rhys wrote:

On Thu, 19 Aug 2004 21:58:34 GMT, Roy Jose Lorr
wrote:


... if I were an expert welder, a steel boat might
make sense.

If you can learn to row "expertly",
you can learn to weld "expertly".

That's been my impression for steel...you can do basic repairs and
seams with a few dozen hours of training. Gas-shielded stuff, like for
aluminum, is supposed to be considerably more tricky.

What's tricky about aluminum is the environment.



I think my point is that one of the pluses of steel...and there are
admittedly many minuses, is that one can carry the means (welding
gear) and the materials (plate and bar steel in small amounts) to do
fairly significant surface and structural repairs to one's boat, a
real plus if you are off the shipping lanes, so to speak, and need to
fix something to a functional if not pretty standard.

Many of us carry fibreglass repair kits or supplies, but if you had to
deal with part of a deck torn out or a hull crack...those are major
repairs beyond most people. With steel in many cases, you can make
modifications or repairs with patience and brute strength and no calls
to Purlator drums of West System to deepest Micronesia.

If you have the welding gear but didn't bring spare steel along, and
need a rough and ready sizable repair (unlikely but not out of the
queastion) in less than optimum conditions, an all steel boat is one
large spare in itself. You cannibalize accordingly. And, if conditions
are trying (i.e. torch gone kaput), given one and a half pairs of hands,
a decent drill and bits, metal cutters and or a hole saw, hammers
and a 1/4 bucket of mild steel through bolts, you can make and rivet
a strong get you to the next port patch, in reasonably short order.

I have little use for plastic, in women, or water born craft.



Also, in some of the anchorages I wish to visit, being able to replace
balsa core is not going to get me fresh produce. Being able to weld a
hard to replace and expensive piece of metal just might.

Play it safe... bring money.



In order to sail for many years in mid-life, as I intend to do, I
consider it prudent to develop manual skills (engine repair,
electronics, welding, canvas repair) useful both to me on the boat (so
I can avoid paying for yard work) and useful in trade or to make money
in the places I want to go.

Don't count on making money... bring or have access to plenty... just
don't flash it around. Romantic illusions aren't worth the delusions
they're grounded in.



I hear there's a dentist in the Carribbean who has converted his
V-berth into a small clinic. He obtains crendentials from local
authorities and does a low-key, part-time trade for a few months,
which pays for the next leg of a voyage that never really has to end
due to a tapped-out kitty.

Sounds clever to me.

Is he painless?