The Gougeon Brothers on Boat Construction: Wood and WEST SYSTEM® Epoxy was first published in 1979 As originally conceived, this boat construction book was an introduction to the techniques of “modern” wooden boat building popular from 1960-1980 Its focus, as its title suggests, was how to mate wood with epoxy to form a composite that has physical characteristics superior to either component by itself and is stabilized from the effects of moisture This development of wood/epoxy composites revolutionized the use of wood as an engineering material
The original boat construction book was well received, and we updated it in 1982 and 1985 to reflect changes in materials and techniques It has continued to sell well and has introduced thousands to wood/epoxy construction techniques It has also been used by marine trade schools and apprentice programs as part of their curriculum In short, The Gougeon Brothers on Boat Construction book has become a respected member of the canon of boat building books