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| Selections from "Sail Away" | ||
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Part 3 - Outfitting
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| What Boat is Right for Voyaging If you don't have a boat already, or are considering a different one for voyaging, the question of outfitting is secondary to the selection of the boat itself. Choosing a cruising boat is naturally a very personal matter. If it weren't, I suppose we would all be sailing in the same cookie-cutter cruisers. Instead, a typical anchorage is populated by a wide variety of boats ranging from sleek multihulls to fiberglass sloops to small pirate-style schooners (some flying the "skull and crossbones"!). Where and how you plan to cruise will definitely play a large part in your decision. The multihull with a shallow draft can reach many more places in the shallow islands of the Bahamas than can any traditional deep keeled boat like ours. A tough steel hull won't mind bumping into the odd ice floe in Alaska, and a light fiberglass racer/cruiser will probably make the fastest passages offshore (unless the multihull has really kept the weight down). No one boat can be all things to all people. A look through any of today's sailing magazines will reveal a number of "purpose-built" ocean voyaging yachts, ranging from a scant 20 feet to an opulent 70 feet or more. One great thing about the proliferation of ocean voyaging yachts is that they have encouraged a fresh look at yacht design. Instead of designing boats to cheat a racing rule, the "voyaging yacht" designer can try to get the best mix of interior space, seaworthiness, and other factors he thinks are good for the voyaging sailor. These boats often look like the best choice, but even if you have the luxury of choosing a boat without worrying about price, it makes sense to really evaluate where you will be cruising. A trip through the Caribbean with a couple of short offshore passages may not justify a boat built for Cape Horn, with the restrictions of that sort of boat, in terms of draft, weight and expense. In the final evaluation, cruising plans, liveaboard lifestyle, the number of crew and of course financial constraints, will help to decide which is the best voyaging yacht. Hull Material In considering a sailboat for cruising, the choice of hull goes along with the choice of hull material. Before jumping into the sailboat market, it makes sense to understand the basic properties of the various construction materials that are available, especially since there is such a wide range of options. I know of no other item except a boat that is available in all the materials listed below. And that is not including the one stainless steel yacht we saw in Gibraltar. Even bronze has been used to build a hull! Aluminum Many cruisers consider aluminum to be the best choice of boat building materials. It is strong and relatively light, allowing a very tough boat to be built. Marine grade aluminum will not rust in seawater since aluminum protects itself against seawater corrosion by forming a thin layer of oxide on the surface. A welded unit exterior means a dry leak-free boat and the resulting boat requires relatively little maintenance. Why doesn't everyone cruise in aluminum yachts? Cost is certainly a major reason! Aluminum is one of the most expensive materials, and there is also the fact that it doesn't lend itself to mass production. Galvanic action with other common marine metals means the boat must be very well protected against electrolysis. Aluminum boat owners are extra nervous of stray currents in marinas (we should all be somewhat nervous) since electrolysis will attack the whole hull. Aluminum boats remain relatively rare but it is a good choice for custom construction, where the added cost of a "one-off" project conceals the expense of the material. Ferrocement Concrete boats became popular more than 20 years ago, mainly with home builders, and chiefly for the low cost of the raw materials. Although a well constructed ferrocement boat is very strong, many were built by amateurs who did not know the material well enough. It was easy to produce an overweight hull. Today very few boats are built of ferrocement and it cannot be recommended as a construction material. Fiberglass The correct name is really Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic since it is a plastic resin reinforced with glass (or now KevlarTM) strands in various woven and matt forms. More popular than all the other construction techniques combined, fiberglass is the obvious choice for a mass-production yacht since it can be easily moulded into a hull. The end product is strong and light. Although it was initially promoted as requiring no maintenance, fiberglass has its own special problems. Polyester resin absorbs water through osmosis, with boats kept year-round in tropical water being especially vulnerable. The absorbed water can form blisters where small pockets of the plastic deteriorate into a sticky mess. This is rarely a structural problem but can be expensive to repair. Having competent workmen lay up the hull under the correct conditions, and with the proper materials are all important factors to achieving a sound fiberglass boat. With these prerequisites met, fiberglass