Harry Krause wrote:
wrote:
Gene Kearns wrote:
On Sun, 28 May 2006 19:59:43 -0700, JR North penned the following well
considered thoughts to the readers of rec.boats:

http://www.bayliner.com/cruisers.asp...ype=1,4,9 ,23

Maybe they noticed that as a flaw and from 2005 to 2006 fixed their
error.

Interesting link, though. I noticed they are now touting Hand-Laid
Fiberglass. I wonder what that *really* means. Hand held chopper gun?
No more electronically controlled gee-whiz whatever it was that the
resident Bayliner-village-idiot used to spout here to prove that
Bayliner was better than any other boat?


The general layup practiced on Bayliners of all sizes is a few layers
of mat under the gelcoat, with the majority of the thickness created by
chopped strand. Also true of Sea Ray,
and a host of other mass-pro boats. The chop is now frequently laid
into the mold with a robot arm (I think there's a good photo or video
of the process on the Sea Ray website) to ensure an even application,
and the mix of strand and resin is constantly monitored by computer
during the layup so you run less risk of developiong dry or
over-saturated pockets in the layup. To additionally guard against
uneven saturation, molds are rotated 20-30 degrees on the longitudinal
axis during the layup.

Within a few years, we are going to see a greater number of boats built
with the vacuum injection process. It is now common for cabin tops,
decks, and other components with more manufacturers beginning to use
vacuum bag molding for entire hulls.



Many of the better boats are built via vacuum bagging, not vacuum
injection.

Every time you post a "review" of a Bayliner, it reminds me of how
thankful I am that I never bought one. I'm not opposed to inexpensive
boats. I've owned a few, and I am a fan of Carolina Skiffs, which are
inexpensively made.

Vacuum "bagging" is an injection process. The bag around the dry layup
allows a vacuum to develop so the resin can be sucked and pumped
thorughout the fabrics and (possible) cores.

Bayliners certainly aren't for everybody, but for a casual family boat
that will allow families to get out on the water they have a lot to
offer for a relatively lower price. For fair weather boating in inland
waters, freshwater lakes, and maybe even the ICW few families will
actually *need* a better boat, although some will want higher degree of
refinement or specialization and there is no shortage of boats that
offer more features or stouter construction for a moderate to serious
upcharge from Bayliner price tag.

Bayliner doesn't build a trawler, so I have never had to seriously
debate whether I would own one or not. :-)