Ever considered a steel boat?

ChromeDome

ChromeDome

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For those who thought about buying a steel boat, with some age, reasonably priced, to give a fix-up and make great, this Youtube channel has a series of videos to give an idea about the work involved.

Search for 'My first boat"
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUsYuHgNS1aNglyj8-sInSw

Currently some 20 videos, with time laps. Dutch, speaking English.

First episode
 
Older steel boat hulls need very careful inspection before purchase far more than their plastic brethren .
Steel tends to be bargain priced for very good reasons.
They rust from the inside out and the corrosion resembles an iceberg .Most of it hidden below the surface.
 
oldgit said:
Older steel boat hulls need very careful inspection before purchase far more than their plastic brethren .
Steel tends to be bargain priced for very good reasons.
They rust from the inside out and the corrosion resembles an iceberg .Most of it hidden below the surface.
Click to expand...

So would I be correct in saying your ideal replacement wouldn't be a steel boat driven by outdrives :giggle:
 
She has an 'interesting' layout, with the galley up in the bow and what appeared to originally be almost 2 cabins (or a double and 2 single berths rather) aft of the wheelhouse.
I have not looked at any of the follow up videos yet, but in that first video the steel work does not look too bad really - do you know if they had it surveyed before they bought it?
I have booked marked this channel, to try and catch up on the other videos in due course (trouble is, I have a long list of essential viewing now, covering both steel, fibreglass and wood, including Leo's Tally Ho.......).:)
 
Bajansailor said:
She has an 'interesting' layout, with the galley up in the bow and what appeared to originally be almost 2 cabins (or a double and 2 single berths rather) aft of the wheelhouse.
I have not looked at any of the follow up videos yet, but in that first video the steel work does not look too bad really - do you know if they had it surveyed before they bought it?
I have booked marked this channel, to try and catch up on the other videos in due course (trouble is, I have a long list of essential viewing now, covering both steel, fibreglass and wood, including Leo's Tally Ho.......).:)
Click to expand...

the rust under the ballast in the bildge is interesting, treating it looks ok superficially, but i would want to know the residual thickness after the lumps are removed

he also has a welded in seacock that requires sealing off, remove it and weld in a new patch, or ?
 
I think steel boats are okay on freshwater but I wouldn’t have one at sea. My dad has a 40ft Dutch steel cruiser built in 1996. It’s very well built but it steel needs regular maintenance and touch ups. I’m waiting for the weather to warm up so I can spend a day in the bilge grinding, scraping and treating with Vactan.
I’ve seen a lot of the older boats having very bad blooms of rust and some require replating.
 
sharpness said:
So would I be correct in saying your ideal replacement wouldn't be a steel boat driven by outdrives :giggle:
Click to expand...

I need to think v.carefully about that particular nightmare :)
Still, while ashore replacing all the rubber bits on the outdrives and the sheer excitement of undoing that little stainless drain plug to discover if the gearbox is full of that funny foamy white expensive synthetic oil, yet again , time could be spent calculating just how much of the boat needs to be cut out in order to find something solid to weld to.
Could it be worse /. Yes it could be a steel "tent boat" with outdrives.
 
Bajansailor said:
She has an 'interesting' layout, with the galley up in the bow and what appeared to originally be almost 2 cabins (or a double and 2 single berths rather) aft of the wheelhouse.
I have not looked at any of the follow up videos yet, but in that first video the steel work does not look too bad really - do you know if they had it surveyed before they bought it?
I have booked marked this channel, to try and catch up on the other videos in due course (trouble is, I have a long list of essential viewing now, covering both steel, fibreglass and wood, including Leo's Tally Ho.......).:)
Click to expand...
Like wise?
 
When pottering around on the Dutch waterways you regularly notice big lifts with companies that offer 'maintenance'.

In goes vessels in need, out comes the impressive result of professional work!

These guys have the experience, knowledge, culture and facilities to give boats (steel or GRP) some quite refreshing treatments.

