I posted this on iBoat and thought I'd give it a try here.


Years ago my wife and I owned a 28' Luhrs with a glass hull and wood
topsides. Eventually, replacing rotted wood in the cabin sides got to be too
much of a chore and we sold the boat and took up camping.

Having our fill of that,we want to get back to boating. Our only requirement
is that the boat be fiberglass with no wood.

When I starting doing some reading and research, I found that a solid glass
boat, like my old Luhrs, is a thing of the past.

Worse, I was seeing stories of water-soaked cores, rotten floors, pulpy
transoms and hulls coming apart in a seaway. I almost have convinced myself
that a wood boat would be a better choice since it is repairable without
removing an outer skin!

Am I being foolish here? Are the problems with saturated cores, delamination
and blisters only occuring in a small percentage of boats, or is the problem
more widespread?

I'm trying to educate myself so that I can do a pre-survey on a boat of
interest before a professional survey is done.

Maybe some of you more experienced boat buyers or a professional can put
this in perspective for me.

Any and all advice & comments are appreciated. Many Thanks

Tony Va

--
" Hey Tony... Where you at??"
(Find my jeep at: http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/find.cgi?call=ak1o-12)

My opinion is that high quality wooden transom and stringers is the way to
go in a powerboat. Pursuit is a good example of this construction
technique. You can buy boats that do not have any coring in the skin of the
hull, but I think just about all boats have some kind of structural support
that is not fiberglass, be it some kind of plastic or wood.

Dave

"Tony V" wrote in message
news:TK7ab.375443$Oz4.152061@rwcrnsc54...
I posted this on iBoat and thought I'd give it a try here.


Years ago my wife and I owned a 28' Luhrs with a glass hull and wood
topsides. Eventually, replacing rotted wood in the cabin sides got to be
too
much of a chore and we sold the boat and took up camping.

Having our fill of that,we want to get back to boating. Our only
requirement
is that the boat be fiberglass with no wood.

When I starting doing some reading and research, I found that a solid
glass
boat, like my old Luhrs, is a thing of the past.

Worse, I was seeing stories of water-soaked cores, rotten floors, pulpy
transoms and hulls coming apart in a seaway. I almost have convinced
myself
that a wood boat would be a better choice since it is repairable without
removing an outer skin!

Am I being foolish here? Are the problems with saturated cores,
delamination
and blisters only occuring in a small percentage of boats, or is the
problem
more widespread?

I'm trying to educate myself so that I can do a pre-survey on a boat of
interest before a professional survey is done.

Maybe some of you more experienced boat buyers or a professional can put
this in perspective for me.

Any and all advice & comments are appreciated. Many Thanks

Tony Va

--
" Hey Tony... Where you at??"
(Find my jeep at: http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/find.cgi?call=ak1o-12)

Tony V wrote:

I posted this on iBoat and thought I'd give it a try here.


Years ago my wife and I owned a 28' Luhrs with a glass hull and wood
topsides. Eventually, replacing rotted wood in the cabin sides got to be too
much of a chore and we sold the boat and took up camping.

Having our fill of that,we want to get back to boating. Our only requirement
is that the boat be fiberglass with no wood.

When I starting doing some reading and research, I found that a solid glass
boat, like my old Luhrs, is a thing of the past.

Worse, I was seeing stories of water-soaked cores, rotten floors, pulpy
transoms and hulls coming apart in a seaway. I almost have convinced myself
that a wood boat would be a better choice since it is repairable without
removing an outer skin!

Am I being foolish here? Are the problems with saturated cores, delamination
and blisters only occuring in a small percentage of boats, or is the problem
more widespread?

I'm trying to educate myself so that I can do a pre-survey on a boat of
interest before a professional survey is done.

Maybe some of you more experienced boat buyers or a professional can put
this in perspective for me.

Any and all advice & comments are appreciated. Many Thanks

Tony Va



I wouldn't buy a boat with a cored bottom, and I wouldn't buy a boat
with balsa coring anywhere, but there are plenty of good boats around
with solid bottoms and closed cell foam coring on the hullsides and in
the decks that can be built relatively trouble-free. If there is coring,
your surveyor will make sure it hasn't been breached by fittings or by
owner add-ons.

There are plenty of top-quality fiberglass boats built with wood
stringers and wood in the transom. As long as it is the right kind of
wood and properly encapsulated, it can be the right choice.



