|
Jim. I have a steel boat and am in the process of learning the things any metal boat owner learns.
Aluminum has issues, of course, but they can be overcome. OVNI are among the most proven bluewater cruisers around, as are some custom steel jobs like Knox-Johnson's Suhaili, Pelagic, Moitessier's Joshua and so on.
They aren't always stylish, however...but that is not a big concern for the type of sailing they do.
I choose boats the same way I choose computers or tools: what do I wish to accomplish with them? If you want independence from shore, you go for a "systems" boat that has engine room access, tankage, arches, sail stowage, redundancies on redundancies, anchors out the wazoo, sea berths and probably few nods toward "gracious sailing".
If you want to do the coastal or the Caribbean thing, a production boat is great...and a swing keel production boat is better.
If you want to do distance sailing, fast sailing, and to have shore independence, and thin-water access plus the "safety feature" of being able to conceivably beach the boat without wrecking it, you narrow the list of possibles very quickly.
Mr. Cornell might be very interesting for you to speak with, because he's had plastic, steel and aluminum boats and moved gradually from "bulletproof" and "heavy" to "fast but metal", possibly the smallest percentage of boats made today.
Good luck.
|