Life expectancy of fiberglass?

[Jeff_H]

I know the Apache reasonably well. I''ve always liked these boats. Sparkman and Stevens was of course ahead of their time in many ways and were the leading edge designers of that era. Chris Crafts were generally well built but like any high production of that era tended to use a lot of accellerators and their gelcoats were not the best so that spider cracking was pretty common. Spider cracking typically indicates high flex areas and allows moisture to reach the laminate.

Chris Craft used a lot of wood as structural elements and these can rot out or lose bonding with the hull. I can''t recall the specifics of the Apache interior but a lot of the Chris Chrafts of that era had a lot of formica over plywood and the formica can trap moisture and allow rot to occur undetected. Simple tapping out of the bulkheads, especially near the edges can provide early detection of problems.

Also the ''scimitar'' style rudder on the early boats (I think later boats had a skeg hung rudder but I could be mistaken.) places a lot of strain on the rudder posts, which were a bit small (if I remember correctly) by modern standards.

Anyway, these are very nice boats for their day. They are not all that well known and so do not seem to have the strong following that I would think that they deserve.

Respectfully,
Jeff

[Douggie]

Jeff,
I looked at the kelly -Peterson on the yachtworld site. She looks very sturdy but not eye catching in my openion. I know beauty is only skin deep. One of theother boats I like the look of is the Tartans. With the S&S design the at least have the more classic yacht look and presuambly well built. I have always liked the Valiant 40''s, I know they had a strange blister problem on the topsides. I am fishing for reccomendation on well built boats that either have overhangs or a canoe sterns. That is what my eye is calling for.
Doug

[ct]

I wondered about the life-span of fiberglass too, and based on what I discovered, I chose aluminum. Fiberglass it seems has a relatively short life expectancy.

Check this link out. http://dahlfin.com/tehani/why_aluminum.html

"According to one classification-society engineer, it''s likely that cored-composite yachts built with bottom-of-the-barrel raw materials like E-glass fabric and polyester resin will have water in the core within five years. Even more troublesome is secondary bonding: the attachment of bulkheads, stringers, floors and other structural members to the cured hull. Secondary-bonding failure is a major cause of composite boat owner''s headaches. Composite fiberglass is floating Russian roulette--do you feel lucky?"

[jbanta]

With the right maintance Fiber-glass is a fine material to build boats out of. Just like aluminum or steel it need protection. I wonder how long your hull would lat in an unprotected state. A good epoxy barrier coating and glass is good for YEARS of service before it must be stripped and done again. How about aluminum? How about Steel? I believe you are misinformed about boat building and maintance.

[ct]

jbanta:

"I wonder how long your hull would la[s]t in an unprotected state."

Well, according to all estimates, about 40 plus years.

It''s plain to see that you didn''t follow the link I provided in my previous post above. Read it and you will find that aluminum is a far better choice than fiberglass. The only real problem with aluminum is that it doesn''t lend itself to mass production.

jbanta:

"A good epoxy barrier coating and glass is good for YEARS of service before it must be stripped and done again. How about aluminum? How about Steel? I believe you are misinformed about boat building and maintance."

Aluminum does not require any barrier coating whatsoever, therefore it doesn''t have to be "stripped and done again". Aluminum doesn''t require any paint. Un-painted aluminum does form a dull gray oxide coating which I personally don''t like, however there are many aluminum vessels that last for 40 plus years without the benefit of paint or any other coatings.

I won''t address steel as that is not relevent to the discussion of aluminum.

As far as fiberglass vs. aluminum I''m afraid it is you that is "misinformed about boat building and maintance."

[Heruka]

Jeff,
I just think it would be better to ammend your statement and give people a better understanding of what they''re getting into. obvious make and type of boat matters a great deal, and restoring a ''classic plastic'' boat is no picnic in the park, but it sure still beats watering a garden.

while basically correct on the choosing a boat already restored or ''outfitted'' as opposed to one that needs everything, the job itself can be rewarding and pleasurable for the right individual.

I just think you''re a bit harsh in your statements against restoring an older boat. working on a boat isn''t really work, it''s almost Zen-ish in it''s ability to become a way of life. it has to be. I didn''t put all that money, and more importantly time, into a god-damn hobby.

we own a Tartan 30 Comp. model. and I love this boat.

we''re aso in the middle of a cruise, as we just came back from Georgian Bay and the North Channel and are waiting for the ''canes to pass before heading down the East coast and into the Carib.

[ct]

It is said among dedicated blue water cruisers in the South Pacific, "50% of the boats are metal; the rest of them are from the United States...."