My son wants to buy a 1977 36'ketch, 4 cyclinder Westerbeke, ferroconcrete hull. He has some experience on this type of boat and it was appraised at $20,000 2 years ago when the current owner paid $10,000, also current price. Two sets of sails, hull done 1 year ago, Edson steering equipment, heavy wire standing rigging, Loran,2 VHF radios,full galley. I am concererned about resale in a year or two when he gets sick of it. Is there a life span on this type of hull?
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Just a caution about ferroconcrete/cement hulls,make sure your can insure it before you purchase it. Alot of insurance companys will not insure them. I also agree with you that resale will be hard. Good Luck !
Trouble
To answer your question, yes it will be hard to sell. The insurance issue is a good one to be sure. The problem is that these hulls can be very very durable if constructed correctly but that is the problem. So many were home built that the quality ranges from very good to rotten. Mostly on the lower end of the scale. Without a recognized builder it is very difficult to assess to the build quality. Also it is difficult to fing a surveyor who has good working knowledge of a ferro cement hull. I would pass on this boat but then again I have not seen it. Quality is always better than quantity.
To answer your question, yes it will be hard to sell. The insurance issue is a good one to be sure. The problem is that these hulls can be very very durable if constructed correctly but that is the problem. So many were home built that the quality ranges from very good to rotten. Mostly on the lower end of the scale. Without a recognized builder it is very difficult to assess to the build quality. Also it is difficult to fing a surveyor who has good working knowledge of a ferro cement hull. I would pass on this boat but then again I have not seen it. Quality is always better than quantity.
Be very cautious
As the previous posts stated, you *can* find good, solid ferrocement boats but they're few & far between. Try finding a good surveyor who's been around awhile - they're likely to have experience with ferro. One more note of caution. You said the hull had been "done" within the last year. I'm assuming that means it was painted? If so, it could have been done to cover up rust stains. And if there's rust stains, there are MAJOR problems! The chicken wire used in the construction is to keep the concrete together. Once that fails, bad news is on the horizon. Personally, I wouldn't even bother - and I'm not in the minority - so reselling it WILL be a pain later. He'd better be prepared to keep it for a good long while and then not expect much for it when he does decide to sell. LaDonna
As the previous posts stated, you *can* find good, solid ferrocement boats but they're few & far between. Try finding a good surveyor who's been around awhile - they're likely to have experience with ferro. One more note of caution. You said the hull had been "done" within the last year. I'm assuming that means it was painted? If so, it could have been done to cover up rust stains. And if there's rust stains, there are MAJOR problems! The chicken wire used in the construction is to keep the concrete together. Once that fails, bad news is on the horizon. Personally, I wouldn't even bother - and I'm not in the minority - so reselling it WILL be a pain later. He'd better be prepared to keep it for a good long while and then not expect much for it when he does decide to sell. LaDonna
LaDonna
makes some good points. Insurance is very hard to get. The concrete is not usually a problem and can be repaired with epoxy. The real problem is the wire structure. Unless you have scantlings and build plans available you won't know what is used for the ferro reinforcement. All boatbuilding materials absorb some amount of water and concrete is no exception. As soon as moisture reaches the wire form corrosion starts and the hull begins to loose structural integrity, but you cannot measure the corrosion or take measures to retard it as it is imbeded in the concrete.
makes some good points. Insurance is very hard to get. The concrete is not usually a problem and can be repaired with epoxy. The real problem is the wire structure. Unless you have scantlings and build plans available you won't know what is used for the ferro reinforcement. All boatbuilding materials absorb some amount of water and concrete is no exception. As soon as moisture reaches the wire form corrosion starts and the hull begins to loose structural integrity, but you cannot measure the corrosion or take measures to retard it as it is imbeded in the concrete.
Whew. I could say a few things but the first is.
