Can o' Worms

[CharlieCobra]

I posted that link more for the info on what to inspect on a woodie than for any info on C-Flex.

I think it was applied unecessarily on this boat to ward off borers in the warm waters of Fla. The wood was still very good with the exception of a couple of planks. The ribs are still solid.

As far as me reporting a failure on my boat is concerned. I said I found one plank with a small soft area on the INSIDE of the plank, not between the plank and the C-Flex where you would normally expect it. Having ground out the soft area, I found it did not extend to the outside of that plank, which was still dry as far as I can tell. This was not a failure of the system.

Also, I think there's some confusion regarding C-Flex and other glass sheathing techniques. Bill Seeman developed C-Flex in the 1970's, laid over 5200 to avoid the delamination issues associated with prior systems. Other systems were to rigid and couldn't flex with the wood, causing delam. Near as I can tell, the only issue is with moisture getting trapped between the sheath and the outer wood. Considering that waterlogged wood at the bottom of the bilge won't rot because rot occurs between 20%-80% moisture content, the biggest concern (to me) would be the planks bordering those wet planks. Of course, I could be full o crap too.

Regardless, we can agree to disagree as far as I'm concerned.

Would I buy an expensive boat that had been C-Flexed? Probably not. Would I spend twenty dollars on another Oh Joy? Betcha ass I would.

[Tartan34C]

What was I thinking when I was typing. I built a boat with C-Flex in 1975 not 1965 but either way C-Flex was invented in the late 60’s. And I did misread your post at boatdesign.net. Wow, two mistakes in one post. I apologize and corrected my post.

I think you got a greet deal and I would have jumped at the chance to get that boat with or without C-Flex but as you say we will have to keep this as our only disagreement.
Enjoy the boat and all the best,
Robert Gainer

[CharlieCobra]

Thanks Robert, I am enjoying the boat whenever I can escape the slave pen to go play.

[Bill Mc]

Fair Winds,

Bill

[Bardo]

Damn. So why would a professional boat builder (with a pretty big reputation regionally) take a boat that he owns and C-flex the hull? Then, on top of that, dump a bunch of dough into re-doing the entire rest of the boat from sails to engine? I'm not questioning anything you guys have said, I'm just scratching my head here.....Having said that, the boat IS for sale now.

[Tartan34C]

Bardo,
Who are we talking about and why is the boat for sale? I can think of several good reasons to C-Flex a hull but that doesn’t mean I think it’s a good thing to do unless the boat is large enough to warrant the expense and you don’t intend to have the boat forever. It is a quick fix for tired hull syndrome but it doesn’t fix the reasons the hull was tired and it will fail in the future without having any easy way to do future repairs to the basic hull structure when it does fail.
All the best,
Robert Gainer

[Bardo]

T34,
I don't want to name names for obvious reasons, but I don't have the answer to the "why" question. Thats a good one, and I only know so far (from web research) that his other boat is for sale as well.