Dutch in Med

[Gd300]

Good morning everyone, I’m a new member from Italy.


I’m writing because I’m planning (medium term) to build a 10‑metre steel displacement cruiser for Mediterranean use.


I know steel may not be the ideal material for the Mediterranean and I accept the consequences.


Building the boat myself is a wonderful process — I’ll follow it through carefully — but finding a good used boat and “getting underway immediately” is very tempting. I love the Dutch lines (Linssen, Barkas, Korvet, …) but I have a concern. Is their near absence in the Mediterranean merely a consequence of deck/layout preferences and the demand for faster boats for short holidays, or are there real technical reasons for their limited presence? Shallow keels, uncertain seakeeping, …?


Do you have any experience or observations on this?


Thanks.

 

[Seastoke]

Welcome GD ,if you look at the Dutton thread above it is a self build
I have put another for you to read,

 

[Gd300]

Super!
i'll start asap to read it with a lot of attention.

what about experience with the "dutch design" in med sea (with his variable condition...)?

 

[Sticky Fingers]

I’ve not owned a boat in the Med but have plenty of experience of boating there over the last 10 years, both sail and power. The key factors needed in any Med boat include

• keeping cool both inside overnight (insulation and aircon) and outside (shade)
• large outdoor living space with cockpit/ flybridge areas
• designed and equipped for stern-to mooring
• ability to carry, set and retrieve large amounts of anchor chain
• ability to deal with sudden changes in wind/weather (run for port and/or ride out safely)
• large battery capacity / generator.

IMHO a small steel Dutch style cruising boat is very unsuitable - scorching hot decks, hard/impossible to keep cool inside, poor sea keeping, slow, limited outdoor areas.

I’d never consider such a vessel for Med use for a moment. Northern Europe inland waterways is their natural home. They’re vanishingly rare in the Mediterranean for a reason.

 

[Alicatt]

I’ve not owned a boat in the Med but have plenty of experience of boating there over the last 10 years, both sail and power. The key factors needed in any Med boat include

• keeping cool both inside overnight (insulation and aircon) and outside (shade)
• large outdoor living space with cockpit/ flybridge areas
• designed and equipped for stern-to mooring
• ability to carry, set and retrieve large amounts of anchor chain
• ability to deal with sudden changes in wind/weather (run for port and/or ride out safely)
• large battery capacity / generator.

IMHO a small steel Dutch style cruising boat is very unsuitable - scorching hot decks, hard/impossible to keep cool inside, poor sea keeping, slow, limited outdoor areas.

I’d never consider such a vessel for Med use for a moment. Northern Europe inland waterways is their natural home. They’re vanishingly rare in the Mediterranean for a reason.

Was going to say pretty much this, most Dutch built boats of the 10m to 12m size are river/canal boats with small engines and seakeeping a very much secondary consideration and a lot are fairly flat bottomed too.

 

[Boathook]

Someone, John Peel ? posted here a few years ago about building a steel motor boat. Took years or so but the quality was fantastic. Think it was a Dutch design with the steel plate pre cut ?

Can't find the thread which is a nuisance.

Edit. Just found it Steel boat build - Almarine 1200fa

and just seen My Steel Boat Build - "Dufton" (Bruce Roberts Euro 1200 Aft Cab)

 

[Seastoke]

Someone, John Peel ? posted here a few years ago about building a steel motor boat. Took years or so but the quality was fantastic. Think it was a Dutch design with the steel plate pre cut ?

Can't find the thread which is a nuisance.

Edit. Just found it Steel boat build - Almarine 1200fa

and just seen My Steel Boat Build - "Dufton" (Bruce Roberts Euro 1200 Aft Cab)

Keep up at the back.

 

[piratos]

Reading the replies here is as expected. I can tell you there are plenty steel boats in the med - although mainly sailing boats or big motoryachts. Whatever is required for a boat in the med is the same whether steel or GFK. Obviously the boat should not be built for river use only, but from my experience 10 meter is way too small.

 

[dunedin]

As ever the real question is whether the OP actually wants to actually go boating in the Med or instead spend a decade or more ashore welding and building - and perhaps abandon part way due to health, financial or other reasons with an unsellable part built hull.

If you want to sail the Med buy an existing boat already there and go boating immediately.
If building is your thing and not interested in actual boating, start building .

 

[Sticky Fingers]

... I can tell you there are plenty steel boats in the med - although mainly sailing boats or big motoryachts. Whatever is required for a boat in the med is the same whether steel or GFK. Obviously the boat should not be built for river use only, but from my experience 10 meter is way too small.

Agree with this. The OP specifically said a 10m Dutch style displacement cruiser.

 

[Alicatt]

Agree with this. The OP specifically said a 10m Dutch style displacement cruiser.

There are a lot of Dutch style displacement cruisers that the bottom of the hull is about as flat as a sole of your shoe, even the sailing barges are shallow draught with side boards like the Tjalk and Skûtsje