ferro cement good and bad points?

C

chough

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looking around my local area i spotted a 1978 ferro 40' motor liveaboard. Was a fishing vessel but present owner has been refitting it over 15 years as a liveaboard.
It still needs a bit of cosmetic tidying but looks decent. My question is what are the pro's and cons of ferro cement? This would be my first boat and though i'm a competent diyer i'm wondering if i might be taking on more than i can chew!!! Help!
 
Good Points /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Invariably cheap to buy
If well made they are very strong
Quiet inside.
Aficionados swear they are bee knees.
Cool in hot climates.

Bad Points /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif
Invariably very hard to sell, even very cheaply.
If ferro core corrodes it will fall apart.
Hard / expensive to insure.
Lousy reputation in boating circles.
Being heavy means the gear will be heavy = expensive.

If you're serious about getting a ferro boat you need to view it as a long term project. Most (I might be wrong) end up abandoned.
Do lots and lots of research re. designer, where built, when and by whom.
 
Gosh! Have a feeling that the bad outways the good! She was built in 1978 in wales ( no designer name)
Must admit i was wary as (a) a 40ft basic liveaboard for £19,000?? ( b) dont hear a lot about ferro boats. If they were so good why aren't there more around?
Thanks for your feedback. Think I'll be looking around for a while yet!
 
Cement (and concrete) is very strong in compression, but relatively weak in tension - this is why they use 'pre-stressed' concrete for building bridges et al - I understand that they pre-stress the concrete by stretching the steel reinforcements and then casting the concrete around them, then letting off the tension on the steel, effectively putting the concrete into compression.
It would be rather difficult to pre-stress the steel framework on a ferro-cement boat in this fashion, although if it was possible, it would considerably strengthen the hull.

I know of an exceptionally well built (in South Africa) 37' ferro-cement yacht that came ashore here in heavy seas some years ago. Although she came ashore on a soft sand beach, she sustained major damages to the hull, which was holed in many areas. They carted her away in a skip....... a very sad end to a once fine vessel.
Another yacht came ashore on the same beach in similar sea conditions a few years later - she was a 36' single chine plywood Robert Tucker design. The cantilevered (no supporting skeg) rudder stock broke, and there was one small hole in the hull (where she pounded on an isolated rock I think), but this was easily repaired, and she was re-launched soon after.

There are some very fine ferro boats around, but be very careful - they are notoriously difficult to survey, which is probably why so many surveyors refuse to go near them.
 
For that sort of money I would rather shop around for a comparable steel yacht-at least you can see the rusty steel and they are far more difficult to break and a lot easier to patch up.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Good Points /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Invariably cheap to buy
If well made they are very strong

[/ QUOTE ]
Herein lies the problem. Made well, they are very good. Mad bad, they are very bad.

[ QUOTE ]
Quiet inside.
Aficionados swear they are bee knees.
Cool in hot climates.

Bad Points /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif
Invariably very hard to sell, even very cheaply.

[/ QUOTE ]
They sell at roughly the same price as an equivalent traditionally-built wooden boat
[ QUOTE ]
If ferro core corrodes it will fall apart.

[/ QUOTE ]
The ferro core cannot corrode, unless the hull sustains major damage or is built very poorly.
[ QUOTE ]
Hard / expensive to insure.

[/ QUOTE ]
Yes. The insurance industry doesn't like 'different' vessels. Yachtmaster Insurance are very good with ferro.
[ QUOTE ]
Lousy reputation in boating circles.

[/ QUOTE ]
Due to being misunderstood.
[ QUOTE ]
Being heavy means the gear will be heavy = expensive.

[/ QUOTE ]
ROFL. The density of ferro-cement is much less than GRP.
But it needs to be thicker. You can compare the 'weight' of a ferro boat to an equivalent treaditional built (planking on frames) wooden boat.

[ QUOTE ]
If you're serious about getting a ferro boat you need to view it as a long term project.

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Because you won't want to part from it ;-)
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Most (I might be wrong) end up abandoned.

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Only the awful ones. The good ones are still out there sailing!
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Do lots and lots of research re. designer, where built, when and by whom.

