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Steel boats - things to watch for?

6K views 15 replies 7 participants last post by  TQA 
#1 ·
What are the things to consider when buying a steel hull boat? There is this sweet looking boat here: 1986 Custom Blue Water Cruiser Tahitiana Tahiti Ketch sailboat for sale in Maryland and it is made of steel, showing some indications of corrosion, at least on the deck. Sometimes I fear steel hulls (no maintenance experience with them) but they also have obvious advantages, such as strength.
What are your thoughts on steel boats in general, and this boat in particular?
Thank you all...
 
#2 ·
Pretty obvious maintenance on that baby (hull). 10 gauge steel(.1345 in)? Is that right? That sounds thin.
Sorry; i'm not an authority on steel boats at all. I would venture to say your probably about the same. I do know to look for corrosion and to keep the maintenance up.
 
#3 ·
Well as Niel Young would say, rust never sleeps. The cockpit shows a lot of rust, and there appears to be a lot of patches on the hull. For me I would only consider a wood or steel boat if relatively newer, and I really had confidence in it's original construction, and maintenance. And I would reach out and find a surveyor very familiar with the construction methods.

You might want to take a look at this one. Look at the shots of the bilge, you could eat off of them! I normally would not consider a steel boat, but this one intrigues me.

1995 Tahitiana Tahitiana 32 sailboat for sale in New York
 
#6 ·
#8 ·
most steel hulled boats and ships wind up with dents. Steel only has a certain amount of elasticity before it gets perminently creased.. but just think what that hit would have done to a glass boat?

As for the patches, I had a car that looked like that. Looks like somebody has been doing maintance and after scraping/wirebrushing/sanding the rust away, primered and just painted that area.

Pictures do not say the whole story.. so I would have to poke around the rust a bit to see if it is just surface rust on the welds, or truely rust to worry about
 
#14 ·
3mm not unusual for top sides esp. on a smaller boat.

4 - 5 mm for hull as a minimum.

Steel boats die from the inside. Ignore the outside surface rust get inside with mirrors and good lights and a hammer. An ultrasound examination carried out by a surveyor used to working with steel boats would be a good investment if you have doubts.

I cruised an old steel boat for 7 years and had some patching done when problems appeared. Relatively cheap and I knew that repairs were as strong as the original.

That Tahitiana looks good if you can cope with a slow boat. Several have circumnavigated.
 
#15 ·
A hammer and a centrepunch will find any thin spots. Whack any doubtful point with a centre punch, and if it doesn't dent severely, you have plenty of metal there. Check the low point of the keel and any sealed areas, such as ballast etc. Check for adequate paint under the spray foam insulation. Folks and Fehr boats had zero paint under the foam, which gave steel boats a reputation for rusting from the inside out. Foam is not adequate protection by itself. Three or more coats of epoxy tar is the only thing which works.
Patches are a bad sign.
10 guage is common, but I prefer 3/16th and less framing. With the huge amount of excess framing in a Tahiti, you could go frameless and 3/8th plate and she would be lighter. They have a totally ridiculous amount of framing. Yesterday I saw a Fehr boat which had so much framing in the bow, with 10 guage pate,you could have used quarter inch plate and no framing and she would have been lighter, and far tougher. Hit a sharp rock and thickness will save you from holing, framing wont, and framing will in fact increase the chance of holing.
Tahitis are slower than a bureaucrat's brain.
You can always find me on the origamiboats site ( yahoo groups) a good source for anyone considering a steel boat.
 
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