Awo Plan Boat

Occams Razor

Believe it or not, I have occasionally been accused of being an expert at finding the hardest way to do things. I come by this talent naturally, my late father being the true expert in this field. However, when it comes to building a wooden boat to a deadline, sometimes the simplest solution is the best.

For the last month or so, Ive been asking all my new boat builder/wood worker friends where to buy boat lumber. There are many answers to this question: from a company in Brooklyn that sells wood recovered from 200 year-old buildings (built from old-growth timbers that are no longer available), to a company in New Jersey that supposedly sells wood sawn from White Cedars that fell into Jurassic-era swamps, to small lumber mills hidden away in the dark hollows of New England.

However, there is one company that appears -- with positive or negative comments attached -- on nearly everyones list: M.L. Condon, of White Plains, NY.

The positive comments tend towards the "they have everything" line. The negatives focus on their supposed high prices and Bimmer driving, Brie eating, yuppie clientele.

If I havent made it obvious, yet, I am a bit intimidated by this whole boat lumber buying thing. Ive learned a few things from books -- enough to convince Helena, anyway -- but my confident facade crumbles under the fire of one or two questions from a real lumber guy... Im clearly clueless, and feel that way.

Thus, I pulled up to the smallish-from-the-outside Condon yard with a less than happy feeling in the pit of my stomach.


As soon as I walked into the office, one of the managers greeted me. With a few questions, he gently extracted both my needs and experience level. But instead of using this ammo to shatter my confidence, he simply assigned a yard guy, named Matt, to help me.

Actually, Matt was more than a helper. He was like my personal wood concierge.

As Matt escorted me down to the lumber yard, I discovered that one rumor about Condons is true: they do have everything, or at least everything I could imagine at the moment.


Once we found the two pieces of wood I needed, Matt offered to plane them down to the thickness I needed for a few bucks more. I hadnt even thought of this service, but two or three passes through this machine saved me a couple hours of hand-planing.


Clearly, someone in Condons management knows what he or she is doing. Not only do they have the wood that boat builders need, they provide the service that makes it accessible, even to clueless newbies like me. If the problem of buying wood has been a problem for you, as it has been for me, their service might get you over the hump.

Finally, a word about prices. All I can say is that they are competitive or better than prices Ive seen at other yards in the New York metro area. Admittedly, my wood buying experience is limited. Probably it is possible to buy wood for less at a small mill up in the woods if -- and this is a big if -- you know exactly what youre looking for and can negotiate a better price.

But for a newbie like me, the hand-holding at Condons was just what I needed to get me over the lumber-buying hump, so I could keep my project moving forward. I add my recommendation to the chorus of happy customers out there.

And maybe next time theyll serve me the Brie!

Next Episode: Plan B



Blog of the Week: Jessica Watson
Jessica Watson is hoping to become the youngest person (not woman) to sail non-stop around the world. Her boat may be pink, but shes headed for Cape Horn.

http://youngestround.blogspot.com/


Video of the Week: Air Drying Your Own Lumber

Buying lumber thats dried and ready to go is great, but its cheaper to buy green lumber and dry it yourself. If youre the kind of builder who thinks ahead, this video will help get you started.