ferrocement yacht meaning

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Ferrocement

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Introduction Construction Economics Advantages Disadvantages

Ferrocement build boat. GNU Antonio walter guzman

Ferrocement , also referred to as ferro concrete or reinforced concrete, a mixture of Portland cement and sand applied over layers of woven or expanded steel mesh and closely spaced small-diameter steel rods rebar. It can be used to form relatively thin, compound-curved sheets of concrete ideal for such applications as hulls for boats, shell roofs, and water tanks. It has a wide range of other uses including sculpture and prefabricated building components. The term “ferrocement” has been applied by extension to other composite materials, including some containing no cement and no ferrous material.

The original inventor of the material, Frenchman Joseph Monier, dubbed it “ciment armé,” but after another French inventor, Joseph-Louis Lambot, constructed a small ferrocement boat and exhibited the vessel at the Exposition Universelle in 1855, the name “ferciment” (in accordance with Lambot’s 1855 patent) stuck instead. The patent was granted in Belgium and only applied to that country. At the time of Monier’s first patent, July 1867, he planned to use his material to create urns, planters, and cisterns. These implements were traditionally made from ceramics, but large-scale, kiln-fired projects were expensive and prone to failure. In 1875, he expanded his patents to include bridges and designed his first steel-and-concrete bridge. The outer layer was sculpted to mimic rustic logs and timbers, thereby also ushering Faux Bois concrete into common practice.

Recent trends have “ferrocement” being referred to as ferro concrete or reinforced concrete to better describe the end product instead of its components. By understanding that aggregates mixed with Portland cement form concrete, but many things can be called cement, it is hoped this may avoid the confusion of many compounds or techniques that are not ferro concrete.

Ferro concrete has relatively good strength and resistance to impact. When used in house construction in developing countries, it can provide better resistance to fire, earthquake, and corrosion than traditional materials, such as wood, adobe and stone masonry. It has been popular in developed countries for yacht building because the technique can be learned relatively quickly, allowing people to cut costs by supplying their own labor. In the 1930s through 1950’s, it became popular in the United States as a construction and sculpting method for novelty architecture, examples of which created “dinosaurs in the desert”.

 Construction

The desired shape may be built from a multi-layered construction of mesh, supported by an armature, or grid, built with rebar and tied with wire. For optimum performance, steel should be rust-treated, (galvanized) or stainless steel. (In early practice, in the desert, or for exterior scenery construction, “sound building practice” was not considered, or perhaps unknown as it grew in some cases, from a folk craft tradition of masons collaborating with blacksmiths.) Over this finished framework, an appropriate mixture (grout or mortar) of Portland cement, sand and water and/or admixtures is applied to penetrate the mesh. During hardening, the assembly may be kept moist, to ensure that the concrete is able to set and harden slowly and to avoid developing cracks that can weaken the system. Steps should be taken to avoid trapped air in the internal structure during the wet stage of construction as this can also create cracks that will form as it dries. Trapped air will leave voids that allow water to collect and degrade (rust) the steel. Modern practice often includes spraying the mixture at pressure (a technique called shotcrete) or some other method of driving out trapped air.

Older structures that have failed offer clues to better practices. In addition to eliminating air where it contacts steel, modern concrete additives may include acrylic liquid “admixtures” to slow moisture absorption and increase shock resistance to the hardened product or to alter curing rates. These technologies, borrowed from the commercial tile installation trade, have greatly aided in the restoration of these structures. Chopped glass or poly fiber can be added to reduce crack development in the outer skin. (Chopped fiber could inhibit good penetration of the grout to steel mesh constructions. This should be taken into consideration and mitigated, or limited to use on outer subsequent layers. Chopped fibers may also alter or limit some wet sculpting techniques.)

The economic advantage of ferro concrete structures is that they are stronger and more durable than some traditional building methods.[citation needed] Depending on the quality of construction and the climate of its location, houses may pay for themselves with almost zero maintenance and lower insurance requirements. Water tanks could pay for themselves by not needing periodic replacement, if properly constructed of reinforced concrete.

Ferro concrete structures can be built quickly, which can have economic advantages. In inclement weather conditions, the ability to quickly erect and enclose the building allows workers to shelter within and continue interior finishing.

In India, ferro concrete is used often because the constructions made from it are more resistant to earthquakes. Earthquake resistance is dependent on good construction technique and additional reinforcement of the concrete.

In the 1970s, designers adapted their yacht designs to the then very popular backyard building scheme of building a boat using ferrocement. Its big attraction was that for minimum outlay and costs, a reasonable application of skill, an amateur could construct a smooth, strong and substantial yacht hull. A ferrocement hull can prove to be of similar or lower weight than a fiber reinforced plastic (fiberglass), aluminum, or steel hull. New methods of laminating layers of cement and steel mesh in a mold may bring new life to ferrocement boat-building. A thorough examination of reinforced concrete and current practice would benefit the boat builder.

