Would you live on a ferrocement boat?

There was recent topic on SB about boats to avoid.
I held off on commenting on "stone" boats.
I read once that boats have good points and bad points except ferro boats which only have bad points.
I sailed a 32 foot ferro double ender for almost 4 years through many parts of SE Asia.
She was designed for the North Sea and HEAVY!!! So not the best boat for the job at hand, BUT
Everyone who came aboard commented on how cool (temperature wise ) she was.
So I can say ferro boats have at least one good point: they are cooler than anything else in the tropics.
Well, if you have an air conditioner that's different.
We didn't frequently encounter lasting storms, but she shook everything off.


Last I heard, she was still afloat in Lankawi, 50 years on

Gary

No, l would not, but l would not live on any other boat no matter how luxurious or large it was. Period.

I almost bought a 32 feet long ferro cement boat few years ago. I was lucky, some other chap picked it up 5 seconds before me. Literally.

I think with hindsight - I did not know enough about ferro boats at the time - l was lucky not to buy it and l ended up with an Adams 28, which was a beauty. Neptune was on my side that day.

There is nothing wrong with a ferro yacht as long as one does not rush somewhere. They are rather slow in low wind but if have to live through a hurricane, l would like to be on a ferro boat as they are like a T34 or Sherman tanks of the sea. Heavy lumps but solid as a rock of Gibraltar.

The bad ones have sunk years ago , if one lasted this long it is probably pretty solid as long as there was not in an accident recently. It is very hard to find a surveyor who knows what to look at on a ferro boat.

Repairs in an emergency, except fothering the hull, is almost impossible and if the mesh matrix starts rusting it's over. If cracks in the hull let salty water to the metal mesh and it corrodes it breaks up at an alarming speed.

I rather own a timber yacht.
(no, rather not...)

Straight answer yes, as Sirgall points out none have been built for a while so those afloat will be for afloat for some time to come. Generally they have a glass epoxy skin or glass polyester.
As for weight I think it depends on the skill of the plasterer, I've been told by a cement renderer who had built several yachts and a 50' trawler, that anymore than 1/4" of render past the wire/rio only adds weight
One exceptionally notable ferro job done exceedingly well in the Sydney to Hobart.

Absolutely. They make good live aboards. RORC 39's sail well too. Several concrete yachts here, surprisingly few people realize they are concrete. I would own a concrete boat but not a steel yacht.
This photo is from a few years ago. My boat on the right. 54 foot ferro on the bottom. 38 foot ferro on the left which has now gone to Sydney and there is a a 45 ferro in it's place.

I've said this before. Ferro's were pioneered by the French and the boats they built are still afloat. Weight wise it's
stated that whatever you build a boat of over 40 foot they'll weigh the same ( aluminium excepted ). Sayer in New
Zealand built exceptionally good ferro hulls.

Most for it, one on the fence, (me) two against. This is pretty convincing and surprising!
(wish politics was like this)
We should ask the young ones, thou. They would be horrified methinks.

Why is the objection to steel boats ?

Still better than using calcium aluminate cement which was pronounced a wonder material around the fifties.

There are a lot of steel boats and ferro boats in my home port. All the steel boats need work, some of them a real lot. The ferro boats are not all that tidy either but with ferro at least the problems are very obvious. If a ferro boat was to become abandoned it would probably just float there for the next hundred years or till the chain mooring failed. Steel boats wont do that. Only boat I have seen condemned by the MSB was a steely that was on the slips. Had to be craned off and trucked away. Both steel and ferro boats are very heavy but I think the ferro is quieter and better insulated so yes I would live on a ferro boat. Don't want to sail one though.
Mates RORC 39 never seemed to get any growth underneath either which was weird. It sailed well in a breeze but now he is sailing his alloy Cole 42 he can't get the grin off his face.

What do you all think of this one.
yachthub.com/list/yachts-for-sale/used/sail-monohulls/khan-walker-rebel-34/210739
Apart from a certain 'dullness' in the topsides, I would never have picked her as ferro. Prior to her being advertised, I thought she might be quite a good southern cruiser. Berthed in Queenscliff harbour (Vic).

We lived on our Hartley "South Seas" 46 ketch for 4 month last year. It was very pleasant. I?m sailing her twice a week all year. I see Ferro cement as one of the best hull materials on the market. It never gets rusty and lasts for hundreds of years. All you need to be aware of is oil/diesel/grease in the bleige. Oil will damage the stucture of the cement, so you need a good layer of epoxy in the bleige. Allso she is a good stabil sailboat, easy to handle. I often sail her singlehand with no problem. In light winds she can do 5-6 knots , and will gain more speed as the wind gets stronger.









openhagen

just dropped another $10k

yachthub.com/list/yachts-for-sale/used/sail-monohulls/khan-walker-rebel-34/210739

why, or actually, how would you fibreglass sheath it?
Epoxy topcoat maybe I could understand, but i've never heard of a ferro boat being glassed.

It gives a new meaning to a composite construction.

I always remember people telling me that cement boats start to sink after 30 years. I don't know how true this is though. Does not really make sense I just said " yeah ok mate" they build pontoons out of it. I have seen people hit pontoons pretty hard though usually does nothing! I suppose if you look at them this way: they don't rot,rust, corrode or get osmosis sounds pretty good. All you got to do is look for cracks. Then again I have never owned a ferro boat and only been on one that was on the slip.