[/ QUOTE ]
Very much agree. A well-designed and professionally built one will do you proud. A home-designed, or home-altered one is likely to be a disaster.

Most of the fishing hulls were built professionally, by teams that knew what they were doing.

If the boat that you are looking at is more than 10 years old, and if it has no obvious defects (ie it still floats, and is sound) then it is likely to last for many many years. Theory being that if the boat is poorly built then it will show up early on in it's life.
 
They sell at roughly the same price as an equivalent traditionally-built wooden boat

That is the one statement you made in your post which is totally wrong, unless of course the wooden boat is a basket case, a good condition traditionally built wooden boat will be considerably more expensive than any ferro boat of the same size. I think you need to check some current adverts.
 
[ QUOTE ]
They sell at roughly the same price as an equivalent traditionally-built wooden boat

That is the one statement you made in your post which is totally wrong, unless of course the wooden boat is a basket case, a good condition traditionally built wooden boat will be considerably more expensive than any ferro boat of the same size. I think you need to check some current adverts.

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Have a look down this list - http://www.woodrolfe.com/broklistsail.htm, or this list - http://www.boatshop24.com/web/en/suchen/...EARCH%A0%A0%A0.

You'll see for example, wooden boats c.30' @ around 30k. FC boats are also sold around 30' @ 30k.

What you have been seeing must clearly be some basket-case ferro boats, which of course would be a similar price to basket case wooden boats.
 
What condition are the wooden boats in?? From what I was told, they need a "fair amount of work and updating".

Now dont get me wrong, I quite like the idea of ferro and have seen some very well put together ferro boats, endurance for one, I even considered a 42' one once, however they will never hold there own/price against a good wooden boat.
 
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they will never hold there own/price against a good wooden boat.

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As mentioned previously, the end weight of a ferro is similar to a traditional built wooden boat. So it is fair to compare a Wooden Smack to a Ferro Smack, or a Wooden Pilot Cutter to a Ferro Pilot Cutter. It would not be sensible to compare a wooden racing yacht with a ferro boat built along the same lines - clearly the weight of a ferro boat would be heavier than a lightweight wooden yacht. Thus a ferro boat will hold their own against an equivalent wooden boat.

Regarding price, they hold and appreciate in value in line with inflation. If building from scratch, then they are quite expensive - many man hours go into producing one. But once that has been written down over a few years then they are a safe buy.
 
i think that Ferro is a wonderfull boatbuilding material for cruising yachts .It doesnt rot rust or suffer from osmosis. Unfortunately they are regarded with great suspicion by the majority and therefore will be harder to sell than other materials.

Im not saying I agree with the logic behind this but it is a fact of life.

Advertised boat prices are meaningless ,its how long they take to sell and what someone finally pays for them that counts.
 
Hear, hear Graham!

I confess that I have a vested interest in this discussion as I built and still own a ferro cutter - now 22years old. Ours was surveyed throughout the build including plastering day and the cure. It is immensely annoying to me that, if and when we come to sell her, the value will be determined by the bad press that dogs all ferro boats, even the very good ones.

Some of the comments in this thread show the lack of understanding of ferro and are just showing the normal prejudice that abounds on the subject.

For this reason, for those with a small budget, ferro remains a cheap way to buy a strong cruising boat rather larger and more capable than in any other material. But, as with any other boat, do get a good survey.
 
I also have a ferro yacht designed by hartley.

It had suffered neglect before I got her and am now looking to repair the damaged steel armature.

I have also looked at the developments in reinforced concrete construction and the protection to the reinforcing steel and think some of these advances could be applied to ferro yacht maintainance and construction.
 
Poor poor ferrocement boats. It doesn't matter what forum I visit where the topic is fc, the replies are always the same and always include lame jokes about floating pavements.
After being in my first hurricane recently, albeit whilst moored, I can attest to having felt very little when below deck. And I attribute that to the strong nature of my boat.
For those of you looking for a long distance cruising pleasure vessel and who are on a budget, like what I is, I wouldn't consider any other medium.
 
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