On Jul 19, 1:38 pm, Josh Assing wrote:
My wife & I have been talking about moving onto a boat & sailing away for a long
time -- the biggest stumbling block to buying a boat the size we'd need for
liveaboard is $ -- we'd have to sell our house 1st & then buy the boat.

however, we happened upon a FC boat that we can afford w/o selling the house.

I've spent about a month reading about FC boats and it seems that there is a
common thread:
If the boat was home built -- run away
if the boat was professionally built - there's a very good chance it's solid as
hell.
The only way to truely "check" the construction is to cut away the hull &
examine the steel beneath.


That depends on what you mean by "truely check." An industrial
ultrasound scanner will be able to survey the steel armature of a
ferrocement hull. A skilled operator will be able to spot any
thinning, corrosion, or broken welds.

I would definitely use a surveyor who was expert in ferrocement
construction... this will be expensive.

Consider the overall cost of ownership, I'm sure that ferrocement
boats look like a bargain on the market, but the overall boat market
is tanking and maybe you should think about whether or not you'll be
able to sell it *at all* in future years. If you plan to live aboard
the boat for the rest of your life, that's OK. But it seems to me that
there are many many attractive bargains in conventional fiberglass
boats right now.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King