[Alan Wheeler]

Firstly, don't take me wrong here guy's, I am not arguing with any "tone". I just think there is so much negative trip out there about FC and it's time to start stating some facts from personall experiance.

Jeff...What's to maintain???? I have not had one issue with my boat hull in the two years I have owned it. Neither did the previouse owner scince it's it was launched in 97.
I know of many hulls that are much older than mine with exactly the same experiance. No Maintanace except the normal paint jobs. One, a 50ft Tahitian, is from the early 60's.

Kai Nui... It is most unlikely that the inner armature will rust. By the very chemical nature of the Cement, stops this from happining. When you do see rust streaks, it is NOT the inner armature, It is small strands of chicken mesh that have been too close to the surface of the plaster.
Scraps NO NOT make the material porouse. Cement is the same all the way through. The surface is no different to the inner core of it. I had chipped a hunk of plaster away from the bow due to someone not telling me the anchor was still touching the water as I made my way forward. The big heavy anchor swung off a wave and the point nailed the bow chipping the cement. It was a year before I could make the repair and I had and still have no problem with rust. The repair was simple and you can not see any sign of a problem another year on.