Cruisers Forum
 


Reply
  This discussion is proudly sponsored by:
Please support our sponsors and let them know you heard about their products on Cruisers Forums. Advertise Here
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Rate Thread Display Modes
Old 02-03-2016, 09:33   #31
Registered User
 
Cheechako's Avatar

Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Skagit City, WA
Posts: 25,482
Re: Steel Vs Fibreglass

Quote:
Originally Posted by ausnp84 View Post
This is the sort of off-hand comment that I don't understand.... Did a steel boat owner tell you it was higher and more difficult? Have you had a steel boat? Or is it just someone's friend's brother's uncle mentioned it?

I'm not having a go specifically at Cheechako - I've just heard this line so many times but never from a steel boat owner.

n
I have not owned one, because after inspecting a few I was considering, all of them had significant rust inside the boat in areas where you'd have to think a long time about how to fix it reasonable without tearing the boat apart.
A fiberglass boat wont do that at least!
But realistically, It's all about keeping up with maintenance. I'm sure if you pay attention it's very doable.
If you don't have to maintain all the crevices below the floorboard on a fiberglass boat, then I call it needing to be done on steel boats "additional maintenance". Just logic to me. I say the same thing about bolt on keels, if you can buy a boat with an encapsulate keel... it's one less thing.
Would I consider a steel boat without any of those issues to start? Most definitely I'd give that a shot..... if I needed a very strong boat.
__________________
"I spent most of my money on Booze, Broads and Boats. The rest I wasted" - Elmore Leonard











Cheechako is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-03-2016, 09:40   #32
Registered User
 
ausnp84's Avatar

Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: UK, Australia, Europe
Boat: Custom Catamaran
Posts: 881
Re: Steel Vs Fibreglass

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cheechako View Post
I have not owned one, because after inspecting a few I was considering, all of them had significant rust inside the boat in areas where you'd have to think a long time about how to fix it reasonable without tearing the boat apart.
Makes total sense to me! Teak decks is another no-no for me - once they start leaking, boy do they make a mess......

n
ausnp84 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-03-2016, 14:37   #33
Registered User

Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: New Mexico, USA
Boat: International Etchells USA 125 Black Magic, Santana 20 475 Ghost, Hobie 33 3100 Bruja, dinghies,
Posts: 1,118
Re: Steel Vs Fibreglass

Holes around the waterline... Lightning?
Maintenance: do you prefer the heat and noise of grinding, cutting, and welding; or the mess and itch of resin, dust, and glass fibre?

Sent from my XT1254 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app
__________________
Pat, from the Desert Sea https://desertsea.blogspot.com
rgscpat is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-03-2016, 16:47   #34
Registered User

Join Date: Feb 2016
Boat: 66' Spencer 42' Sloop
Posts: 399
Re: Steel Vs Fibreglass

Quote:
Originally Posted by unclemack View Post
I think aluminium's a great material for boats but I do have a worry - don't know whether it's even a real issue though.

A young woman who bought an old aluminium boat found a lot of small holes below the waterline while scraping the hull during her refit. Luckily the boat was on the hard and she was able to find someone to weld them.

I don't know the cause of all the little holes but they looked coin-sized to me and had no hull thinning around them.

Galvanic/electrolytic corrosion's a concern for all metal boat owners but if pocket change in bilges due to a single drunken de-trousering can sink the boat...

Even I would prefer a more sensible explanation please?
Sorry for drifting off again
really hard to say with out seeing it.
BigNickMontana is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-03-2016, 20:26   #35
Registered User

Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Boat: Tayana 37
Posts: 25
Re: Steel Vs Fibreglass

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cheechako View Post
I have not owned one, because after inspecting a few I was considering, all of them had significant rust inside the boat in areas where you'd have to think a long time about how to fix it reasonable without tearing the boat apart.
A fiberglass boat wont do that at least!
But realistically, It's all about keeping up with maintenance. I'm sure if you pay attention it's very doable.
If you don't have to maintain all the crevices below the floorboard on a fiberglass boat, then I call it needing to be done on steel boats "additional maintenance". Just logic to me. I say the same thing about bolt on keels, if you can buy a boat with an encapsulate keel... it's one less thing.
Would I consider a steel boat without any of those issues to start? Most definitely I'd give that a shot..... if I needed a very strong boat.
Hi Cheechako, you hit the nail on the head - buy a boat without the rust issues to start with. If the coating has been done with great diligence, with quality material and one is confident of that, then I believe a steel boat would not require any significantly greater maintenance than a GRP boat.

