Sanity check please. A boat has caught my eye…

[Minerva]

A pretty ordinary one, really. His father is Jerome Poncet. His mother is a biologist specialising in the birds of South Georgia, and I managed a project to create a geographic database of South Georgia (www.sggis.gov.gs) to which she contributed her expertise. I should make it clear that I have never been to South Georgia; my work was mainly office based.

No rescue needed - the Falklands are quite civilised!

Well that's a wormhole to delve into over lunch! Some folk really do have interesting careers!

 

[paulbrown22]

GRP has a tensile strength range from 10 to 130 kpsi. Aluminium from 13 to 69kpsi

Aluminium is not much stronger than GRP but may have other properties if suitably exploited in a design, that make it a better choice of material.

The high volume of GRP boats and the length of time GRP has been used in yacht building, suggests that it is a preferred material compared to aluminium.

I'm no materials expert, but when you look at the significant frame structure of ribs and stringers in something like an Ovni, as well as the actual plates themselves, fully welded decks,etc, I think there is significantly more strength. Having seen a few Ovnis and other alu boats after collisions/accidents vs. GRP boats, I know which one I'd rather have a collision in!

It obviously depends what you want from your boat, but I suspect the wide use of GRP mainly comes down to cost, ease of construction and other factors - much easier to get a nice shape out of GRP and keep repeating with the same mould.

 

[Blueboatman]

...and at end of life it's a valuable asset as scrap rather than an expensive liability.

I do not own a TIG welder ( though I sure would like to)

I’m sure ally is less frustrating than owning a steel vessel ultimately when keeping on top of corrosion afloat or contemplating modification and repair or strengthening.
Love all those unpainted Ultimate Latitude Sailing Adventure ally yachts..

 

[Mark-1]

I do not own a TIG welder ( though I sure would like to)

I've got a junior hack saw you can borrow. Just replace the blade before you bring it back.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

I do not own a TIG welder ( though I sure would like to)

I’m sure ally is less frustrating than owning a steel vessel ultimately when keeping on top of corrosion afloat or contemplating modification and repair or strengthening.
Love all those unpainted Ultimate Latitude Sailing Adventure ally yachts..

Yes, but!

If circumstances arise where aluminium is in an electrochemical circuit, it can dissolve very rapidly; it is much less noble than almost all other metals in regular use. The classic situation is a copper coin in the bilge causing a hole. Mercury (as in old fashioned thermometers and barometers) can rot aluminium VERY fast; so much so that mercury is banned from passenger aircraft.

Under normal circumstances aluminium is very durable, because a hard, impervious coat of oxide (corundum) forms almost instantaneously on exposure to air. But there are circumstances that can cause it to rot almost overnight. Care must be taken to avoid electrochemical circuits being created, as aluminium will dissolve preferentially to most things; magnesium is the only common metal that will dissolve preferentially.

 

[paulbrown22]

Yes, but!

If circumstances arise where aluminium is in an electrochemical circuit, it can dissolve very rapidly; it is much less noble than almost all other metals in regular use. The classic situation is a copper coin in the bilge causing a hole. Mercury (as in old fashioned thermometers and barometers) can rot aluminium VERY fast; so much so that mercury is banned from passenger aircraft.

Under normal circumstances aluminium is very durable, because a hard, impervious coat of oxide (corundum) forms almost instantaneously on exposure to air. But there are circumstances that can cause it to rot almost overnight. Care must be taken to avoid electrochemical circuits being created, as aluminium will dissolve preferentially to most things; magnesium is the only common metal that will dissolve preferentially.

For some of those reasons I wouldn't touch a random home build alu boat, but thankfully most modern production alu boat yards understand the materials they are working with and use the correct grade metals, welding atmosphere, bilge coatings, electrical installations, leakage meters, etc., so the above aren't problems. But you do have to check - a company replacing some of our electronics a number of years ago didn't isolate things correctly which instantly showed on the leakage meter, and I had to highlight that to them and get them to install correctly for an alu boat.

 

[Kola]

Enjoyable tread.
Whenever there is talk of aluminum yachts, I often think of Susanne Huber's Koopmans39 beached on Réunion Island.
To get it sorted, she made a long ocean passage.

 

[Jodel]

I’m intrigued by location: Silvers Boat Yard, Gare Loch?

Looking on Marine Traffic her last known AIS position was in a field just to the NE of the A303/A34 junction. More helpfully it says the journey started in Oban.

 

[Wansworth]

Enjoyable tread.
Whenever there is talk of aluminum yachts, I often think of Susanne Huber's Koopmans39 beached on Réunion Island.
To get it sorted, she made a long ocean passage.

Why was it on the beach?

 

[ash2020]

Wow! I saw that boat when I lived there and kept my boat at Creran. Always lusted after her but could never afford. Go for it!