There are basically three types of methods of ferrocement. They are following

• Armature system: In this method the skeleton steel is welded to the desired shape on either of sides of which are tied several layers of stretched meshes. This is strong enough, so that mortar can be filled in by pressing for one side and temporarily supporting from the other side. Filling in of mortar can also be administered by pressing in the mortar from both the sides. In this method the skeletal steel (bars) are at center of the section and as such they add to the dead weight of without any contribution to strength.
• Closed mold systems: Several layers of meshes are tied together against the surface of the mold which holds them in position while mortar is being filled in. The mold may be removed after curing or may remain in position as a permanent part of a finished structure. If the mold is to be removed for reuse, releasing agent must be used.
• Integrated mold system: Using minimum reinforcement any integral mold is first to be considered to act as a framework. On this mold layers of meshes are fixed on either side and plastering is done onto them from both sides. As the name suggests, the mold remains permanently as an integral part of the finished structure. (e.g. double T-sections for flooring, roofing etc.) Precaution should be taken to have firm connection between the mold and the layers filled in later, so that finished product as a whole integral structural unit.

The advantages of a well built ferro concrete construction are the low weight, maintenance costs and long lifetime in comparison with purely steel constructions. However, meticulous building precision is considered crucial here. Especially with respect to the cementitious composition and the way in which it is applied in and on the framework, and how or if the framework has been treated to resist corrosion.

When a ferro concrete sheet is mechanically overloaded, it will tend to fold instead of break or crumble like stone or pottery. So it is not brittle. As a container, it may fail and leak but possibly hold together. Much depends on techniques used in the construction.

Disadvantages

The disadvantage of ferro concrete construction is the labor-intensive nature of it, which makes it expensive for industrial application in the western world. In addition, threats to degradation (rust) of the steel components is a possibility if air voids are left in the original construction, due to too dry a mixture of the concrete being applied, or not forcing the air out of the structure while it is in its wet stage of construction, through vibration, pressurized spraying techniques, or other means. These air voids can turn to pools of water as the cured material absorbs moisture. If the voids occur where there is untreated steel, the steel will rust and expand, causing the system to fail.

In modern practice, the advent of liquid acrylic additives and other advances to the grout mixture, create slower moisture absorption over the older formulas, and also increase bonding strength to mitigate these failures. Restoration steps should include treatment to the steel to arrest rust, using practices for treating old steel common in auto body repair.

More from Wikipedia . More from Wikipedia/ConcreteShip .

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What are the advantages and disadvantages of owning a ferro-cement boat?

Ferro-cement boats have gained popularity in recent years, and they are often preferred by experienced sailors who are looking for a reliable and sturdy vessel. This type of boat is made from a combination of steel and cement, which makes it incredibly durable and long-lasting. However, like all things, owning a ferro-cement boat comes with its own set of advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages of owning a ferro-cement boat:

1. Durability: Ferro-cement boats are known for their durability and strength. They are built to withstand extreme weather conditions and can last for several decades. This makes them an excellent investment for experienced sailors who are looking for a lifetime companion.

2. Affordability: Compared to other types of boats, ferro-cement boats are more affordable. They are relatively inexpensive to build, and therefore, they cost less to purchase. This is a significant advantage for those who want to own a boat but have a limited budget.

3. Customizability: Ferro-cement boats are highly customizable. They can be designed according to the owner’s specific preferences and requirements. This means that you can make modifications to your boat to make it more suitable for your sailing needs.

Disadvantages of owning a ferro-cement boat:

1. Maintenance: Ferro-cement boats require consistent maintenance. Over time, the cement on the boat’s exterior must be carefully inspected and repaired to prevent any damages or cracks that may compromise the boat’s structural integrity. This can be costly and time-consuming.

2. Weight: Ferro-cement boats are known for being heavy. They are not the ideal choice for sailors who prefer speed and agility over stability. This can make maneuvering a ferro-cement boat challenging, especially when it comes to docking and maneuvering in tight spaces.

3. Moisture retention: Ferro-cement boats are notorious for retaining moisture. This makes them more susceptible to damage caused by rot and corrosion, which can significantly decrease the boat’s lifespan. It is vital to keep the boat dry to prevent any long-term damage.

Owning a ferro-cement boat comes with its own set of advantages and disadvantages. While these boats are known for their durability and affordability, they require regular maintenance and are relatively heavy. If you are considering purchasing a ferro-cement boat, it is essential to weigh the pros and cons before making a final decision.

