Where do we get good plywood boat building materials in the Philippines? There are good products here to use to build a boat, but builders do need to know what brands and suppliers provide good plywood, epoxy glue. What types of ropes are good and what timber can we use to build?
Our group, the Philippines Home Boatbuilding Yacht Club* has assisting building of over 100 Oz Goose sailboats. We have been able to track problems as the oldest boats are now 7 years old and have been used a lot.
This is our list of trustworthy products. If you know of others and have used them a lot for wooden boatbuilding add a comment below and we will take a look.
Buying Plywood to Build an Oz Goose Sailboat in the Philippines
We use two types of plywood for our Oz Goose builds
- Zamboply Marine Plywood
- Santa Clara Marine Plywood
The plywood thickness for the Oz Goose is called “one fourth” plywood from these two manufacturers.
Zamboply on Facebook – (6) Zamboply Plywood | Facebook
Santa Clara Plywood on Facebook – (6) SANTA CLARA Plywood | Facebook
There is significant plywood counterfeiting in the Philippines. Be careful that you are buying the real plywood, not something else with copied labels.
1/ We can find Santa Clara Marine ply from Wilcon depots – so it is legit.
2/ But if wanting to buy locally it is a good idea to contact the manufacturer and check who is the agent in your region. Both these brands have good distribution networks.
It is always good if you can have a look at the plywood before purchase. Some sheets are better than others.
Epoxy resin (glue) suppliers and manufacturers for boatbuilding in the Philippines.
We very much prefer the liquid epoxies that have a 2 parts resin to one part hardener. But check with the supplier the exact ratio.
This resin and hardener is quite thin. We do not recommend the cans of thickened epoxy we see in hardwares. It is normally pink or grey and is very weak compared to the recommended epoxy brands.
- Glue – Use the mixed epoxy resin and hardener with a powder thickener to make the mix thicker and strong. Mix the resin and Hardener first. Then add enough powder Colloidal Silica, Cabosil or Stopsag to make the consistency to be about the same as mayonaisse.
- Fibreglassing – (no added powder) You will see in our videos that we use woven fibreglass cloth on the outside of the bottom. This is to make the bottom stiffer and also to protect the bottom of the boat. Fibreglass can add more weight than expected. So we just add as much as we need where it is needed. See our videos for fibreglassing the Oz Goose sail boat
- Coating – (no added powder) To reduce maintenance we use 2 to 3 coats of epoxy on all wooden surfaces. See the videos for the method.
We usually measure by weight using a cheap digital scale. Check the scale before using by putting 10 5 peso coins on top and then put 20 5 peso coins on top. If the reading shows double then the scales are OK to use. They get epoxy on them so we put them in a plastic bag.
IMPORTANT – the actual ratio of resin to hardener might be slightly different from 2 resin to 1 hardener. Also the ratio might be different if measuring by weight or measuring by volume.
The two reasons for epoxy not going hard are poor measuring or lazy mixing.
See our video on epoxy use and measurement.
Polymer Products – Branches throughout Philippines. They have “Laminating Epoxy” and “Clear Coat Epoxy”. Both are good for boatbuilding.
(6) Polymer Products Phil. Inc. | Facebook
Pioneer Laminating Epoxy – Available from many hardwares throughout Philippines. Only use their “Laminating Epoxy”.
(6) Pioneer Adhesives Inc. | Facebook
Big Pix – Sole importer of Epolam Epoxy Resin from France
(6) Big Pix Graphic Systems, Inc. | Facebook
Fibreglass woven cloth for boatbuilding the Oz Goose Sailboat in the Philippines
We have a lot of experience working out what makes the Oz Goose durable without adding too much weight. Fibreglass can be useful. But only put it where needed as it and the resin will add a lot of weight.
Polymer Products has 6oz (200 grams per square meter) cloth which is a bit heavy and harder to use and soaks up more epoxy. But it is OK..
(6) Polymer Products Phil. Inc. | Facebook
Bigpix has 4oz (150 grams per square meter) fibreglass cloth which is best general cloth for building the Oz Goose.
(6) Big Pix Graphic Systems, Inc. | Facebook
Philippines Timber Choices for Building the Oz Goose Sailboat
We generally use local timbers available in the hardware. Most of the stresses and strains are carried by the plywood, but we need the timber to hold the plywood together and to stiffen some areas of the structure.
The plans for the Oz Goose talk about 19mm (3/4″) framing. But in the Philippines we usually see timber about 17mm thick. It still works.
We mostly use Luan from local hardwares and Lumber yards. The light coloured Luan is lighter and good for hull framing and for the centreboard and rudder. The Red is mostly higher density and what we select for high load components. Like the mast, boom and yard, centreboard, rudder, Mast Partner and step and spacers in the centreboard case and rudder box.
There are a few pieces that have to be exact thicknesses. These are marked in the timber list in the plans.
Some have used Gmelina to save weight when making the hull and it works OK. But don’t use it for the high stress components like the mast, boom and yard, tiller, rudder and centreboard case spacers.
Kits for the Oz Goose in the Philippines
You can buy the Oz Goose Plans and buy plywood and use the simple method in the plans to mark out the cutting lines.
However, we have two methods of providing kits.
The kit can vary from just precut plywood through to many of the other components cut to size and shaped. It is up to you to decide.
The cheapest and most effective way is to join one of our Family Boatbuilding Weekend Courses that happen yearly in various locations around the Philippines.
Contact Roy Espiritu at Monsoon Marine
Monsoon Marine | Facebook
Or precut kits to fully assembled boats can be ordered from Job Ferranco in Batangas.
Ferranco Canoes Paddles and Sailboats Philippines | Facebook
Ropes and Fittings for rigging the Oz goose sailboat
We strongly, strongly recommend using polyester/spectra lines for their low stretch and incredible strength for the small diameter lines on the Oz Goose. We recommend 4mm.
The only exception is the mainsheet which is 6mm double braid.
For selling the spectra/polyester rope we have set up a Shopee store. We are gradually increasing the number of Oz Goose and sail boat items.
Caman Craftwork Sailing Store, Online Shop | Shopee Philippines
The other main supplier is Broadwater Marine that has branches in several cities through the Philippines
(2) Broadwater Marine | Facebook
Sails for Oz Goose Sailboat in the Philippines
There are a couple of different sailmakers who can make excellent Oz Goose Sails.
Note that you can request sails designed by Michael Storer from Monsoon under licence.
Monsoon Marine
Monsoon Marine | Facebook