance Clorox bottles. Which, let's be honest, also require an outlay in money and time that the average person would probably find difficult to afford. It's all personal choices and preferences and what makes the dream come alive for that individual. I know you're on the same page.

Ben
Yes they are getting to me and yeah sure I am on the same page. This all got started by me reading and musing on Tilman's water logged pilot cutter. Interestingly, Chichester had the same experience in brand new Gypsy Moth IV built for his round the world attempt in 1967. Drenched in his berth by never ending leaks he said.

Anyway, I'm all about people making choices. As a guy that maintains his own boat, my conclusion after reading 8 books in a row about voyaging in a wooden boat, was gosh I sure like my fiberglass boat. I would hardly call our boats Clorox bottles. I remember those days. Early Irwin's come to mind. And many new boats are still that way. I worked hard to avoid that with FR. Ironically, a couple times people have come up to me and asked if the FR was wooden. Hahaha. I always took it as a compliment but my gosh I'm glad she is not.

It's funny, there a lot of wooden boats that are more like FRP than wood given they are cold molded with glass over the exterior, composite decks, carbon fiber rigs, etc. but they are "wooden boats." That's interesting to me. I'm not sure what the definition is of a wood boat any more.

Anyway, as mentioned, I love those boats. The Concordia is drop dead gorgeous. But I would not trade one of our well maintained CDs for one under any circumstances. Not in the real world. And that's what got this started. So long live FRP.

[Carl Thunberg]

My Dad gave me the 8-volume set of Tilman books about 20 years ago. It took me a long time to get through it, but it was as riveting as 950 pages can be. For some reason his description of the penguins on the Kerguelen Islands made an impression on me. They were so numerous that it was hard to walk without stepping on them.

[John Stone]

My Dad gave me the 8-volume set of Tilman books about 20 years ago. It took me a long time to get through it, but it was as riveting as 950 pages can be. For some reason his description of the penguins on the Kerguelen Islands made an impression on me. They were so numerous that it was hard to walk without stepping on them.

Carl, concur. When you think about Tilman, who was 61 then, sailing from England in a pilot cutter, built in 1906 and showing all her age, all the way round the Cape of Good Hope in 1959 to the Southern Ocean to climb a mountain is incredible. Horrible conditions. Terrible anchorages. The experts thought he was mad. There were a lot of penguins. They just walked out there and knocked them on the head and had them for supper.

A bunch of tough guys and even though he was learning to sail as he went he and his crew proved they were very competent sailors.