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Maritime History Notes: Ships of concrete

Modern offshore construction practices trace their success to concrete ships built in the past century.

FreightWaves Classics is sponsored by Old Dominion Freight Line — Helping the World Keep Promises. Learn more  here .

The first concrete vessel was a rowboat built in 1848.

Frenchman J.L. Lambot at the time constructed a series of rowboats using a procedure he called “Fericement.” Fericement is a forerunner of what is known today as ferro-cement. This is because steel rods are used to form a wire mesh that creates a skeleton of the ship’s hull, over which concrete is poured to form the hull. 

It is important to note that concrete is made by mixing cement, sand and water. Thus, we cannot say a vessel is cement, but concrete. Incidentally one of Lambot’s rowboats is still afloat in the Netherlands. 

The first practical seagoing ship of concrete was the 84-foot motorship Namsenfjord, which was designed and built by Norwegian shipbuilder N.K. Fougner. He began with the construction of concrete lighters (barges) based on a 1912 patent. The Namsenfjord was completed in 1917 and approved by classification societies that same year.

The entrance of the U.S. into World War I and the heavy loss of shipping through submarine warfare precipitated the U.S. Shipping Board’s embarking on a large-scale steel shipbuilding program. Due to a shortage of steel and the fact that a hull made of concrete requires about a third less steel per deadweight ton compared to a steel ship, concrete ships became important to the war effort.

At this time, San Francisco businessman L. Comyn, who recognized the futility of building wooden ships from green lumber and the general lack of shipyard proximity to steel plants, proposed building vessels with concrete hulls to the U.S. Shipping Board. 

Seeing little interest from the federal government, Comyn established the San Francisco Shipbuilding Co. at Redwood City, California. In September 1917, he started construction and by March 1918, the steamship Faith was christened. At the time, it was the largest concrete ship in the world and the first built in America. The Faith was a single screw steamer of 3,427 gross tons. The triple expansion engines powered the ship to 10 knots.

San Francisco Shipbuilding used deformed bars provided with lugs to obtain the optimal bond between steel and concrete. The side and bottom slabs were 4  to 4.5 inches thick, reinforced diagonally; the shelter deck slabs were 3  to 3.5 inches thick and there were seven watertight bulkheads of concrete. Poop, bridge, forecastle and main decks, however, were constructed of wood, as were the ceilings of the cargo holds. The steamer’s hull was rather blunt. At the time, it cost the shipyard $750,000 to build the Faith.

The U.S. Shipping Board took notice and decided to build 38 concrete ships. Only 12 were completed. The first two, both 2,450 deadweight tons in size, were built on an experimental basis — one at North Beach, New York, and the other at Brunswick, Georgia. Both were delivered in 1919.

The remaining 10 ships were built by the Emergency Fleet Corp. with shipyards at Wilmington, North Carolina; Mobile, Alabama; San Diego and Oakland, California; and Jacksonville, Florida. Eight were completed as 7,500-ton tankers by the shipyard.

These ships did not sail long, since there was a glut of tonnage after the war and being of heavy construction were not economical to operate. Most of these concrete ships were utilized as breakwaters or piers by the early 1920s.

Over the next 20 years, only three concrete tankers of 298 feet long were built for the France and Canada Oil Transport Co.

After the dismal deployment of concrete steamers during the First World War, most U.S. shipyards during World War II shied away from using concrete hull construction despite the renewed shortage of steel.

In 1942, a shipyard at Hookers Point in Tampa, Florida, was tasked by the U.S. government to build 24 concrete dry-bulk ships to transport sugar. These vessels, with their six cargo holds, measured 350 feet in length, 54 feet in beam and 35 feet in depth. Their concrete sides were 6.5 inches thick with four layers of reinforcing steel. The ships were easily identified by three rows of wooden fenders on their sides. 

All 24 of these concrete ships bore the names of prominent individuals of the cement industry. The first of the fleet was the David O. Saylor, which was delivered in November1942 to Lykes Bros. Steamship Co. of New Orleans. 

The remaining ships, although owned by the U.S. government, were operated by other commercial steamship companies for a period before being acquired by the Army for use as store ships or training ships in the South Pacific during the war. 

By 1950, all 24 concrete ships were either scrapped or sunk as breakwaters at Kiptopeke, Virginia; Newport, Oregon; and Powell River, Canada.

Of the approximately 50 concrete ships built in the U.S. during the past century, the Faith was the most commercially successful, with three years in service. The ship sailed the Pacific, Mediterranean and Atlantic before it became a breakwater in Cuba during 1922.

