Steel boat: what to look for?

[Wielingen]

Dear fellow members,

As I'm new here, allow me to introduce myself.

I'm a 44-year old yachtsman who's in the process of acquiring a 'new' second hand boat. I'm most interested in buying a ketch, if possible steel-built.

Since I have no experience whatsoever with steel yachts (only with fiberglass so far), I don't really know what problems to look for when inspecting the yacht I'm interested in.

I can imagine that rust is the major enemy of steel yachts. Are there any places in particular where 'hidden' rust could be present?

Is there anything else I should watch out for?

The boat I'm visiting tomorrow (CET) also has two wooden masts. Again, I don't have any experience with wooden masts. Up to now, all the masts I have had were made of maintenance-free aluminium. When visually inspecting wooden masts, what should I pay attention to?

If there is anything else I should be (made) aware of, please, feel free to tell ;-)!

Thanks!

Wielingen

[gjordan]

There is a member on this forum called "BOATPOKER' who is a surveyor. He has available for download, a multi-page manual that is excellent. There has been much discussion on steel boats on CF so you can try the search feature ( I never have much luck with it) to find some posts. As a past owner and lover of steel boats I can give you a few basics to look for, but if after your initial look you are still interested, HIRE A SURVEYOR! Look behind cabinetry in any area that water might be used in the boat. Under the head, behind the sinks, where the chain pipe drips water, cooler or fridge drain area, also any place that wood or dissimilar metals are bolted to the steel. Rust often looks much worse than it is, but a little paint or putty can hide serious problems, so make sure your surveyor has lots of metal boat experience , not just plastic boats. Please get back to us after your initial inspection. Good Luck. ____Grant.

[gjordan]

I forgot one of the most serious and hard to figure out problem is bad wiring. Stray currents can eat through a boat very quickly. It is also one of the harder things to trace down and correct. Again, a surveyor with metal boat experience will be worth much more than it costs you to hire him/her. Good Luck. Grant.

[Yachts66]

I've owned three steel boats, here are some things I look for. Insulation: Steel boat hulls should be insulated from the deck to just below the waterline. This is usually done in one of two ways: Foamboard insulation which is glued directly to the hull; sprayed high density closed cell foam. In both cases, the insulation should be installed before any interior joiner work. The inside of the hull should be painted with a high-quality epoxy coating (two coats or more) before the foam is applied. There are also paint like products which can be applied to insulate for sound and stop condensation.

Steel boats rust from the inside out, once the joinery is installed, it's nearly impossible to install insulation, so it's very important this is done when the boat is built. If the boat is not insulated, then condensation will form on the interior surface of the steel and if there are any voids or cracks in the paint rust will form. I would not buy a non-insulated steel boat unless I planned to remove the interior joinery as a part of a refit. There are many disadvantages of foamboard vs sprayed on foam, thus I would also be very reluctant to purchase a boat that was not insulated with spray-on foam during the new construction phase before any joinery was installed. In my opinion, this is one of if not the most important thing to look for when buying a used steel boat.

I would not be concerned about surface rust on the exterior. That is easily cured with an abrasive wheel and good epoxy paint. However, deep flaking rust is problematic but in most cases, it's also repairable.

It used to be everyone wanted integral fuel tanks, now in many places, they are prohibited in new construction. The problem with fuel tanks that are removable is getting behind them to deal with any problems on the hull. My Roberts 65 had a chronic problem with mold growing behind the tanks. Mold can grow fast, so you need to keep ahead of it. If the fuel (and water for that matter) tanks do not have large access ports so you can clean the tank that can be problematic as well.

Wooden masts can rot, aluminum masts don't rot, but they can corrode. Most steel boats I've seen have either aluminum or steel masts. I would not reject a boat out of hand if it had wooden masts though.

There are a few steel boats around with wooden decks (usually teak over the steel). This is not a good idea and I would not want a boat with wooden decks. A good steel deck should result in a dry bilge. On a steel boat, if there is water in the bilge there is a problem somewhere. We usually clean the bilge with a broom and dustpan. That said, if you aren't using a dripless shaft seal there will be a small amount of water in that immediate area. If it were me, I'd replace the traditional drip type shaft seals with a dripless one, but then I prefer dry bilges.

Best of luck to you in finding your boat.

[Wielingen]

Thanks for your elaborate post! Much appreciated!

My quest for a steel yacht continues.

Wielingen

[Yachts66]

On two occasions I've had accidents with my steel boats. The first, a drunk fisherman trying to maneuver through the marina ramed my steel boat with his wooden fishing trawler. His bow was caved in and had it not been that the Coasties had been rehearsing emergency pumping that day right across from where he ramed me, he would have sunk. Fortunately for him, they managed to keep him afloat long enough to get him on a travel lift and out of the water. I had to examine my boat very, very closely to find the spot where he ran into me and marred my paint just a titch!

Second time: While motoring up a river to a marina the exhaust hose ruptured so my exhaust water was being dumped into the bilge not overboard. I was alone and busy topsides, so I was unaware until there was so much water down below the engine ingested some and began billowing white smoke. I'd just acquired a Boat US towing membership and used it to get towed to the marina I was going to anyway. The kid driving the tow boat apparently had little experience but got me hooked up on a bow tow well enough to begin. As we neared the entrance to the marina doing about 5 knots I expected him to stop and retie the tow to the side of my boat so he could control us. The airhead didn't do this though and despite my yelling and waiving went roaring into the marina. By the time he realized his error I had few options in the absence of an operable engine. There was any number of boats I could run over, or I could steer for the empty fueling dock with a shed forming a T at the end of the pier. I chose that option and consequently ramed the dock, penetrating that far enough to place my steel bowsprit through the side of the office. What a mess, but no spilled fuel or fire! Fortunately, the owner of the marina happened to be standing at the dock and witnessed the entire event, thus knowing where the blame belonged. After cutting a nice V in the dock and going partway through the fuel shed the damage to his facilities was not inconsequential. For sure my paint was marred, but the paint unbroken so immediate need to repaint the area of the hull that was marred, beyond that, I suffered no damage. I was told Boat US paid handsomely for the damage to the dock and fuel shed. When things like this happen you just have to love steel boats. I know I certainly do. I don't understand why steel boats are not more popular. Epoxy paints are hard to beat and if I'd had a glass boat in either incident the damage to my boats would have been significant.

[Triumphant]

Fellow steel boat owner for 20+ years. I agree with Yacht66's comments

I would also suggest the surveyor you get should have proven track record of steel boats (I have a hammer does not work for me) and if the boat is more than 10 - 15 years have the hull tested by NDT (non destructive testing), This is what they do on pipe lines etc.

Enjoy

[Oceanride007]

I have too much wood on my steely, fortunately there is usually a SS doubler or SS angle, in contact. Internal corrosion was found around the limber holes, look at condition of hull paint higher up inside as you will never be able to repaint that.
One of my SS water tanks leaked, only a very serious look with arthur scope, mirror light would have found it.
I do get water in boat, comes down binnacle, comes thru deck locker, not a biggy, but something that is annoying is if any fuel or oil leaked in storage lockers it would come into main bilge. Don't like it for the safety point of view.
Only other disadvantage I noticed is Mobile Cell reception. I noticed when shopping that price of steel yachts v age is similar to older production FG boats. But no reason why this boat won't last another 30 years.