Wooden Boat People

By McKenzieDriftBoat.com

Sande marine plywood--any comments?

I've been looking for a lighter alternative to Meranti plywood, and been discouraged from Okume by both price and reports of brittle exploding hulls and a propensity to rot easily. I just came across a wood I have not heard of--Sande from Equador. It is quite a bit lighter than Meranti, and a tad cheaper as well. The sample I got feels more like a softwood than a hardwood, but that's about all I know about the stuff. Has anyone used and/or abused this stuff? I am tempted to try a boat build with it.

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Permalink Reply by J.Williams on February 19, 2011 at 9:26am

Most locations do not sell marine grade Sande, however, in few and far between locations, it is available, and is a very legitimate marine ply.

Contact edensaw woods in NW Washinton State...they carry it.

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Permalink Reply by Brad Dimock on February 20, 2011 at 11:54am

Edensaw is the outfit where I found it. But I have not found out much about the longterm quality of the product for boats. The sample they sent does seem like a very soft wood.

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Permalink Reply by John Dobbelaere on August 7, 2020 at 11:54am

Have no fear. I left a sht of 1/2 in sande marine outdoors in the pnw for 2 years. We were having fence issues in a corner I couldnt see so I threw it up and forgot about it. One corner was stuck in the mud. One surface weathered but in good shape. I sawed into the corner that was in the mud to see what happened. Nothing happened, glue was holding, it was in great shape. I also took some and boiled it with no problems.

I will say though I won't use it for stain / clearcoat surfaces. Only painted, below waterline is fine. The reason is it is not very pretty.

Also would not buy it from box stores. Only from a distributor that you know is selling marine grade. Out here we have architectural woods inc (AWI) and Edensaw. Sande ply comes in interior and marine. Box stores probably selling the interior type.