 

[paulbrown22]

Looking on Marine Traffic her last known AIS position was in a field just to the NE of the A303/A34 junction. More helpfully it says the journey started in Oban.

I think helpfully someone used the MMSI in their phone on an upload app. I'm 99.9999% sure Little Wing has never been on the A303!

 

[Rappey]

I Owned a 20 ft fast aluminium workboat/passenger ferry for 18 years . I loved the boat design, it was practical and went like a bat out of hell as it was a very light. Aluminium dingys and aluminium hulled ribs are desirable as they weight less than their grp counterparts but are very strong.
Bare aluminium seems very durable but if it wasnt coated to perfection when painted you could sp3nd every week touching up another patch of oxidisation.
Painting is quite difficult and a bad job can cause lots more oxidisation. When sanded the surface of aluminium oxidises immediately making it very hard to get a long lasting coating.
As mentioned earlier, it seems aluminium reaches a point where it becomes difficult to stop the oxidisation/corrosion process.
If one was buying brand new then aluminium would be a great choice for so many reasons but if they are looking rather tired it would have to be crazy cheap.
Grp is the safest bet..

 

[fredrussell]

I Owned a 20 ft fast aluminium workboat/passenger ferry for 18 years . I loved the boat design, it was practical and went like a bat out of hell as it was a very light. Aluminium dingys and aluminium hulled ribs are desirable as they weight less than their grp counterparts but are very strong.
Bare aluminium seems very durable but if it wasnt coated to perfection when painted you could sp3nd every week touching up another patch of oxidisation.
Painting is quite difficult and a bad job can cause lots more oxidisation. When sanded the surface of aluminium oxidises immediately making it very hard to get a long lasting coating.
As mentioned earlier, it seems aluminium reaches a point where it becomes difficult to stop the oxidisation/corrosion process.
If one was buying brand new then aluminium would be a great choice for so many reasons but if they are looking rather tired it would have to be crazy cheap.
Grp is the safest bet..

That was my feeling in the end Rappey. I’d rather be sailing than endlessly prepping and painting.

 

[Kola]

Why was it on the beach?

She reached Réunion at night, didn't go into the harbor, but anchored off in calm weather. While she was asleep, the wind shifted and a heavy swell came up. She dragged anchor and then caught a rope in her prop. It took 40 minutes to end up on the beach.

 

[Wansworth]

She reached Réunion at night, didn't go into the harbor, but anchored off in calm weather. While she was asleep, the wind shifted and a heavy swell came up. She dragged anchor and then caught a rope in her prop. It took 40 minutes to end up on the beach.

Did she get off without too much damage?….

 

[SeasickPete]

No pictures of the hull on the underside are a cause of concern. Aluminium boats are/can be big floating anodes so pay good attention to the bottom would be my advise.

I’ve always had a bit of a thing for Ovni boats. I like lifting keel boats - have a great love of sitting up a muddy east coast creek, and currently have a Parker 31, which I love. I also have an ancient dog and when he goes to the great kennel in the sky I would love to live on a boat, so looking for a bit more room. Lifting keel boats in the mid - 30ft and upwards bracket are not too common, mostly Southerlies or French aluminium types. These boats are generally out of reach for me financially, but…

There’s a ‘cheap’ Ovni 385 currently for sale on Apollo Duck. It’s a fixer-upper, or perhaps a project boat (the difference for me being that a fixer-upper can be put in the water and used whilst work commences, whereas a project boat ends up in a boatyard for months or years). Here’s a link to boat ad:

Alubat Ovni 385 for sale UK, Alubat boats for sale, Alubat used boat sales, Alubat Sailing Yachts For Sale Alubat Ovni 385 - 1999 - 12m 40ft - REDUCED - Apollo Duck

I’m only currently at stage one of boat madness, ie repeatedly looking at the ad and thinking “hmmm”. Your job is to help me avoid stage two which means going to look at the boat. Thankfully the boat is bloody miles away, if it were local I fear I’d be at stage two already.

What do you all reckon? Any experts on painting aluminium decks out there?
It’s been on the market a while and the price has been coming down and I suspect may be reduced more.

 

[Kola]

Did she get off without too much damage?….

Next morning, three police officers took her off the yacht. She had injured herself. She ran aground in the immediate vicinity of the harbor, where a huge caterpillar pulled the yacht away from the waves.
A few days later, a 220-ton crane set her down in the harbor basin. Some of the massive frames had been dented by more than 20 centimetres.

Besuch bei Susanne Huber-Curphey

 

[Wansworth]

Next morning, three police officers took her off the yacht. She had injured herself. She ran aground in the immediate vicinity of the harbor, where a huge caterpillar pulled the yacht away from the waves.
A few days later, a 220-ton crane set her down in the harbor basin. Some of the massive frames had been dented by more than 20 centimetres.

Besuch bei Susanne Huber-Curphey

Good solid craft then