Remind Me Why this Is a Bad Idea

[sundown]

Rust coating and maintenance on accessible areas are all well and good but as we all know there are a slew of places on a boat that will never again see the light of day once the decks and house are on.
In my experience steel boats seldom rust from the "outside in" rather than from the "inside out".
BTW I am not a huge fan of Glass either- if you have the time, energy, and money I feel wood is the best material.

[SabreKai]

I'm currently working on rebuilding a 33 year old Roberts. Sure there are some problems. But I've seen lots of glass or wood boats with problems too. It all depends on what your tolerance to pain is. I find working on glass to be more annoying than working on steel. I retire in a year and I expect I'll have her ready to live on by then. Maybe not up to other peoples expectations, or idea of beauty but it will serve my purposes quite nicely. I never was one for impressing other people.

[sneuman]

Steel and wood are both great materials. If I could be 100% assured of no major rust or rot problems, respectively, I would definitely consider either.

Even with that guarantee, FRP still makes a very strong case; without it, fiberglass wins hands down, IMHO.

[NeptunesTrident]

Originally Posted by osirissail

Your cost numbers are well off by magnitudes of order. Point is for the budget boat buyer without expertise in either technology, buying used steel is and has been - in reality - a bad deal except for the rare exceptional jewels - just like ferrocement.
- - If the buyer happens to be an experienced "expert" in one technology or the other, naturally staying within their realm of expertise is wiser.

The refit of a FRG budget boat can well be equal to or exceed the purchase price of the boat. Again, so can a steel boat, or aluminum.

And you kind of quoted me towards the end of what I posted. Basically, to go with what you know.

[Reefmagnet]

As Sundown said, most steel boats rust from the inside out. From my observations, rust in inaccessible parts of the bilges seems to be the major repair issue with some vessels. I have seen more than one boat abandoned in the yard after the owner has cut a manhole sized hole in the hull to inspect the innards of the bilges - and didn't like what he or she saw!

Not sure if this has been posted before, but here is a good article for those considering an older steel boat:

The saving of WhiteBird

I think it is a great article because it demonstrates both the "gotchas" as well as the relative "ease" of which steel can be repaired.

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by Connemara

Heard an interview last night (on my way back from the boatyard) with a guy who spent 30 years building his steel 40-footer from a set of plans. (And a bunch of steel, of course.)

He splashed it last weekend, somewhere in England.

With remarkable understatement, he said that he and his wife had missed out on lots of other things because they were building the boat.

Sailing among those other things, I would guess.

Connemara

If it took them 30 years to build a 40 foot boat, they really can't have given all that much up!

Personally I'd build new rather than restoring an old run-down boat. I REALLY dislike having to fix other people's mistakes. My own mistakes I can tolerate...

[Geoduck]

Wood boats are organic, quiet, cool in summer, warm in winter, a good one will float even if holed and it can be repaired easily anywhere in the world. maintenance is the same no matter what youve got.
Steel is noisy, cold or hot, sharp and hard. must be kept in perfect paint. agreeably the strongest hull if built right with the correct materials.
Glass is still a mystery - alot of 30year old boats are coming apart, blistering up, delaminating, etc,etc. even when maintained well. you can sink one with a 30-06. I blew big chunks out of a hull on the beach in Alaska with mine - a fish boat hull - not a yacht.
I'm almost convinced that ferro cement is as good as steel. If done right they'll outlast them all.
I've been at sea for over 40 years messing about in boats under 126' - Yachts, power and commercial fish boats. I've delivered my share of them up & down the coast from the Canal to Alaska. Across the Atlantic from the Med to Aruba, a couple of years in the Carribean sailing & delivering, a few years in Mexico. Have yet to cross the Pacific - maybe yet. I'd like to sail to Thialand where my boat was built 70 years ago - no doubt the boat would make it - don't know about the owner though!
Without a doubt, my best trips at sea were on good wood boats - worst were on steel - not that there arent some good ones out there- I just never found one I liked as well as wood.
To each his own as the saying goes!

[SabreKai]

Originally Posted by Reefmagnet

Not sure if this has been posted before, but here is a good article for those considering an older steel boat:

The saving of WhiteBird

I think it is a great article because it demonstrates both the "gotchas" as well as the relative "ease" of which steel can be repaired.

Having read that, I will never complain again about the rust I've found so far in Sabre Dance. I'm blessed as far as that goes. Looking at what I have, me and my trusty hand sand blaster should be able to deal with it easily.