hpeer wrote:
ray lunder wrote:
Anyone owned a steel hulled sailboat in the 40 foot range and have
some advice on what to look for when buying one? Thanks as always.

Ray,

Are you looking new or used??

Howard
Ray,

I have a 33 foot steel boat, a bit small for steel but that's OK with me.

The best advise is to go to the Metal Boat Society and get on their
forum. That site has a number of professional designers and builders
and they are generous with their advice.

The advice about boats rusting from the inside out is true. You can get
to the outside, but not as readily to the inside and that is where the
moisture traps and causes rot. Warmer climes with humidity are worse.

See if you can find out how the inside was treated and if it was done by
someone competent. Interior metal preparation is probably the single
biggest deal in the boat for you will play hell redoing it.

Insulation is a big deal for a couple of reasons. I like the sprayed on
insulation as it seems to protect the underlying steel best.

Proper weep holes that let the water run down into the bilge are also
important. Keep the moisture off the hull.

I have seen some boats where the welding was pretty shabby, especially
if it was done by a home builder who was not up to par. My boat, lucky
me, if very fair by comparison.

I have had my boat three years. It is about 1,200 miles from where I am
so I only go out for 6 weeks in the summer then close her up. Last year
I had someone put a heater in her and when I got to her she was filled
with water almost to the sole. It cause some of the interior coal tar
epoxy to separate from the metal. I spent too much time them sanding and
recoating with two part zinc primer. My knees still hurt. However, the
metal was shiny underneath.

Steel expands something like 16 times its original thickness when it
rusts so you should be able to see rust when it starts. You will need
to get on it right away to control it.

There is disagreement over monel or mild steel. From what I can tell
either will do just fine. The builder needs to be careful of using
dissimilar metals and you need to pay attention to bottom paints. On
the other hand lighting is not much of an issue for you as opposed to
glass boat. You do have to go outside to use the cell phone and the GPS
won't work for beans down below.

Another issue is hard chine or fully developed sections. From what I
can see it makes no difference. Some even say they prefer the hard
chine. I think it is mostly a European vs American preference.

The thing about steel, or even aluminum, boats is that they are Gaud
awful strong. Very hard to hole the boat. A couple of years ago an
older fellow was single handing down from Nova Scotia, got beat up
beating, and called to be taken off. His boat washed up on the beach
back in Nova Scotia. By all reports she was a total wreck, because the
scavengers stripped her, but the hull was still good to go.

I saw a boat in Annapolis that had the port side all dented up and
canned in. Seems that it was an older couple who lived on their boat
for many years. They were motoring out of the harbour to lay on a
mooring happy as clams.

Then again, I saw a boat in NC that was for sale. Inside was fine but
the fore lines were all messed up. At first I thought that the boat had
hit the rocks but by all accounts she hardly ever left the berth. Seems
as though it was just nasty welding. Strong but ugly. What a shame.
Then again, I was helping a guy dock a 40 something glass cat and he
wacked the dock, not hard but firmly. I could see the hull deform and
the gel coat fracture and leave a spider web where he hit. Ouch.

I love my steel boat. Bernard Montisiour went with steel. When his
boat got caught on the hook in a storm it dragged up on the beach. Then
they dragged it off again. Other boats were a total loss. Supposedly
his losses were because of down flooding through an open or damaged
hatch. If its good enough for Montisiour that's pretty good.