For thousands of years the materials of choice for boat building were wood, rope and canvas. The primary industries were fishing, carrying cargo or waging war. Leisure boating was for the rich and powerful. The materials did not change significantly until a famous battle during the American Civil War in which two iron clad warships, the Monitor and the Merrimack, changed the way battleships and ships in general were made. Out went wood and canvas, and in came steel. In the mid 1940s, another change came with the introduction of the fiberglass pleasure boat and the first fiberglass hulls. This change was made to captivate the consumer and help their pocketbook. From there, everything was made with wood and parts like doors or hatches were manufactured out of fiberglass.
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