No connection, just sharing the video: (Skip to 1:50 if not interested in the Dutch explanation)
 
Bajansailor said:
She has an 'interesting' layout, with the galley up in the bow and what appeared to originally be almost 2 cabins (or a double and 2 single berths rather) aft of the wheelhouse.
I have not looked at any of the follow up videos yet, but in that first video the steel work does not look too bad really - do you know if they had it surveyed before they bought it?
I have booked marked this channel, to try and catch up on the other videos in due course (trouble is, I have a long list of essential viewing now, covering both steel, fibreglass and wood, including Leo's Tally Ho.......).:)
Click to expand...
I think it has very nice exterior lines but the layout is appalling
 
We have a cheap and simple steel - Corten steel - Hartley 32 in Wellington, NZ.

I t cost $8500 NZ Dollars. About £ 4250.00.

Fully equiped, liferaft, epirb, inflatable, outboard, spare sails. Inboard diesel, Buhk DV20 in good working order, two new batteries.

It gives us a lot of fun when we are there, and we are introducing the Grandchildren to sailing with it.

Despite the previous owner neglecting it, we knocked it into shape over three seasons.

2019/20 we got it as good as it has ever been cosmetically. Still looks good now, almost a year later, floating in Evans Bay Marina.

As much as we like it for what it is, a cheap and simple sail boat, the amount of work required to keep it looking good and corrosion free is just too much for us.

AFAIK, the most likely cause of severe corrosion with steel boats is from within. Failure of the protective coatings internaly, plus galvanic corrosion.

I have had to deal with both those issues.
 
Indeed the biggest risks are those not visible which by the way goes for cars and many other things as well.

I guy in our marina once bought a 37 ton steel boat, made on same hull as a costguard vessel. Self made by a guy who built such boats at the Kockums Shipyard it was launched and in the water while being finished (years). When my friend bought it, it looked fine but deals was pending a survey below waterline.The people at the yard refused to touch or put it back in until the whole hull had been reinforced with new plates. They measured the thickness in several places to be less than 1½ mm!

The deal then was cancelled, but the seller had to pay for the restoration to at all have put back into the water and remove it.
 
We owned a Dutch steel boat similar to the one in the video (37ft de Groot) We lived on it for some of the time we owned it. I wouldn't have another - they rot from the inside out, and getting access to various parts of the bilge to treat or repair it can be challenging. In the end we sold it to a guy from Ireland who had it transported over there. I like to think it's still afloat, but this was 22 years ago, so it's possible the tin worm had its dinner.
 
There is a huge range in quality in steel boats, from home built to low quality dutch steel and on to high quality manufacturers. Added variables of age and maintenance level - I wouldn't ever be keen. I have seen some extreme rotters, usually 70's built or earlier Dutch steels and I wouldn't advise going there for any money, they are usually scrap. A good friend of mine has spent two years having their 70s/80's boat rebuilt and replated and they just keep on unearthing more rot, he wishes he had just scrapped it. The rot was worst in a sealed compartment under the bathing platform but was more extensive when they started cutting plates off. I viewed a 'bargin' late 90's Linssen with a friend thinking it would be okay as a quality brand, we didn't need a surveyor for that one, she was rotting from the bilge out. Shame as it was nice otherwise. Would think differently if a boat had been manitained all its life in Holland but I don't think other contries are set up to maintain these boats and if buying secondhand you have to ask the question why are they selling it.
 
I stress enough about the mechanical side of things on an older boat. I wouldn't dream of adding potential and catastrophic hull failure to the equation. Just my opinion.

D
 
Hairdressers. Nail Bars, Wedding Shops. Undertakers, will always be with us and now folks ......................... flogging Osmosis treatment.

Although forests of paper, hours of irrecoverable internet time is spent lamenting the myriad failings of of glassfibre , the fact is the blimming stuff is virtually indestructable.
Despite everything we and time do to it.
Wood starts to rot the moment the tree is felled. You can only slow it down a bit.
Steel starts to rust when it leaves the mill. "
Concrete.
Choice between boats or boating ?
 
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