Ferro Cement Hulls ?

[Steve Pope]

Clockwork, you can still find wheels at <crew.org.nz/forum/index.php> same nice guy, just didn't need or enjoy some of the bullshit that was being slung his way.

[downunder]

Originally Posted by BillAU

Hello John,
Thanks for the information, the Gullwing has been sold so it must have been a good buy...It had only been listed a short while, as they say, he who thinks to much and to long about the boat looses the deal

Bill
Australia

Bill,

they are certainly good vessels but I don't think that one would have been so good on long hauls you are planning.

Cheers

Check this out

New Bob Oram Design

Post 20 10 m oram

[samfreeland]

im a fan of ferro cement boats they can be picked up at a great price and there easy to fix. very reliable boats.

[BillAU]

Originally Posted by downunder

Bill,

they are certainly good vessels but I don't think that one would have been so good on long hauls you are planning.

Cheers

Check this out

New Bob Oram Design

Post 20 10 m oram

Certainly a nice Cat, I would love one of those Oram's but at a second-hand price of $150,000 + I can not aford one, so I guess I'll just keep looking for a boat I can buy without selling both my kidneys

Bill
Australia

[redsnapper]

Hi Folks,

just posting a bit of information, gathered from experience of a concrete repair product, that I have had some luck in finding and using.... for the benefit of the guys with the Hartley RORC 39, in Ibiza (and others).

If you can get it, Parchem.com.au make an epoxy concrete repair product:
Nitomortar AP. It's excellent for underwater use, such as pillar repairs on jetties etc.

Look them up and get some of this stuff. It will stick upside down without too much slump until about 25mm thick.

Get a diamond - concrete grinding disc for your grinder to smooth it down as nothing else will touch it.

Use epoxy mixed with softer material like fine plaster (3:1) as rough bog. Sand this with a normal rotary sander and grinder.

Then use epoxy and q-cells as fairing compound.

Remember to wet down with epoxy before applying bog and be generous with the epoxy layers on the hull.



Fair weather to all concrete sailors....

and just for the record.... if my boat (also a hartley 39) was made of any other material, I would not have had the skill or the money to be able to get her on the water again.

viva la concrete!

[aqua de vida]

Hi there...I have recently purchased a 16 metre ferro o'kell hull to complete as a cutter rigged ketch....it has sat in the weather for thirty years as an unfinised project and is as sound as the day it was 'professionally ' built...with absolutely zero maintenance...try that with any other hull material!... i have spent many years sailing on a ferro hartley 'tahitian' including ten years worth of brisbane to gladstone yacht race where it was a very comfortable ride...mind you we only took our class once in that time but it was kinda fun when we were putting up sail when all the plastic boats were pulling it down...much fun!

[Celestialsailor]

Well....if you like cement hulls that much, then you deserve one...

[Lagoon4us]

Originally Posted by redsnapper

Hi Folks,

just posting a bit of information, gathered from experience of a concrete repair product, that I have had some luck in finding and using.... for the benefit of the guys with the Hartley RORC 39, in Ibiza (and others).

If you can get it, Parchem.com.au make an epoxy concrete repair product:
Nitomortar AP. It's excellent for underwater use, such as pillar repairs on jetties etc.

Look them up and get some of this stuff. It will stick upside down without too much slump until about 25mm thick.

Get a diamond - concrete grinding disc for your grinder to smooth it down as nothing else will touch it.

Use epoxy mixed with softer material like fine plaster (3:1) as rough bog. Sand this with a normal rotary sander and grinder.

Then use epoxy and q-cells as fairing compound.

Remember to wet down with epoxy before applying bog and be generous with the epoxy layers on the hull.



Fair weather to all concrete sailors....

and just for the record.... if my boat (also a hartley 39) was made of any other material, I would not have had the skill or the money to be able to get her on the water again.

viva la concrete!

'Tis best to keep the 'Q-cells' above the water and 'Micro-balloons below' Cheers

[awab]

hello,
just came new and read since 2 days this threat.
just bought one of FC out there and will need a lot to bring her back into shape.
here are some pictures.
Flickr: awabflickr's Photostream
sorry for my bad english.
some questions.
1. diesel is penetrating through the hull from a defect diesel tank. After cleaning there will be still the problem of the saturated cement with diesel.
should I hammer out the spots and apply new cement or can I clean the cement.
What do you think about using a torch and burn the diesel out.
look at picture near the prop.
2. What kind of epoxy primer should I use.
there are so many products out there.
3. after priming - could I use simple swimming pool paint for the under ship.

lets start with this questions. I am sure I will have more soon.
thanks
peter

[Filofax Senior]

Well hi folks, I'm brand new here. I've read lots of posts about ferro all over the net, as I recently viewed a vessel here in New Zealand a couple of weeks ago, with a view to buying. However, I found several areas of concern the hull, which said to me to shy away for the moment, and seek advice. I'm not entirely new to ferrocement,- I bought a 55ft ferro Herreshoff about 20 years ago, way back when I was young and stupid. I knew NOTHING about ferro then, and that vessel never left the mooring whilst I had it. I loved having it though, even just to row out to and potter about on it, fiddling with the motor or painting the interior etc. Oh, and to fish off. I've aged, but like to think some wisdom has sunk in. I still don't mind ferro, but I won't be buying another like that Herroshoff.- There were plastered-up ribs on the inside of the hull, which I didn't realise the significance of at the time, but which I have come to learn may be the sign of the armature having rusted and expanded. This is one of the things I think may be starting with the hull i viewed. The boat is a Hartley 39 at Tauranga Marina, $32,000.