thanks for your input, cheers Daz
Daz1964 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-03-2016, 20:46   #36
Registered User

Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 429
Re: Steel Vs Fibreglass

Quote:
Originally Posted by BigNickMontana View Post
really hard to say with out seeing it.
Yeah, I only saw them on her youtube videos. They seemed randomly placed but of similar size, very localised, not feathered like one might expect.

If not for the fact that it was afloat when she bought it one might wonder if they'd been drilled.

Weird.
unclemack is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-03-2016, 20:48   #37
Registered User

Join Date: Feb 2016
Boat: 66' Spencer 42' Sloop
Posts: 399
Re: Steel Vs Fibreglass

Quote:
Originally Posted by unclemack View Post
Yeah, I only saw them on her youtube videos. They seemed randomly placed but of similar size, very localised, not feathered like one might expect.

If not for the fact that it was afloat when she bought it one might wonder if they'd been drilled.

Weird.
Oh, you Talking about Nike's boat?
BigNickMontana is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-03-2016, 20:48   #38
Registered User

Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Boat: Tayana 37
Posts: 25
Re: Steel Vs Fibreglass

Quote:
Originally Posted by unclemack View Post
I think aluminium's a great material for boats but I do have a worry - don't know whether it's even a real issue though.

A young woman who bought an old aluminium boat found a lot of small holes below the waterline while scraping the hull during her refit. Luckily the boat was on the hard and she was able to find someone to weld them.

I don't know the cause of all the little holes but they looked coin-sized to me and had no hull thinning around them.

Galvanic/electrolytic corrosion's a concern for all metal boat owners but if pocket change in bilges due to a single drunken de-trousering can sink the boat...

Even I would prefer a more sensible explanation please?
Sorry for drifting off again
Hey Unclemack

The short answer is galvanic corrosion. It is possible this boat was moored nearby something with a dissimilar metal and an electrochemical reaction starts between the dissimilar metals and causing electrons to depart one metal (Aluminium)(Anode) and build up on the other (eg bronze)(cathode). Probably the persons boat did not have sacrificial anodes fitted or they had already "dissolved". See this article for further explanation Protecting Aluminum Boats From Salt Water Corrosion | Boating Magazine

just saw your later posts - seems a strange phenomena to have clean holes with galvanic corrosion - the mystery continues!
Daz1964 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-03-2016, 20:51   #39
Registered User
 
Celestialsailor's Avatar

Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Back in Northern California working on the Ranch
Boat: Pearson 365 Sloop and 9' Fatty Knees.
Posts: 10,466
Images: 5
Re: Steel Vs Fibreglass

Quote:
Originally Posted by Daz1964 View Post
Hi Everyone

This question has probably been flogged to death on this forum but I'm new and not experienced so forgive me for putting the question out there...once again!

I am about to buy a yacht - my first And my question is Steel or Fibreglass? Steel feels "safe" but has its problems with maintenance, weight, insulation, etc, and are possibly home built (some good some bad). On the other hand, I feel a little vulnerable in a glass hull or is this just my inexperience, and once I am a confident sailor there should be no reason to worry? Plus advantages of glass - low maintenance, light, insulating.



I would appreciate your views, experiences and recomendations for a purchasing a cruising blue water yacht.

Cheers Daz

Yes...there have been many threads on steel. That is why we have the "search" tab at the top of the page. I've built a couple of steels and I can tell you the maintenance approaches as much as a wood boat and especially if you park it unattended for long periods of time.
__________________
"Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming: Wow - what a ride!"
Celestialsailor is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-03-2016, 20:53   #40
Registered User

Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Boat: Tayana 37
Posts: 25
Re: Steel Vs Fibreglass

Quote:
Originally Posted by rgscpat View Post
Holes around the waterline... Lightning?
Maintenance: do you prefer the heat and noise of grinding, cutting, and welding; or the mess and itch of resin, dust, and glass fibre?

