Ecological boatbuilding

[Wansworth]

On YouTube a couple are having a new aluminium boat built and they commented how the saved aluminium it’s could be remade ito useful aluminium .I think that starting building a new boat from aluminium probably not the most ecological if they really worried.On the forumTranona is refitting an old plywood boat and Concertohasrestored a grp yacht both which seem more eco.A wooden boat built fro new with flax sails and hem ropes would seem to be quite eco all materials being regenatible.Tally Ho another example of eco boatbuilding.

 

[KevinV]

Aluminium is dead easy to recycle, grp almost impossible, and wood only has any lifespan when regularly treated with a variety of chemicals - I think they have a point.

 

[LittleSister]

 

[LittleSister]

 

[LittleSister]

How about a hull formed of ice, kept below freezing by a solar-powered heat pump?

 

[Blueboatman]

Yup ally is ok
If say you’re in Scandinavia with lots of hydro leccy…

The amount of energy needed to make aluminium is 211 GJ per tonne, compared with 22.7 GJ per tonne for steel.

I still agree it’s better than grp and timber
( and steel)
And then … there’s proven, solid tradition of course.

 

[LittleSister]

. . . wood only has any lifespan when regularly treated with a variety of chemicals

This one's managed about about 10,000 years without such treatment!

Pesse canoe - Wikipedia

 

[Blueboatman]

This one's managed about about 10,000 years without such treatment!

Pesse canoe - Wikipedia

View attachment 138921

Do they do one with a roof please

 

[LittleSister]

Do they do one with a roof please

I direct your attention to post #4.

That one is guaranteed to last 10,000 years, provided you replace the reeds (Trigger's broom style) in accordance with the manufacturer's recommended service intervals. ?

p.s. It also comes with a free ongoing supply of ecologically sound compost, and the hull and topsides construction provides a home for any number of bugs, creepy-crawlies, birds and rodents, hence contributing to biodiversity!

 

[Blueboatman]

I direct your attention to post #4.

That one is guaranteed to last 10,000 years, provided you replace the reeds (Trigger's broom style) in accordance with the manufacturer's recommended service intervals. ?

p.s. It also comes with a free ongoing supply of ecologically sound compost, and the hull and topsides construction provides a home for any number of bugs, creepy-crawlies, birds and rodents, hence contributing to biodiversity!

Ah yes
A sort of sailing farmyard of nibbles

Well I was just reading ( reeding ??) about Theseus and his ship . Clearly inspired by Trigger I now see!

 

[penfold]

How about a hull formed of ice, kept below freezing by a solar-powered heat pump?

Someone beat you to it.

 

[KevinV]

This one's managed about about 10,000 years without such treatment!

Pesse canoe - Wikipedia

View attachment 138921

Fair enough, though I'm not entirely convinced how practical it is to bury one's yacht in a peat bog between uses?

 

[Wansworth]

I still think a wooden boat is a better way to go than digging out bauxite and all it entails to produce Aluminium sheet.

 

[Wansworth]

Probably Concertowithhis refurbished grp hull is a good starter for ten?

 

[johnalison]

I still think a wooden boat is a better way to go than digging out bauxite and all it entails to produce Aluminium sheet.

I think that I have read that this is one of the more energy-consuming industrial processes. If aluminium is used for a boat, then even if it has been recycled, the pool of aluminium will be depleted and more mined. However, I doubt if Al yachts are contributing much to the world’s problems in the grand scheme of things.

 

[Fr J Hackett]

Bauxite is a very common mineral and even though today its principal producers are China and Russia there are billions of tonnes elsewhere. The problem is though it is highly energy intensive to extract the aluminium from it and costly to even recycle it. It is also costly to manufacture things out of it requiring specialist casting and moulding plant. It's only because there is so much of it that it is relatively cheap.
Napoleon 3rd had a very expensive set of aluminium cutlery for his wife and special guests as it was so expensive to manufacture but since the advent of hydro electricity it has become cheaper to refine and manufacture.

 

[Minerva]

Alloy boats you say?

How many tins of coke do I need to drink to have enough aluminium to recycle and make a new 40ft Ovni-alike boat. And if I go about this, how many teeth will I have left and will T2 diabetes be avoidable?

 

[Blueboatman]

Alloy boats you say?

How many tins of coke do I need to drink to have enough aluminium to recycle and make a new 40ft Ovni-alike boat. And if I go about this, how many teeth will I have left and will T2 diabetes be avoidable?

I like your thinking.
I believe that a full 6 pack floats -just..

So, a raft of beer cans sponsored by Your Favorite Beer, served @ sea temperature on an ocean crossing , getting lighter emptier and faster as you go along..

Is this the future ? ?

 

[Tranona]

Bauxite is a very common mineral and even though today its principal producers are China and Russia there are billions of tonnes elsewhere. The problem is though it is highly energy intensive to extract the aluminium from it and costly to even recycle it. It is also costly to manufacture things out of it requiring specialist casting and moulding plant. It's only because there is so much of it that it is relatively cheap.
Napoleon 3rd had a very expensive set of aluminium cutlery for his wife and special guests as it was so expensive to manufacture but since the advent of hydro electricity it has become cheaper to refine and manufacture.

In the 90s I had some involvement in a project to cast aluminium wheels in the UAE where a new smelter was being built. The foundry was next door to the smelter meaning that the aluminium would be transferred in liquid form substantially reducing processing costs. The castings would then go to Germany in the containers that brought consumer goods in from Europe that would otherwise go back empty. Labour and particularly factory management costs were lower than in Europe so wins all round.

The Gulf is one of the worlds major aluminium processing areas with now 5 production plants 2 of which support significant down stream processes. Lots of space and good ports help with the handling of bulky bauxite and the export of finished products.