Now I'm all old and clever, I've landed on your door with my cap in hand, hoping for some verification/explanation of what I saw on the boat I recently viewed. If i've done this right there should be some photos on this post. If not, then all i've done since being young and stupid is age some!
-------------
Photos should show. Hopefully someone can give me some knowledgeable input...i've pretty much discounted this boat on the signs of deterioration, it's otherwise a beautiful yacht. I couldn't find many examples of similar problems shown on the internet to compare these to. It would be good to know if these are indications of serious ill-health in a hull.

The cracks shown are vertical, centrally placed on the inside of the stern. They run about to about 150 to 200 mm. up from the base of the stern. There are another couple of not so bad cracks also bleeding rust running for'ard along the centreline from the stern.

The cement encasing where the rudder shaft goes through the hulk is the square section pillar visible in another photo. The pillar has a white crystalline fuzz on it, and its cement looks newer than the surrounding hulls cement. Rust is bleeding through at the base of the pillar.

Near the bow is multiple rust bleeds, the picture with the edge of the blue water bladder shows this. The area shown is about 2ft x 1' 6". There are a numer of other running rusty water marks coming down the inside of the hull from the decking area round the boat.

On the mast is significant underpaint corrosion, by the look of it. There're pictures to show the bubbling paint, and an area where the paint's come off the mast. The bubbling runs up the seams of he mast, and gathers significantly about the fittings also. Is this salvageable at this stage (i sort of think it is, looking at the photo which shows some of the aluminium of the mast exposed.)

Ahere's to sailing!
regards

John

[Filofax Senior]

Further to my previous post, otherwise than the aforementioned areas of concern, she looks great. The hull exterior has just been repainted. Hartly RORC 39. But the agents and current owner can't tell me about the builder or when built, so I'm wary. (She's called Temeraire, just in case anyone knows her.) The agent believes about 1970. I'm open-minded about ferro, but not fanatical in defending it, or promoting it, - I simply don't know enough about it! I've read some posts (not just on this forum) where people do seem to be blind to its fallibilty and say cracking of the render inside the hull is ok because the constituents of the cement won't let the armature rust. I look at the cracking on the inside surface of the stern (in my previous posts photo) and the cement is bulging proud, and brown staining is coming from the cracks. Hmmm, that looks to me like rusting and expanding armature. Hard to fix like that?

The next boat I have lined up to view is GRP.

[DSDman]

When I first started my search I looked at a couple of ferro boats. a very experienced ferro surveyor said if the boat has new paint don't buy it. They hiding stuff with the new paint. plus with those pics you sent I would think the only way to really see what was going on would be to do some destructive investigation.

[Filofax Senior]

Thanks DSDman! Very good advice I think. I was disappointed to see the defects, but it's a big ocean out there with a good many boats people can't sell. Ta for the response.

[BillAU]

Filofax Senior and awab...I have no conection with Colin Brooke's or Hartley, (I just bought and read the book) but as I have said before...Go to Boat Plans, Build Your Own Boat with Hartley Boat Plans and books and buy Colin Brooks book, it's the one titled 'Ferro-cement Boats' and it's chocker-block full of great information for builders and owners of Ferro-Cement boat/s, I'm sure you'll find it's a book well worth the money mate.
In the book Mr Brooke's states:

One of the great advantages of a ferroboat hull is....if it was built reasonably well in the first place, almost any damage is repairable.

End Quote.

Your move mates and good luck with your choice.

Bill
Australia

[Filofax Senior]

Thanks BillAU, I shall check the City library when I'm in Hamilton later this week. I didn't find Colin Brookes website any great help, I scoured through it and found it to be more a conduit to sell his book rather than an informative website. Not to say his book would be no good, - it will be excellent I reckon. Holy smoke, I just re-read what i've typed so far- I hope it doesn't sound too harsh! My view is tempered by the fact I wanted some info on ferro hull faults so I could make a good decision about this yacht, cause I did like it, and I found most of his answers were vapourous, with a direction to buying his book at the end of each query. There were some good bits of info though. I will try and get a look at his book, and will buy a copy if I get a ferro.

Many moons ago I borrowed Hartley and Samson books from a llibrary, so will go on a hunt.

The thing which most frightened me about this particular boat I looked at was the pillar which the rudder shaft passes through and out of the hull, it appears the cement is bleeding rust stains at what might be where old and new cement meet, and that salt water is passing through the new cement all over and drying as crystals on the surface. This looks like a bad repair in a critical area, but my knowledge is limited so any advice to ascertain whether I'm on the right track or not is well received.

Good fun though, a big puzzle, but I need help with it!

cheers,

John