Greetings from Bundaberg, Australia.

[cisco007]

Hi All, Just starting out on this forum. I live at Bundaberg on the east coast of Australia and have a steel Van De Stadt 34 named Cisco. I am interested to hear from other steel boat owners with hints and tips about keeping rust at bay.

Yeah, yeah, I know. Get a timber, fibreglass or aluminium boat.

I had a beautiful alloy boat once which was a Peterson 42 (IOR 2 Tonner) which was called "ENVY II".

She was an expensive mistress to keep and I made the mistake of doing charter work.

The only people "Cisco" needs to keep happy are me and mine. The general public can go and mess up someone else's boat, not mine.

Cheers for now from Cisco.

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha,
Welcome aboard!! I've got nothing against steel but I do love the saying, "rust never sleeps." Hope you enjoy the forum.
Kind Regards,
JohnL

[cooper]

......try again ...(i just typed a whole page pressed go advanced and it ...well advanced it to another planet : ( ) First up Join the Metal Boat Society. Welcome to the Metal Boat Society. you will get answers from people who own metal boats ; )
No better way than to have a good paint job in the first place but....Take the rusty spot back to white metal feathering the edges of the surrounding paint. Paint with a good quality two part epoxy steel primer. Top coat with either epoxy or polyurethane. Poly handles the sun better, but takes more effort if you are touching up because you want to try and avoid putting epoxy over it. (Epoxy can go chalky) Keep the boat dry. Its a steel boat there should be no reason for any water inside !! make sure that your anodes are doing their thing. Use a multi meter to test the current flow to make sure you are protected. Put protective striping (rubber / plastic or whatever on anything/ edge that chips twice. Cheap plastic door mats for chain lockers etc, Enjoy it .......

[Wotname]

G'day Cisco, greetings from an ex Queenslander and ex-steel boat owner.

[markje4]

G'day Cisco

Have you come across another steel boat in your part of the world called "Wallaby Creek"?
Spent a few months on her in 2004 going through Suez Canal then into and around Med.
Skipper, Alan, was a real character and last I heard he was moored in the river at Bundy.
Mark

[cisco007]

Thanks for that one cooper.
My rust problem is mainly spot repairs. Cisco has not been in the water during the last 2 1/2 years I have owned her. (Blush) However $35/ week hard stand storage in Maryborough (100 km south of Bundaberg) is about as cheap as it gets and will do me while I get the Real Estate sorted out. Real Estate is what makes the boat possible.

[cisco007]

Hi Mark, I have seen the boat but not met the owner. If it is still Alan, I will pass on your regards.

[cisco007]

try again.... Just had one like yours cooper. All disappeared.

With spot rust repairs I am trying to avoid sand blasting. It is only worth doing with a complete refit.

My current idea is to needle gun rust areas and treat with a rust converter. I have been looking at "Exit Rust" and "Fertan" both based on tannic acid from the mimosa tree.

Is this the best type of rust converter and what is the best overcoating system for this treatment??

Have been told that grinding or sanding back to white metal leaves micro contaminants that cause early break down of the overcoat system. The other arguement is that rust converter is good for tha main area of rust but where the repair adjoins the existing paint the problem soon reoccurs.

Twixt the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea!!!

When the boat is finally back in the water all areas will receive regular maintenance so what I am looking for is a spot repair system for rust and paint that will give good service for 3-5 years when there will most likely be a full refit.

Any suggestions gratefully acknowleged. I love the idea of rubber door mats in the chain locker. The KISS principal in action.

Cheers Cisco.

[Ramona]

After 20 years in the navy and the last 25 as a professional fisherman I would steer clear of steel. Not to keen on rust converters, hides the problem for awhile. For spot repairs I would be inclined to look at car body repair methods and materials. Get back to clean steel, clean with the correct acids and paint as soon as possible.
Love the Van de Stadt 34 design, seems to be a lot for sale at the moment though. The composite timber ones appeal, only downside is it seems they have lead keels encased in steel.

[cooper]

The steel can only RUST if it has oxygen. If the steel is cleaned to white metal and then epoxied it should be fine. Dont bother with converters. Dont use car products. definately dont use car bog. Fishing boats are prone to a lot of paint chipping, this chipping needs touching up continuously, fisherman dont like doing it. A cruising yacht is differant !!The paint systems have changed some what in the last 50 years.

[cisco007]

Originally Posted by Ramona

After 20 years in the navy and the last 25 as a professional fisherman I would steer clear of steel. Not to keen on rust converters, hides the problem for awhile. For spot repairs I would be inclined to look at car body repair methods and materials. Get back to clean steel, clean with the correct acids and paint as soon as possible.
Love the Van de Stadt 34 design, seems to be a lot for sale at the moment though. The composite timber ones appeal, only downside is it seems they have lead keels encased in steel.

There you go Ramona, we are both ex pussers and both born Aug 15, you 2 years before me. I suppose you were a MOBI (Most Objectionable Bastard Imagineable for those not familiar) once and then a tiffie???

I fell in love with the Van De Stadt 34 design when they first came out. The frameless fairing construction method with CAD/CAM had reached it's time and they were the first.
They were touted at the time as being the lightest displacement steel yacht of that size. They are more than a ton lighter than an Adams 35. The design was also used for the Dehler 34 I believe.

My choice of steel is based on ease of construction and repair and the idea that there are more tons of steel floating around the oceans of the world than any other material and because of that every now and then there is a breakthrough in protective coating technology.

I have seen a couple of alloy VDS 34s and they seemed to sit quite high in the water. I have heard they are not very successful as a seakindly yacht.
Have also seen a few steel VDS 34s sitting quite low in the water due to being overloaded with solid timber fitouts and addition of steel dog houses etc.
Everybody I have asked with a steel VDS 34 that is faithful to the design specs has said they were very pleased with the yacht. One guy I spoke with had done a fair bit of Bass Strait cruising and said that in heavy weather he just reduced to the working jib and kept sailing.

Looking at the design overall and the time of it's conception I think it would come fairly close to meeting the old IOR one ton rule. Because of all these factors I believe the yacht is best suited to comfortable coastal cruising and club racing. Due to a fairly limited load carrying capacity I don't think the VDS 34 is a good choice for long term off shore cruising.

This may be the reason for some of the VDS 34s being for sale.

I paid $35,000 for "Cisco". She has been sitting in a cradle for a year more than the 2 1/2 years I have owned her. Other priorities, committments etc. When I have spent $10-15,000 on her she may be worth $65-70,000. I don't think any VDS 34 is worth more than about $85,000. If one is priced higher than that it probably has too much gear on board and is why it is for sale.

Composite timber and steel construction is something I would be very cautious about. All construction materials and methods have their merits and maintenance drawbacks. As long as a vessel has been properly constructed and MAINTAINED other criteria become more important.

[Ramona]

Originally Posted by cisco007

There you go Ramona, we are both ex pussers and both born Aug 15, you 2 years before me. I suppose you were a MOBI (Most Objectionable Bastard Imagineable for those not familiar) once and then a tiffie???

.

That's a little spooky. I was actually a Cerberus JR. Sent most of my navy time as aircrew in Grumman Trackers. Other similarities, I also have a master class 5. My fishing vessel is an old army workboat, same as pussers workboats of the period.