One of the hull failures that are beginning become more common is fastener failure. All of these wood boats are getting long in the tooth. Fasteners should be replaced every twenty years or so. At least checked. The planking and frames get brittle with age. Dry rot along the chine, keel and gunnel. In my humble opinion when you take an older wooden boat out into open water where the hull will flex and twist your asking for trouble.
Some old wooden fish boats that are 70 years old are still working. Have you ever see a wooden work boat in use that wasn't being worked on. Most wooden yachts sit at the dock look good and deteriorate structurally under cover. Seem like there was another large wooden yacht about 5 years ago that sunk just inside the Straights between Neah Bay and Victoria on a delivery from LA to Vancouver, Planks loosened up on it and it took on water and sank.Fasteners are just a piece of a very large puzzle.
Design, materials, method of construction, intend use play a much larger roll than just fasteners
Light builds like a Crispy Craft are different than say a heavy commercial build that ends in a much stiffer boat. As an example.
You can not paint any boat, hull designs, or hull material with the same brush so to speak
Or many, most or all were broken all along...
Boat recovered and in port. Apparently it broke ribs.
Yacht that sank, then refloated missing its superstructure -- Port Angeles Port Townsend Sequim Forks Jefferson County Clallam County Olympic Peninsula Daily NEWS
Thanks for posting that link. Had any of the rerports, news or otherwise, reported on the water conditions in the Strait at the time? Was the hull taking something of a beating from the waves or the stresses from rolling and pitching?
The photo in the link in the first post of this thread shows the water to be somewhat lumpy with swells and a few small whitecaps....
I have nothing against wood boats, I make a living working on them. My point being that most wood boats are getting pretty old. At least 60 years old. Galvanized iron fasteners destroy the wood they contact over time, especially oak. Bronze fasteners become brittle copper sponges. Copper rivets aren't used much in carvel planked boats. Ribs crack, they get brittle over time and steam bending weakens the wood and makes it brittle. Hard chin boats have lots of places to collect dirt and sawdust, that when allowed to remain wet become dry rot incubators. When these boats get on in age they are nowhere near as strong and flexable as they were new. If you haul a wood boat with a travel lift we double up the straps because they deform so badly. When we put the jacks under them we have to sight the chines and keel to keep the hull lines true. They really need to be hauled on a marine railway. I agree just like any old boat there are many things that can cause sinking as all hoses and exhaust systems thru hulls, shaft logs and rudder stuffing boxes could fail. Most of these items can be see, planking , ribs, rot and fasteners aren't as obvious.