Sent from my XT1254 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app
Grinding cutting and welding ok for me - hate that dusty, itchy stuff
Daz1964 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-03-2016, 20:56   #41
Registered User

Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Boat: Tayana 37
Posts: 25
Re: Steel Vs Fibreglass

Quote:
Originally Posted by Celestialsailor View Post
Yes...there have been many threads on steel. That is why we have the "search" tab at the top of the page. I've built a couple of steels and I can tell you the maintenance approaches as much as a wood boat and especially if you park it unattended for long periods of time.
I did try that and got hundreds of hits of crap, or nothing - I don't think the search engine is so good. Anyway lots of new input never hurt and I'm appreciating it
Daz1964 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-03-2016, 21:23   #42
Registered User
 
Lizzy Belle's Avatar

Join Date: Nov 2015
Location: Netherlands
Boat: Ohlson 29
Posts: 1,519
Re: Steel Vs Fibreglass

Quote:
Originally Posted by Daz1964 View Post
and I think steel will give me that extra sense of security
If you feel safer with (on) steel, then go with steel. I'd still advise against aiming for reefs and rocks, tho. Don't do a Costa Concordia

I never really cared one way or the other (steel or plastic), until we owned a steel boat. My personal fav was the fact that steel gets hot in the sun. Very, very hot. So instead of spending a fortune on whatever to cover the deck, we used waterpumps to keep the deck cool (at anchor or docked, of course). Worked like a charm, but a wet deck isn't necessarily more fun (or safe) then a hot one.

As to maintenance: having always had plastic boats and only three steel ones (plus my brother owning 2 steel boats): yes, steel is more work. Potentially a lot more. But that is not a bad thing per sé; a lot of people enjoy working on their boat. I'm lazy so I have a strong preference for plastic

As to plastic 'breaking': years ago, I was on a small 22' sailboat. Anchored, 2 anchors out so not going anywhere fast. A drunk managed to hit us with his steel motorboat. And not gently - he was trying to get away from the beach and shallow waters, but had no clue what "wind" was and managed to hit us twice - hard.

The first time was right on the stern, the second time -and this was full throttle- a little further down, on the side of the cockpit, while his boat was dragging my anchor line (which he picked up when he got us om the stern).

Weirdly enough, when he was finally gone, there was no visible damage. I'd heard sounds that made me think she was a total loss ...
It really was minor damage which I ended up fixing myself, doing boat yoga in the whatever the storage below the cockpit seats is called in English.

This was a heavy built steel 40' motorboat plowing into a 22' plastic sailboat ...
And in the past 30 or so years, having spent a lot of time on both plastic and steel boats and going through the occasional ... mishaps ..., I feel pretty darn safe on plastic too.

Having said that: my brother has a steel motorboot, I have a plastic sailboat.
His rule of thumb: when a collision is unavoidable, aim for something plastic.
My rule of thumb: when a collision is unavoidable, aim for something cheap.
Considering he managed to smash up a steel boat so bad he was lucky he kept it dry inside, he may not be the one to listen to

* I say motorboat, but should probably say 'power boat'? To me, that translates more to what we call a speedboat ... So confusing

Quote:
Originally Posted by Daz1964 View Post
I did try that and got hundreds of hits of crap, or nothing - I don't think the search engine is so good.
On the drop-down, after you click 'Search', look down a little and use the Google search. It's much better. You can sort by date if you want (right hand corner on the search results page, I think).
__________________
"Il faut être toujours ivre." - Charles Baudelaire
Dutch ♀ Liveaboard, sharing an Ohlson 29 with a feline.
Lizzy Belle is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-03-2016, 22:38   #43
Registered User

Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 11,002
Re: Steel Vs Fibreglass

Quote:
Originally Posted by BigNickMontana View Post
Tit for tat really, you're making a mountain out of a molehill.

I just said why I like steel. I never said I don't like FRP. Good chance ill be buying a FRP boat at the end of the summer.

