Although some new materials like polyester, fibre, aluminium, and so on have been introduced recently, the wood has always been the most important raw material in ship building. Every kind of wood has different properties, which make it suitable for different objectives: some are stronger, others are more pliable, others are long-lasting, others are heavier… These are some of the most used woods in the Balearics:

HOLM OAK: Clear brown wood with a strongly marked vein. Its is very tough and hardy, that is why it was used to build the most resistant parts of the ship (keel, top rail, and so on)

PINE: Clear yellow wood with a straight fibre. Flexible and resinous, not hardy. Very resistant to beetle and to longhorn beetle. Among the existing species, the most used one was the Flemish pine (northern pine) because it is the biggest one and so allows to take a great benefit from the wood.

TEAK: Tough, flexible and resistant wood. High-valued by shipbuilders because it doesn’t rot when it gets in contact with the water. It was used for the soleta, the adornments and the deck.

OAK: Earthy and yellow, tough and compact wood. It was used because of its toughness and resistance to the bad weather.

BEECH: White wood with stripes and spots. Heavy, resistant and flexible. It is not so much resistant to the sun and the water; that is the reason why it was used in oar building.

For the adjustment, there were used materials like copper and brass, and for the impermeabilization, mastic and tow.