Maintaining a Wooden Hull in Tropical Water: The Annual Cost Owners Forget
Owners of wooden boats operating in Lombok’s warm, fouling-prone waters should plan for annual maintenance in the region of 5–10% of an indicative new-build…
Materials & Engineering
Hull material is the first irreversible decision in a new build, and it sets maintenance cost for the life of the vessel. Timber, fibreglass, aluminium and steel each behave differently in warm tropical water, and each is repairable to a different standard in eastern Indonesia. This track works through that choice honestly: density and rot resistance of ulin, bengkirai and teak; laminate schedules and where fibreglass earns its weight; where aluminium is worth the premium and where it is not; and what a steel hull really costs to keep. Beyond the shell, it covers propulsion — outboards against inboard diesels for passenger work, fuel burn per crossing, spares availability in Lombok, and the annual maintenance load owners underestimate. Engineering decisions made here are what a surveyor will measure years from now.
Outboards or Inboards for a Gili Passenger Boat? Comparing Running Costs
For most Gili passenger operators running short, frequent hops with high daily hours, inboard diesels usually give lower lifetime running cost than multiple…
Ulin, Bengkirai or Teak? Choosing Hull Timber in Lombok
For kayu kapal Lombok, ulin and teak suit keels, frames and planking where long-term rot and borer resistance matter most, while bengkirai is a harder, more…
Timber vs Fibreglass vs Aluminium for a Lombok-Built Boat
For a Lombok boat hull material, timber suits traditional liveaboard phinisi and slow-speed dive or charter yachts, fibreglass fits small-to-mid speed…
Quieter Fast Boats: Design Choices That Cut Noise and Vibration
A quiet fast boat is designed, not soundproofed. By the time foam panels are being glued into a finished engine
Scantlings Explained: How Frame and Plank Sizes Are Chosen for a Lombok Hull
Scantlings are the specified sizes of a hull’s structural members — how thick the planking, how deep and closely spaced
Fuel Capacity and Range Planning for the Lombok–Gili–Komodo Corridor
Fuel and range planning for the Lombok–Gili–Komodo corridor comes down to one discipline: size tankage for the longest real leg
Electrical Systems on a New Lombok Boat: 12V, 24V and Solar Done Right
The electrical system on a new Lombok boat should be boringly reliable: a 12 V or 24 V DC backbone
Inspecting Fibreglass Lay-Up Quality at a Lombok Yard: A Buyer’s Eye Guide
Fibreglass lay-up quality at a Lombok yard is judged with your eyes, your fingertips, a flashlight and a coin —
How Lombok Yards Source Ulin Legally: SVLK Timber Papers Explained
SVLK — Sistem Verifikasi Legalitas Kayu, Indonesia’s timber legality verification system — is how a Lombok yard proves the ulin