That being said in a couple of years ill be building my dream boat, and it will be steel.
I thought it was the other way around and I was just clarifying that your major advantages really weren't advantages.
valhalla360 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-03-2016, 23:06   #44
Registered User

Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Boat: Tayana 37
Posts: 25
Re: Steel Vs Fibreglass

Quote:
Originally Posted by Lizzy Belle View Post
If you feel safer with (on) steel, then go with steel. I'd still advise against aiming for reefs and rocks, tho. Don't do a Costa Concordia

I never really cared one way or the other (steel or plastic), until we owned a steel boat. My personal fav was the fact that steel gets hot in the sun. Very, very hot. So instead of spending a fortune on whatever to cover the deck, we used waterpumps to keep the deck cool (at anchor or docked, of course). Worked like a charm, but a wet deck isn't necessarily more fun (or safe) then a hot one.

As to maintenance: having always had plastic boats and only three steel ones (plus my brother owning 2 steel boats): yes, steel is more work. Potentially a lot more. But that is not a bad thing per sé; a lot of people enjoy working on their boat. I'm lazy so I have a strong preference for plastic

As to plastic 'breaking': years ago, I was on a small 22' sailboat. Anchored, 2 anchors out so not going anywhere fast. A drunk managed to hit us with his steel motorboat. And not gently - he was trying to get away from the beach and shallow waters, but had no clue what "wind" was and managed to hit us twice - hard.

The first time was right on the stern, the second time -and this was full throttle- a little further down, on the side of the cockpit, while his boat was dragging my anchor line (which he picked up when he got us om the stern).

Weirdly enough, when he was finally gone, there was no visible damage. I'd heard sounds that made me think she was a total loss ...
It really was minor damage which I ended up fixing myself, doing boat yoga in the whatever the storage below the cockpit seats is called in English.

This was a heavy built steel 40' motorboat plowing into a 22' plastic sailboat ...
And in the past 30 or so years, having spent a lot of time on both plastic and steel boats and going through the occasional ... mishaps ..., I feel pretty darn safe on plastic too.

Having said that: my brother has a steel motorboot, I have a plastic sailboat.
His rule of thumb: when a collision is unavoidable, aim for something plastic.
My rule of thumb: when a collision is unavoidable, aim for something cheap.
Considering he managed to smash up a steel boat so bad he was lucky he kept it dry inside, he may not be the one to listen to

* I say motorboat, but should probably say 'power boat'? To me, that translates more to what we call a speedboat ... So confusing



On the drop-down, after you click 'Search', look down a little and use the Google search. It's much better. You can sort by date if you want (right hand corner on the search results page, I think).
Hi Lizzie, thanks for the search hint, I'll give it a go. I like your story on the boat being bit by the power boat and I can see now GRP is stronger than I thought after viewing a few crash test videos on Youtube. Still not sure which way I'll go and will probably keep the option open and look at both types when searching for my first (and maybe last) boat - as someone said earlier when there is a connection and love for the boat is probably won't matter what the hull material is as long as its in good condition, or I'm aware of what needs to be done!

Happy days Lizzie, Cheers Darren
Daz1964 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-03-2016, 02:10   #45
Registered User

Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Australia
Boat: Island Packet 40
Posts: 6,432
Images: 7
Re: Steel Vs Fibreglass

To my way of thinking the biggest negative with fibreglass is it's extreme flammability. Once a fire gets established there is little hope of putting it out.
RaymondR is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
steel

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
temp repair to steel hull using epoxy & fibreglass matting? conachair Construction, Maintenance & Refit 3 17-01-2009 11:34
Grinding fibreglass Weyalan Construction, Maintenance & Refit 57 10-11-2008 03:51
Tools For Fibreglass and Gelcoat Repair Sonosailor Construction, Maintenance & Refit 5 31-03-2007 23:37
Covering imperfections with fibreglass Weyalan Construction, Maintenance & Refit 3 03-05-2006 05:53

Advertise Here


All times are GMT -7. The time now is 14:15.


Google+
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Social Knowledge Networks
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.

ShowCase vBulletin Plugins by Drive Thru Online, Inc.