--
* * *
email sent to will *never* get to me.

go to www.yachtsurvey.com
Read all about what is bad in boats today.



"Tony V" wrote in message
news:TK7ab.375443$Oz4.152061@rwcrnsc54...
I posted this on iBoat and thought I'd give it a try here.


Years ago my wife and I owned a 28' Luhrs with a glass hull and wood
topsides. Eventually, replacing rotted wood in the cabin sides got to be
too
much of a chore and we sold the boat and took up camping.

Having our fill of that,we want to get back to boating. Our only
requirement
is that the boat be fiberglass with no wood.

When I starting doing some reading and research, I found that a solid
glass
boat, like my old Luhrs, is a thing of the past.

Worse, I was seeing stories of water-soaked cores, rotten floors, pulpy
transoms and hulls coming apart in a seaway. I almost have convinced
myself
that a wood boat would be a better choice since it is repairable without
removing an outer skin!

Am I being foolish here? Are the problems with saturated cores,
delamination
and blisters only occuring in a small percentage of boats, or is the
problem
more widespread?

I'm trying to educate myself so that I can do a pre-survey on a boat of
interest before a professional survey is done.

Maybe some of you more experienced boat buyers or a professional can put
this in perspective for me.

Any and all advice & comments are appreciated. Many Thanks

Tony Va

--
" Hey Tony... Where you at??"
(Find my jeep at: http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/find.cgi?call=ak1o-12)

Carolina Skiff makes all glass and composite (no wood boats) All of their
skiffs, semi-vs and smaller boats. Not sure about their bigger cruisers.

www.carolinaskiff.com


--
Bob La Londe
Yuma, Az
http://www.YumaBassMan.com



"DaveH" wrote in message
...
My opinion is that high quality wooden transom and stringers is the way to
go in a powerboat. Pursuit is a good example of this construction
technique. You can buy boats that do not have any coring in the skin of
the
hull, but I think just about all boats have some kind of structural
support
that is not fiberglass, be it some kind of plastic or wood.

Dave

"Tony V" wrote in message
news:TK7ab.375443$Oz4.152061@rwcrnsc54...
I posted this on iBoat and thought I'd give it a try here.


Years ago my wife and I owned a 28' Luhrs with a glass hull and wood
topsides. Eventually, replacing rotted wood in the cabin sides got to be
too
much of a chore and we sold the boat and took up camping.

Having our fill of that,we want to get back to boating. Our only
requirement
is that the boat be fiberglass with no wood.

When I starting doing some reading and research, I found that a solid
glass
boat, like my old Luhrs, is a thing of the past.

Worse, I was seeing stories of water-soaked cores, rotten floors, pulpy
transoms and hulls coming apart in a seaway. I almost have convinced
myself
that a wood boat would be a better choice since it is repairable without
removing an outer skin!

Am I being foolish here? Are the problems with saturated cores,
delamination
and blisters only occuring in a small percentage of boats, or is the
problem
more widespread?

I'm trying to educate myself so that I can do a pre-survey on a boat of
interest before a professional survey is done.

Maybe some of you more experienced boat buyers or a professional can put
this in perspective for me.

Any and all advice & comments are appreciated. Many Thanks

Tony Va

--
" Hey Tony... Where you at??"
(Find my jeep at: http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/find.cgi?call=ak1o-12)

"WaIIy" wrote in message ...
: On Thu, 18 Sep 2003 01:19:47 GMT, "Tony V" wrote:
:
: I'm trying to educate myself so that I can do a pre-survey on a boat of
: interest before a professional survey is done.
:
: Maybe some of you more experienced boat buyers or a professional can put
: this in perspective for me.
:
: If you ask questions about specific boats, I'm sure you will get a few
: opinions here.
:
: Perhaps you could focus your questions a bit.

I started following this thread hoping to glean a list of y'alls favorite
all glass/composite/carbon fiber/aluminum/steel coasters and cruisers.
No wood (or, more specifically, titanium, please) for me - I need
one, good, long term/keep forever, seagoing boat.

