Into the ice with plastic or 100% ONLY with metal?

[Sailing4Jesus]

Shipmates,

Wasn't the Titanic made of Steel? She went down in the Ice on Her Maden Voyage. Yachts are being built now of Carbon Fiber that under strict testing is even stronger than Aluminum and Steel. Most sailing accidents are not caused by the Hull Material but what The Sailor who is sailing Her is made of. Sticks and Stones may break my bones, but ignorance can destroy me and my crew.

The Old Navy Senior Chief Moanback, Retired

[tugboattom]

Ice will cut fiberglass. It is a very bad idea .Steel is the only vessel to use in ice. Even pan cake ice will do damage.

[fatherchronica]

One of my heroes, Bill Tilman, sailed to high latitudes on many voyages at both ends of the planet in old wooden boats and only sank 3 of them. He eventually disappeared at sea in a steel boat. That is not why I write though. I remember seeing a few fiberglass boats strengthened for ice work by having stainless steel sheeting on the bows. Whether most damage to hulls is on the bows I do not know.

[boat driver]

done the high latitudes a couple times on a farr boat- fiberglass core.
been in ice, hit bergy bits (small volkswagon)
one asset positive of fiberglass- west system and glass can patch a hole with little fanfare. not pretty but strong. have done that twice. cant do that on a metal boat.

better to go north with a preparation to fix rather than anticipation to ram thru ice.

[rslifkin]

Originally Posted by fatherchronica

I remember seeing a few fiberglass boats strengthened for ice work by having stainless steel sheeting on the bows. Whether most damage to hulls is on the bows I do not know.

I had that thought as well. Worst case, just plate the waterline 12" tall or so all the way around, as that's where most of the abrasion will be. A glass hull can certainly be built strong enough provided you can protect it from abrasion.

I wonder whether you'd be able to achieve more puncture resistance for a given weight by building a thick glass hull and plating for abrasion resistance vs a thick steel hull?

[fivecapes]

36yr old plastic boat in Svalbard

[Ibetitsthisway]

Originally Posted by fivecapes

36yr old plastic boat in Svalbard

Everything done wrong!

Plastic AND kat!... both things wich are said do not work

Same for the post with the plating...

Well... of course you can protect the hull. And obviously - if you have the funds to cover a ... 60??ft? katamaran with solar panels you will have the means to protect it against ice.

I know of fiberglass boats traveling ice with carbon protection. But I am - still - more after the idea to buy a boat that could do this without major investments into hull security.

most peolpe only think in terms of "loosing life". But even if your failure is not that extreme - losing the boat - or maybe even only have the boat beeing anhabitable - means loosing the dream - loosing the chance of your life.

"Fly back, buy new, start again" is not always possible.

[HankOnthewater]

Here are some links to NW passages:
https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.word...hwest-passage/
https://www.spri.cam.ac.uk/resources...estpassage.pdf
Just add your name! Eh, that is after you done the trip.

In regards to GRP/fibreglass. I met a Frenchman Luc Dupont who did that passage, in his 34 ft Jenneau Sun Odyssea (I think 35 ft). I have been on his boat, stock standard. But it has sort of a pilot house It is possible, but not sure if it is advisable.

[mikereed100]

I think the choice of hull material (and number of hulls) depends on what you mean by "ice". We have done quite a bit of poking around glaciers in our epoxy/honeycomb cored cat. The bows are heavily reinforced with carbon fiber and we have a false bottom, but we have never tested either. We were once struck by a bergy bit the size of a VW while anchored up a river but there was no damage. We are cautious when near ice, move slowly and are careful not to get into situations where wind or current can trap us in ice. We do not approach icy waters if there is wind blowing as, with any kind of chop, you will no longer be able to see growlers. Restricting yourself to these conditions you can easily navigate in icy waters, as countless plastic boats do.

However, if by "ice" you mean the NW passage or Antarctica, I think you are better off sticking with metal. If this sort of thing will represent only 1% of your sailing, as you have mentioned, you may be better off choosing a boat that will be appropriate for the other 99% of your sailing and crewing on other boats for that ice rush.

If you are determined to sail in ice on your own boat, you may want to start looking at smaller steel boats. No need to go up to 50' when a 35' boat will do.

[Ibetitsthisway]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=m7nUlAddzcU&t=1547s

Watch at 16:55. German spoken But the images dont need words spoken.
550m freeclimbing. No security. That is also doable. But Not advisable..
I prefer Backups for my survival.

[Ibetitsthisway]

found something interesting:


a russion rebirth of the fisher 37 - in aluminium!
alhtough it looks like a 34 with bowsprit(!).

fisher 37 has more windows than 34.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pO4Wf8KrKtA

seams there was only one boat build.


There are several Bruce roberts 53 models available. I bett they will sell cheap in the end. Are there reasons for NOT buying a BR 53 - or any design if theyhave a proven long distance track (circumvention)?

[hpeer]

They built a few 44’ steel fishers. Actually a pretty HUGE 44’ boat. We damn near bought one.

[Ibetitsthisway]

you mean 46?
I have heard of 3 of the 15 build. seems impossible to get one ...


or are there "copies" I dont know of?

[hpeer]

Yes, probably a 46. Beans for brains anymore. We were told we were looking at hull#1. It had a very small pilot house, not like you see on the picture above. Huge tankage: 300 gal fuel, 309 gal water, 300 gal never used. Some big ole English engine, highly reliable, Lister? No bowsprit although it was added to later ones. Huge interior, like a smoking club, recently redone valley with new pull out freezer and frig.

We talked about it for a few months, then argued about it all weekend, called Monday with an offer. They had already accepted an offer the previous Friday evening.

That was about 10!years ago and I think they wanted $139k US.

[El Pinguino]

Not sure about those big windows... not a problem in ice but possibly a problem getting to or from the ice.

If the bridge windows could be stove in on the München they can be stove in on anything.......