Paladin wrote:
"Peter" wrote in message ups.com...
|
| Paladin wrote:
| "Joe" wrote in message oups.com...
| |
| | Capt. Rob wrote:
| | Start thinking about the soft spots on the 'composite' deck, Joe.
| | Could
| | end up costing you more than you paid for the boat.
| |
| |
| |
| | Joe should make some money, though probably not 40K. Her deck will be
| | someone elses problem to underestimate.
| |
| | Indeed "AS IS". is how I will sell her.
| |
| | Still it's a sweet boat, I wonder why they did not install aluminum
| | decks?
|
| Bad idea to install aluminum decks.
|
| Ah. That would explain why the vast majority of aluminium hulled boats
| have aluminium decks.
|
| It's an issue with hardware. Unless
| one uses aluminum fittings (mostly must be custom-made) there will
| be severe electrolysis problems between fittings and the aluminum
| surface.
|
| Not necessarily. But then I have 2 big Al workboats, so I have
| practical experience. You have Google.
|
| Composite decks are the way to go but cored composite consisting
| of wood (ply or balas) is liable to rot if any water finds its way in.
| Better to use some sort of plastic coring such as Kledgecell or foam
| coring.
|
| Composite decks on a metal hull are going to be a disaster where the 2
| materials meet. The coefficient of expansion of Al is high. You'd
| better buy bulk lots of Sikaflex or 5200. Even then the hull-deck joint
| is never going to be as strong & waterproof as a metal to metal weld.
|
| Not to mention that if you're worried about electrolysis on an Al deck
| causing problems, what do you think tons of bolt & screw holes into the
| composite deck are going to cause? Oh yeah, water entry and rot.
| Duuuuuuh.
|
| PDW

C'mon, Peter. We're talking sailboats here. Not workboats. Workboats
have no aesthetic appeal. You can weld all kinds of ugly crap on deck
and nobody's gonna say, "Yuck!!"

It's well known that quality decks on production sailboats use solid
glass in the areas where fittings are placed. These are bedded with
flexible sealant and through bolted tightly with backing plates. Decks
are fitted to hulls in various ways and through bolted and bedded with
3M 5200 for a trouble-free bond. One can bond to metal or fiberglass
with no expansion problems. Remember, we're talking about small
boats here. How much is the expansion differential on a forty footer?

Quality hardware will be stainless steel or bronze. Both of these
are not suitable for bedding to aluminum unless isolated somehow
by heroic means.

"Heroic means"??? Come on, all you do is use a HDPE or Teflon or
similar mounting pad if you're not welding Al fittings straight to the
deck. BT, DT........ it's fiddly is all. Even without this, stainless
to Al isn't too bad, no way in the world would I put bronze anywhere
near Al, and no reason to.

As for workboats vs sailboats, yeah there are differences. The
workboats have to WORK, the sailboats just have to be playtoys or dock
queens. The fittings on workboats have to be able to take loads and are
generally certified as to their SWL, the sailboat fittings just have to
look shiny & elegant.

I've seen a lot of Al sailboats go thru here and I've never seen one
with anything but a welded Al deck. Friend of mine is building a 50'
one ATM, guess what the deck is......

I'd buy an Al sailboat with a composite deck if the price was right.
Then I'd plan on replacing it. Or selling it to some sucker when the
deck started getting soft spots.

Joe? Cheap boat for you...... I think this is where we started :-)

PDW