Dave

On Thu, 18 Sep 2003 11:56:15 GMT, "David Ward" wrote:

"WaIIy" wrote in message ...
: On Thu, 18 Sep 2003 01:19:47 GMT, "Tony V" wrote:
:
: I'm trying to educate myself so that I can do a pre-survey on a boat of
: interest before a professional survey is done.
:
: Maybe some of you more experienced boat buyers or a professional can put
: this in perspective for me.
:
: If you ask questions about specific boats, I'm sure you will get a few
: opinions here.
:
: Perhaps you could focus your questions a bit.

I started following this thread hoping to glean a list of y'alls favorite
all glass/composite/carbon fiber/aluminum/steel coasters and cruisers.
No wood (or, more specifically, titanium, please) for me - I need
one, good, long term/keep forever, seagoing boat.

Dave

Check out Proline. I love mine, and have had no problems with it.

John
On the 'Poco Loco' out of Deale, MD

On Thu, 18 Sep 2003 01:19:47 +0000, Tony V wrote:

I posted this on iBoat and thought I'd give it a try here.


Years ago my wife and I owned a 28' Luhrs with a glass hull and wood
topsides. Eventually, replacing rotted wood in the cabin sides got to be too
much of a chore and we sold the boat and took up camping.

Having our fill of that,we want to get back to boating. Our only requirement
is that the boat be fiberglass with no wood.


Well, I've seen many, many OLD fibreglass boats, with wood transoms,
stringers, etc. that were surely rotten, but they're still floating.

But if you don't like encapsulated wood, how about aluminum? Many great
boats are welded aluminum, and they last forever.

http://www.lifetimer.bc.ca/Our%20Boats.htm
http://www.armstrongmarine.com/index.html

Lloyd Sumpter
"Far Cove" Catalina 36

Tonyjvan writes about his problem with "solid glass" boats, that there
isn't any any more.

I may actually have one -- a 77 Sea Ray.

According to David Gerr, in "The Nature of Boats", if the builder and
designer understand the material they're using, it will perform
wonderfully.

Further, the problem with composites is not that the composites are
flawed, but that the manufacturing process had not been perfected.

David Gerr shows that a solid glass hull, like (probably) my Sea Ray, is
very heavy compared to a well built composite of the same strength.
A balsa core can drastically reduce weight while maintaining the same or
better rigidity necessary in a hull. Stringers are still necessary, but
far less material is. Unfortunately if a balsa core is not sealed
correctly, it will be exposed to air and/or water, and will consequently
degrade -- and ultimately fail.

Warning: Mr. Gerr makes a compelling argument for epoxy sealed wood as
the ideal material for medium sized boats based on strength vs. weight
and maintenance and insulation. Not to mention wood's sensory appeal.
So if you've got the cash, go for wood.

If not, get a used hull and renovate her the way you want. If it's used
you know the manufacturing process was good enough to last this long, so
the composite core may not have been rotted.

Good luck.

PS: this advice is coming from someone who has almost no experience with
power boats, leaving for a 95 mile cruise -- one way -- in a 26 year old
boat he's taken out a half a dozen times. My only credentials a 1)
consulting with US Marine on their IT requirements and getting a tour of
their factory; 2) reading a few books; 3) Small Boat Sailing merit
badge, earned approximately the same year my current boat was built.

Hi Tony, Buy a quality boat. I love my Formula.

(http://www.formulaboats.com)

Capt. Frank Hopkins

http://www.home.earthlink.net/~aartworks


Tony V wrote:

I posted this on iBoat and thought I'd give it a try here.


Years ago my wife and I owned a 28' Luhrs with a glass hull and wood
topsides. Eventually, replacing rotted wood in the cabin sides got to be too
much of a chore and we sold the boat and took up camping.

Having our fill of that,we want to get back to boating. Our only requirement
is that the boat be fiberglass with no wood.

When I starting doing some reading and research, I found that a solid glass
boat, like my old Luhrs, is a thing of the past.

Worse, I was seeing stories of water-soaked cores, rotten floors, pulpy
transoms and hulls coming apart in a seaway. I almost have convinced myself
that a wood boat would be a better choice since it is repairable without
removing an outer skin!

Am I being foolish here? Are the problems with saturated cores, delamination
and blisters only occuring in a small percentage of boats, or is the problem
more widespread?

I'm trying to educate myself so that I can do a pre-survey on a boat of
interest before a professional survey is done.

Maybe some of you more experienced boat buyers or a professional can put
this in perspective for me.

Any and all advice & comments are appreciated. Many Thanks

Tony Va