The pros and cons of ferrocement boats.

[Rum Run]

In the early 1990s, I bought the 72' ferrocement schooner "Rich Harvest". (She may be seen on the Wikipedia page on ferrocement: Ferrocement - Wikipedia ). She was professionally yard-built by Derek Williams, and has a particularly fair hull that could be mistaken for a moulded GRP yacht. She became the flagship for Brighton Marina and has safely crossed the Atlantic to the Caribbean and back. At first, I was able to insure her comprehensively, but after ten years or so it became impossible to get even the third-party cover that marinas and ports require. I despair of Yacht Insurers; they are mealy-mouthed and do not properly assess the actual risk, but rely on prejudice. Even round-the-world yachtsman Robin Knox-Johnson was negative about the material. The situation now is that insurance is virtually unobtainable for ferro.

Have you tried Basic Boat Insurance? They specialise in third party only.

 

[Minerva]

On the flip side - empty the fuel tanks, remove the engine and you’ll be able to make a new reef in no time at all - presuming the phrase “sink like a stone” is to be believed. Just open the seacocks and you can recreate your own personal version of “titanic”. Clutching onto floating doors optional.