sailboats are the most cost-effective way to go voyaging. In fact, their longevity has forced a worldwide depression in the sailboat market. Steel Steel is definitely the strongest material for boatbuilding. Steel boats have been known to bounce up and down on a reef and be pulled off un-punctured hours later -- bang out the dents and apply a coat of paint and they're back in business. It's the stuff of legends, but realistically there are problems with steel. <<Image 006>> Michael and Lise on Blue Dragon chose steel for strength and are sailing here in the iceberg strewn waters of Newfoundland. Susceptibility to rust means that most steel boats less than 50 feet are made thicker than they would need to be for strength alone. The extra thickness increases weight and reduces performance - but that's where the stories of super-strong hulls come from. Like aluminum, producing a steel boat is much more labour intensive than fiberglass and the cost is proportionally higher. Rust is a problem and the surface preparation and coatings must be applied well. Despite all that, steel can make a good choice for a voyaging yacht. Many long-term voyagers admire the steel boat's bullet-proof reputation. One dark night on our passage to Bermuda, we listened to the drama of a 53' yacht that had struck a submerged object 50 miles north of us and was taking on water. We were too far away to hear the skipper's call for help, but we heard Bermuda Radio's powerful signal asking vessels in the area for assistance. As Two-Step sailed on through the black waters, the yacht in distress sank and we heard the report that a freighter picked up four people in a liferaft. It really shook us. Since that experience, we have done numerous projects on Two-Step to increase her ability to withstand such a collision including adding a forward waterproof bulkhead, and strengthening the front edge of the keel. Steel provides a peace-of-mind for voyagers who are willing to live with the increased weight and the rust problem. Wood Plywood and epoxy used in "cold-moulded" construction are a viable option for one-off boatbuilding, and are especially favoured for multihulls since it yields a very light and strong vessel. Care must be taken when working with such large quantities of epoxy resin however, since it is not unusual to develop a violent allergic reaction to the material in its uncured state. Purchasing one of these modern wood boats can be a cost effective way to get out sailing. Annie Hill wrote Voyaging on a Small Income to describe her cruising lifestyle on Badger, a 33 foot plywood cruiser she built with husband Pete. The book is a great source of inspiration for those who don't have a lot of resources but just want to get away sailing. September of 1997 Sheryl and I woke up one sunny morning on Two-Step on the hard in the port of Angra do Heroismo in the Azores. Most cruising yachts had left already and we hadn't seen another cruiser in two weeks. We had just hauled out and were preparing to fly home for the winter. I poked my head out the companionway and noticed a trim black junk-rigged ketch at anchor in the harbour, under the watchful eye of the 17th century fort on the hill. It was Badger. Later when Annie and Pete Hill rowed ashore we shared a few beers up on Two-Step in the late summer sun. We talked about their lifestyle and the decision to build Badger in plywood. "Well we just got in last night and haven't sussed out the town yet" said Annie, looking fit and trim, red hair framing a pretty face. "Did you come from Horta?" I ask. "Baffin Island actually" Pete says, eyes twinkling at my surprise. "So you were at sea 5 days ago" I ponder: "what weather did you get when Hurricane Erika came by. We battened down here and had quite a blow!" Annie looked over at Pete. "Ahhhh, that explains it, we had some dirty weather a few days ago. We don't have a radio or any way to get weather you know." I asked them how they decided to build Badger in plywood. "Well, it was economics really" Annie smiled. "We could build the boat cheaply and quickly, put the rest of our money away in investments and use the investment income to cruise on. We've cruised for years, made numerous circuits of the Atlantic in Badger and kept to a budget of just $2,500 per year." "What about your book, has that changed anything for you?" Sheryl asked. "Yes, we earned a bit on that, in fact we were able to give ourselves a raise. Now we cruise on $3,500 a year!" Later Sheryl and I agreed that the plywood Badger was one of the most successful cruising boats we had seen that summer. They had been living happily on her for eight years. She looked trim and seaworthy after a stormy passage from Baffin Island (near Greenland!) and it hadn't broken the bank to get her out on the water. I believe traditional wood planked construction is no longer a viable method of building a cruising boat. It is beautiful and easy to repair but the skills and time necessary to produce a good product, combined with the high maintenance required, make planked wooden boats a labour of love only. If you choose to purchase a traditional wooden vessel, be aware that maintenance requirements rise substantially in the tropics where rot, teredo worm and sun are all more active. |
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