Don't hope to sell this boat anytime soon. Even though this might be a fine boat, the stigma of ferrocement boats will make it very difficult to sell. Is $10k a lot to you? It might be yours to keep for a while, but it "could" be a great boat and serve you for many years, the only problem there are very few that are any good. Unless you can track down the person who actually designed the boat to be built in ferro-cement, and be fully confident that he had the expertise and knowledge....then it's just another amateur designed amateur built ferroboat ! If she has a well documented and proven record, she might be worth consideration. If not I would tend to steer clear of her I suggest you do a little reading. Here are a few web sites. http://www.ferroboats.com/ http://www.ferrocement.com/boats-en.htm
Don't hope to sell this boat anytime soon. Even though this might be a fine boat, the stigma of ferrocement boats will make it very difficult to sell. Is $10k a lot to you? It might be yours to keep for a while, but it "could" be a great boat and serve you for many years, the only problem there are very few that are any good. Unless you can track down the person who actually designed the boat to be built in ferro-cement, and be fully confident that he had the expertise and knowledge....then it's just another amateur designed amateur built ferroboat ! If she has a well documented and proven record, she might be worth consideration. If not I would tend to steer clear of her I suggest you do a little reading. Here are a few web sites. http://www.ferroboats.com/ http://www.ferrocement.com/boats-en.htm
Ferrocement
Let's cut through the platitudes -- run like hell from a ferrocement boat. Classics built out of either wood or 'glas...both solid choices with years of history behind them and thousands of hours in maintenance experience gained on them...are sometimes problematical enough without tossing in a cement twist. The only reason this material was EVER used was because it was relatively cheap. Find me one ferrocement hull built by S&S, Hood, Friers, Fejas, Hinkley or Perry. I'm waiting...oh, you can't?? That should tell you something.
Let's cut through the platitudes -- run like hell from a ferrocement boat. Classics built out of either wood or 'glas...both solid choices with years of history behind them and thousands of hours in maintenance experience gained on them...are sometimes problematical enough without tossing in a cement twist. The only reason this material was EVER used was because it was relatively cheap. Find me one ferrocement hull built by S&S, Hood, Friers, Fejas, Hinkley or Perry. I'm waiting...oh, you can't?? That should tell you something.
gee bob what about jay benford?
or herreshoff or ibold.
ya and i guess bill garden never had one of his designs built with sub standard materials.
or herreshoff or ibold.
ya and i guess bill garden never had one of his designs built with sub standard materials.Sub-standard materials
Ok, so there are plenty of glass and wood boats out there that are pure junk...so, the point is...what? Those clunkers don't sell any better than ferrocement. The point is, why, in this day and time, would anyone just want to buy quantity over quality and then be so upside down later on they have to take a bath on selling something just to be rid of it? Folks, there are plenty of boats out there -- quite serviceable boats -- that can be had for decent money, provide good service, pleasure and performance in the $20,000 range and for which one can get a fair amount of money back out of it after a couple of years and none of them are ferrocement. I will say this; the quality of any boat building project is in direct proportion to the person doing the work and I would suppose that perhaps under some circumstances there are those quality craftsmen out there who could build a ferrocement boat that would be off-the-scale high-quality, but, from the ones I've seen, and I've been around boats and boat building my entire life of 48 years, such a craft would certainly be the very rare exception and not the rule.
Ok, so there are plenty of glass and wood boats out there that are pure junk...so, the point is...what? Those clunkers don't sell any better than ferrocement. The point is, why, in this day and time, would anyone just want to buy quantity over quality and then be so upside down later on they have to take a bath on selling something just to be rid of it? Folks, there are plenty of boats out there -- quite serviceable boats -- that can be had for decent money, provide good service, pleasure and performance in the $20,000 range and for which one can get a fair amount of money back out of it after a couple of years and none of them are ferrocement. I will say this; the quality of any boat building project is in direct proportion to the person doing the work and I would suppose that perhaps under some circumstances there are those quality craftsmen out there who could build a ferrocement boat that would be off-the-scale high-quality, but, from the ones I've seen, and I've been around boats and boat building my entire life of 48 years, such a craft would certainly be the very rare exception and not the rule.
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