Any Ferro-Cement Love Stories Out There?

[CodStewart]

We are starting to seriously consider going the ferro-way with our first boat. However, horror stories abound. Any nice yarns out there? They can't all be bad.

 

[graham]

They are certainly not all bad.A well built ferro boat has a lot of advantages ie doesnt rot or rust or suffer osmosis,can be simply repaired if damaged and you get a lot of boat for your money.

Down side is that its almost impossible for a surveyor to tell if an amateur boat has been built correctly as all the steel work is hidden.This leads some insurance companies to not want them.

The biggest problem is resale. Nice looking well equiped ferro boats can be bought cheaply because they are not popular and therefore difficult to sell.

If you can buy a proffesionally built one cheaply enough that it doesnt owe you much.Then the resale is not such an issue but it may take a long time to find someone to buy it.

 

[paulrossall]

There are plenty of ferro boats gone round the world. Interesting sites are

www.ferroboats.com
above site can take some time to open up.
www.hartley-boats.com

On the last on click on
sail boats....then
Fijian 37
Leads to a site recounting the reconstruction and passages of the boat "Ramprasad"

There are a good number of ferro boats in good condition equiped to travel far.
Good luck. Paul

 

[daveyjones]

Graham is right in his remarks about ferro boats, but he makes the usual comment about ferro boats being hard to sell and not fetching high prices, without stating the corollary, which is that they don't cost as much in the first place, so where is the loss?
I would strongly recommend that you read the excellent books by Colin Brookes, available via the Hartley and Brookes' website. You will see from these that ferro is a strong material and well suited to yacht construction, as well as being easy to repair. I have just begun building a 40 ft yacht in ferro after researching the technique for some years, and in my opinion it is as near as you can get to an ideal material, provided the hull is built correctly. If you read up on it first (even if you are not actually building), you will be in a good position to identify which boats are at least worth a professional survey.
Whenever you mention ferro, you will inevitably be bombarded by second-hand information from people who know nothing about the subject , and will only have negative things to say. Ignore these people. All the ferro owners and builders I have spoken to have only good things to say about it. Your first question to bar-room pundits should always be "how many ferro boats have you built then?". They usually shut up at that point. Do not judge the material by the many bad amateur - built efforts, often dating from the 70's. A properly designed and built hull will certainly outlive you!

 

[Sybarite]

Good for smuggling diamonds see Derf's post.

John

 

[Sybarite]

Great material if you get it right and that's apparently a big "if" judging by the abandonned hulls dotted around the country.

Personnally I would try a good second hand boat at probably the same overall price. You get sailing more quickly. And, a hull and deck probably represent less than half of the total cost of the finished boat anyway.

Or, if you still want to build, what about steel?

John

 

[dickh]

The secret appears to get a professionally built hull, with documents to match, and they are certainly cheap to buy. I was very tempted about three years ago with a professionally built Hartley design which when I first saw it(without seeing the particulars) I assumed to be GRP as the hull was nigh on perfect. But as I thought about it, it got snapped up. Do check out the insurance angle though, as had been said it can be difficult to insure it. You do seem to get a lot of boat for your money.

 

[alisdairs]

As an aside - during the Oct 87 hurricane I was working at a sailing school in Emsworth, Chichester Harbour and being at the North end of the harbour, Emsworth became a veritable 'graveyard' of yachts washed up on the shoreline. Most were completely trashed apart from a ferro yacht that had been moored South of Emsworth on the trots and washed up on the beach looking none the worse for wear.

 

[Stemar]

If you do buy a second hand ferro boat, anything that's been in sea water for 10years or more without any problems is going to be OK. If the hull has rust stains without any obvious cause inside or out, or isn't fair, walk away. Problems come when oxygen and salt water get to the steel reinforcing. As this rusts, it expands, forcing the cement off. The cement is what keeps the water out...

They aren't all heavyweight, sluggish motorsailers. A well built example can be quick. A mate just bought a ferro RORC and she sailed a treat bringing her home, holding 5kts on a run with barely enough wind to fill the sails.

 

[daveyjones]

There are definitely insurance problems. I was told by one of the people at Yachtmaster Insurance that , if I don't have my build surveyed and certified, I would stand no chance. This applies to a second-hand yacht; a survey is a necessity, and it should be done by a surveyor who is knowledgeable on ferro.

 

[paulrossall]

You can get third party insurance with no survey. I was told Haven Knox Johnson (not sure I have the name right) do fully comp.

 

[CodStewart]

Thank you so much for all the comments. What would we do without you all!
We'll keep you posted.
Thanks again.