Any ferro boat builders out there?

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daveyjones

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I would like to get in touch with anyone currently building a ferro boat in the UK, so if you are doing that, or if you know or have heard of anyone, please let me know. I am about to start my own build and I would like to ask them a few questions!
 
I currently have a ferro hartley in meed of extensive repair which I will start after I finish build my new steel yacht.

Having looked into the old build methods of ferro and the recommended repair methods but the "so called experts" I think a lot of the new technology used in the reinforced concrete industry could be used to make ferro last longer, particular in the protection of the steel armature from corrosion and the use of WEST epoxy to seal the cement to reduce water getting to the armature
 
This one was built from scratch and launched at Prinsted, Chichester 3 years ago. It's still there and still not quite finished. Its been about 20 years since it was started!

 
I have no regrets about building a ferro boat, but it really does not make a lot of sense. When you have finished it, ( should I be brutal, and say if you finish it ) it will be worth about the same as the cost of the materials you used.
They have a low market value, due to the fact that a badly built one is clearly identifiable as ferro, where a good one is assumed to be grp/wood /steel . Also, insurers do not like them.
I like talking to rebels, so if you persevere, I will give you all the help I can, on the understanding that free advice is worth exactly what you pay for it.
But remember the family motto.
If you want to go for a drive in the country, you don´t start by building a Ford Mondeo.
 
Hi David

Not building one, but repairing a delapidated - but fully serviceable - Hartley 39 RORC. I have to agree with Jeannes post above, they are low value boats ( bought mine for £3.5k and a fully restored version is on the market for just £25k) but don't be put off. You can build your ideal boat for a very low cost.

Also, rather like bikers, they get harder as they get older.

My hull has been around since 1971, and has a wooden superstructure. The boat is cool in summer and warm in winter, and has bags of room down below. The motion is strangely quiet, and reasssuringly heavy - you feel safe on her.

Insurance is difficult, but not impossible - Pantanieus offer third party only, but I have heard of another company that may be able to offer more.

I'm currently burning off the alkyd-rubber paint that was used on the underwater hull. Then I'm angle grinding the last traces of primer back until I get back to bare concrete. After that, it's a case of building up layers of epoxy, followed by some experimental copper antifouling.

One thing I have found is that two parts of the hull exploded as the blowtorch went over them. They had large airpockets from rather hasty plastering. The inner layer is fine, and the beauty of ferro is that you - literally - cement in the gaps! (Sand mixed with epoxy works a treat.)

Cartoonist Mike Peyton wrote a piece in PBO recently about owning a string of ferro boats, two of which he used for charter. He commented that a lot of professional seamen have them.

As I am always researching the subject, I'll be happy to help in anyway I can. Also, we'll have a look at ferro in PBO soon anyway. It's the best way to get a formidable blue-water yacht for a very modest outlay.

Good luck with the build!
 
Thanks all for your replies- I /we have been here before, so as usual I ignore the anti-ferro remarks! As I am about to start building, I thought it would be useful to contact other builders, if there are any. I know of one in Kent, but otherwise nothing. I am afraid ferro building will die out in the UK, largely because of the insurance problem. All people I have contacted who have actually built or sailed ferro boats think they are great, and that is good enough for me. I am not interested in build cost or resale value, if I wanted to save money I would not go sailing in the first place.
If I am a rebel, so be it - I don't see it that way. Ferro seems a practical and reliable technique, if properly done. Anyway I'll be in a better position to judge when I've built and sailed the darn thing!

By the way, Panteanius told me a few years ago that they don't even do third party insurance on ferro(which is all I want anyway), but I'll check them again.
 
There were some great 'Ferro' sites posted on YBW some time ago, thought I'd saved them, but can't find now.

If anyone can has them, would appreciate details.
 
[ QUOTE ]
One thing I have found is that two parts of the hull exploded as the blowtorch went over them.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is due to the difference in expansion of the cement between the heated and unheated area and not to voids in the structure. I had this when I started to remove paint from my hartley.

I then used a head gun as below

imgp0063.jpg


this is the end result


imgp0079.jpg


And these are some of the areas I found that had no or very little sign of problems before I removed the paint and investigated

[image]www.clearlink.co.za/roger2/imgp0074.jpg[/image]

imgp0604.jpg


imgp0613.jpg


imgp0616.jpg


imgp0626.jpg


Quite a number of ferro yachts were built in South Africa during the 1970's and 80's and a lot are still around but in need of repair and I have investigated this and found lack of anodes or incorrectly fitted anodes have caused problems but also the lack of understanding of reinforced concrete also a problem.

I lived in Birmingham during the 1970's when the city was rebuilt using also of reinforced concrete and the problems with the incorrect protection of the reinforcing bars.

I have looked at this and found this product.

Haven't used it yet but have written to then with the problem and visited the local supplier (technical people not just sales) and is a possible long term solution together with epoxy like the west system of penetrating epoxy and epoxy tar for below the water line.

Any comment and discussions would be welcome
 
While I am grateful for all of your replies, I can't help yawning at all the usual rubbish, on this thread we have 1) Ferro is not worth the cost of building, cos you can't sell it for peanuts, and 2) If you turn a blowlamp on it, it explodes, and 3) If you look at reinforced concrete buildings blah blah blah.

To which I reply: 1) I am not interested in either the build cost or the resale value-these are simply not part of my equation. If you are concerned about money, then waste your time on stock market websites. I want a sturdy boat that will take me any where; I want to build her myself so i know it's done right. End of story.
2)Not planning to blowlamp the hull - didn't do that that on my wooden boats, and although I can't imagine ever owning a plastic one, I couldn't envisage burning that either, so what is your point?
3) Anyone comparing ferro (buildings or boats) to reinforced concrete, can safely be ignored, since they demonstrate a profound ignorance of both techniques.

My original question was , do you know of anyone actaully building a ferro boat? Since I did not receive a reply to that question , I assume the answer is no. Thanks and goodnight.
 
PS. The previous poster neglected to mention that, if you do find holes in the hull (whether self-created or not), they are easily repaired with a bag of sand and cement. You can even do this on a beach between tides, unlike steel , GRP , wood, aluminium, steel ,paper, cardboard, etc, etc,.
 
[ QUOTE ]
do you know of anyone actaully building a ferro boat? Since I did not receive a reply to that question , I assume the answer is no.

[/ QUOTE ] Didn't bother to read my reply then!
 
I did read your reply, but you mention a boat which was launched three years ago. I assume the remaining work is therefore simply the fitting out. This is pretty much the same on boats of all materials, so I was hoping to get in touch with someone at an early stage of building the hull, ideally before plastering. However, thank you for taking the time to reply.
 
Sorry then it is, as you say, in the final stages of fitting out. The guy did build it all it all himself though starting from a bare patch of ground, a load of steel bar and rolls off mesh.
 
Anyone know what design a ferro cement 29' called Dawnbreaker is? She was sold by owners from Liverpool when lying in Woodbridge, Suffolk back in 1990, then stayed in the River Deben until now when I bought her. She looks like a Tradewind 35 but is twenty nine feet with nine feet beam, nice and roomy inside but extremely basic with no equipment apart from the mast and sails and a stove, which having said all that is really all a girl wants.
I'd like to find anything out about her I can.
 
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