: A couple of other points - apparently there is no longer an
: "official" Lloyds standard BS1088, though, of course,
: lots of plywood is made to the old standard and still stamped as
: such. I think the point is that anyone could legally stamp their
: plywood that way, or call it BS1088, regardless of quality. I
: could be wrong . . . .

I did some checking on this. Although I can't find it now, I remember reading that there was always a BS 1088 standard, and a Lloyd's approved BS1088. After doing a bit of checking, the Glen-L web site has an explanation. It seems that Okoume is not rated as a durable wood by Lloyds, so while Okoume plywood can be certified BS1088, it can't be Lloyds certified unless it has a treatment that prevents rot. There are a couple of companies doing this, but there are other plywoods that don't need this treatment. Here's a link to the Glen-L page: http://www.glen-l.com/weblettr/webletters-6/wl47-plywood.html

You're right about the need to epoxy coat everything. I read Thomas Hill's Ultralight Boatbuilding years ago and I completely agree with you and he that unless you are reinforcing with Fiberglass epoxy coating is unnecessary.

m