Ferrocement boat design

[archerships]

Benford, J.R. & Husen, H. - "Practical Ferrocement Boatbuilding" 3rd edition 1972 Internationakl Marine Publishing Company, Camden, Maine 04843 USA

Bingham, B. - "Ferrocement: Design, Techniques, Application" 1974 Cornell Maritime Press Inc. Cambridge, Maryland 21613 USA;

Whitener, J.P. - "Ferrocement Boat Construction" - 1971 - publisher see above.

This is all very old stuff, techniques may have changed and I am certain that there are some people around who know how to set up a structural repair.
For a start, a more detailed damage report would be of interest.

Cairncross, C. "Ferrocement Yacht Construction"- 1973, Adlard Coles, London 1973

Comments

[barlow.livejournal.com]

If you are really interested in boatbuilding (particularly for long-range cruising), you might look at two books by George Buehler:

"The Troller Yacht Book" 1999 W. W. Norton & Company
"Buehler's Backyard Boatbuilding" 1990 International Marine

I've only read "The Troller Yacht Book", which is concerned with the design of live-aboard, long-range cruising boats. He discusses different construction methods, mostly advocating steel due to speed and cost of having a steel boat built. He does discuss ferrocement hulls, and has some decent things to say about them (he recommends the book by Bingham). His boatbuilding book focuses mostly on building wooden boats, which is probably the easiest way to build on one's own.

[crasch.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I own Buehler's Backyard Boatbuilding. I'll look into the Troller Yacht Book.

[mrgeddylee.livejournal.com]

Real shipbuilders use Pykrete.

[littlesnork.livejournal.com]

If you're really interested in building a ferrocement boat:

My parents did it, in the early 70s, and still own the boat. One structural repair was needed, early, when the boat fell off a transport cradle and a hole was punched through the hull. My father is an engineer and one of the founders of the International Ferrocement Society, although not currently involved in that field.

[bhv.livejournal.com]

A friend of mine who is really into sailing, says that ferrocement boats are extremely cheap on the used market right now. Apparently the difficulties with inspecting them prior to sale spook the buyers and the prices are, according to him, very low.

He went on to recommend ferrocement boats as a real deal on the used boat market for those who intend to live aboard the boat and not really sail it.

[littlesnork.livejournal.com]

Maintenance on the hull is low, especially compared to wood. You can delay haulouts for quite some time. I don't know why someone would say they were better to live aboard than to sail. We sailed ours from New Zealand to Alaska.

Everyone I know who owns one built it themselves, so I have no idea about buying one.

[bhv.livejournal.com]

I'm a big fan of ferrocement and other innovative concrete mix designs, so I think it is very cool that you built one and sailed from New Zealand to Alaska. Any chance you can post a picture?

Are there good ways to inspect the soundness of a ferrocement hull prior to purchasing one?

[littlesnork.livejournal.com]

I personally don't know anything about the inspection. My father would probably have ideas on this. He has built many things in ferro, including stoves.

I was a passive participant in the building process (they started building the boat when I was 6 months old) so my knowledge is limited.

I am not sure I actually have a good picture of the boat, which is a bit sad. She is a 42 foot gaff rig with a 12 foot beam, one mast (hollow steel), and a remarkably wide bowsprit.

Inspection ferrocement hull

[(Anonymous)]

Back in 98 i was involved in drydocking an 83 foot Ferrocement junk. The only real way we had to check for 'concrete cancer'was to go round with a chipping hammer and listen to the sound of the strike. Where the hull is 'rotten' is where the water has migrated into the hull and rusted the reinforcement bars. The rusted sections expand and crack the surrounding concrete. Solid concrete will effectively feel more resilient through the hammer and rotten concrete will have a dead feeling and will soak up the blows energy much more.It was very obvious where the problems were. This hull did not have a thick covering of epoxy which may make things more difficult and we knew we were going to be ripping it apart so hitting it with chipping hammers was the least of our worries!

[crasch.livejournal.com]

Yeah, from what I understand they're hard to survey, and because they're often amateur-built, they're statistically more likely to have a failure. It is therefore difficult and/or expensive to insure them.

FERR

[(Anonymous)]

IM RESURRECTING A 36FT FERRO CRETE BOAT IN NORFOLK UK THE BOAT WAS BUILT IN 1972 SEEMS FAIRLY SOUND A FEW SPALLS (DODGY BITS) WHICH IM GOING TO REPAIR WITH EPOXY PUTTY CLEANING THE NAFF BITS WITH A DIAMOND CUTTER ANY COMMENTS WEELCOME

Ferro Cement Yachts

[(Anonymous)]

I'm interested in buying one of the two Ferro Cement yachts listed below.
30ft HARTLEY SLOOP YACHT. BILGE KEELS
32ft Samson C-mist. Full Keel

Which one would be best vessle for a novice sailor, sailing the East Coast of Australia between the Hawkesbury River in NSW and the top end of Queensland while living on-board.
Thanking you in advance for your advice.

Bill
Geelong