But that was not the final story for ferroconcrete ship construction. In fact, numerous small vessels, barges and yachts today continue to be built with concrete. Additionally, prestressed and pretensioned concrete construction has been extensively utilized in pontoon bridges, offshore petroleum production and storage facilities.

Click for more Maritime History Notes articles by Capt. James McNamara .

One Comment

Mike pellegrini.

Another cement boat survived until recently – the SS Palo Alto – which was sunk in 1930 off Seacliff State Beach south of Santa Cruz. A pier was built leading to it, and it was initially used as an entertainment complex, until the company went bankrupt in the Great Depression.

Following that, the Palo Alto was acquired by the California Parks Department and used as a fishing pier. It was open to the public off and on as late as 2016.

A storm in January 2023 severely damaged the pier and it was removed. The ship now lies in several parts and functions as an artificial reef for sealife.

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Palo_Alto

Comments are closed.

Captain James McNamara, contributor

Concrete @ your Fingertips

Full list of Nuggets

Ferrocement is a composite material composed of a mortar reinforced with light steel fabric/mesh, used to form thin sections. (Ferrocement should not be confused with ‘Ferroconcrete’, a name given to early reinforced concrete.) The construction process consists of forming the shape of the required structure with a mesh of fine reinforcement, such as chicken wire or expanded metal. Multiple layers may be used to achieve the required density of steel and the whole may be stiffened with a few standard reinforcing bars. A stiff mortar is then applied to both sides of the layer of reinforcement known as the ‘armature’) and finished to the required thickness.

The technique is very labour intensive, as the mortar is generally hand-applied although can be spray applied. Thus it is mainly used in developing countries where labour costs are low. In the West, the main application for ferrocement has been for the construction of boat hulls, including racing yachts. It has also been used for roof shells and in decorative applications. Ferrocement is more widely used in Asia and parts of the Pacific. Here it is used for fishing boats of various sizes. In addition the material is used for water tanks, storage structures and the like.

Acknowledgement : The Concrete Society

Attainable Adventure Cruising

The Offshore Voyaging Reference Site

• Q&A: What About Ferro-Cement Boats?

Question [edited for brevity]: I was perusing the boats for sale on the web and came across a number of ferro-cement hulled boats and I was wondering what you thought of that material in general for use in a cruising boat. Is it ever a good idea or is it a matter of manufacturer and current condition? Since I haven’t heard of any companies using it these days I thought it might be an indication that it was an experiment that didn’t show a lot of promise.

Answer : We have no experience with ferro-cement boats, other than hearing that they do not handle abrasion well. But we do know Mick and Bee who have been sailing their gaff-rigged ferro-cement sailboat Hannah for many years, though we’ve never asked them for their thoughts on ferro-cement.

Does anyone out there have personal first-hand experience with ferro-cement boats, or good and qualified engineering information (no hearsay, please)? If so, please leave a comment .

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First-hand experience? Not much, apart from helping out a concrete canoe team now and then.

General engineering information? If the designer understands the material, there’s nothing fundamentally wrong with ferro-cement from an engineering standpoint. It can be more than strong enough if designed and built correctly. Ferro’s main weakness is that the manufacturing process is very much dependent on the skill of the workers and the culture of the company. It is very difficult to tell whether you’re looking at a ferro hull built of quality materials by skilled staff, or one built of chicken wire and cheap mortar by whomever happened to be in the unemployment line that day. A few dead giveaways are an unfair hull and excessive variations in the surface texture, which would indicate that the cement work was done by unskilled labour instead of by properly trained plasterers. In the absence of such obvious bad signs, you need a very careful survey by someone who specializes in ferro construction; I doubt the average surveyor sees enough of them to know exactly what to look for.

I’d agree with your comments and observations on ferro, especially the point about fairness giving away a poor plastering job. Many years ago in Sausalito there was a stretch of rough ground with a row of horribly deformed ferro monstrosities, known locally as the Boulevard of broken dreams.

Ferro can be good, especially if the right design is selected, where the inherent weight penalty isn’t an issue, like the Colin Archer replicas (like Hannah) built by a builder who did it right (like Mick the Brick who built Hannah).

There are some weaknesses – poor resistance to impact, being one although this is less of an issue with a proper internal armature (and not just chicken wire) is used.

And I’m told that in many countries there is now a reluctance to insure ferro boats. Maybe this is down to poorly maintained or badly built boats frightening the insurers – I don’t know.

Ferro was very popular in Australia and NZ, especially the Hartley designs. They even offered a relatively light design (for ferro) called the RORC 39. In the UK Windboats of Wroxham built many of Peter Ibold’s Endurance range, and these are still highly valued, real heavy displacement cruisers.

Best wishes

Note to self: Do not play nautical knowledge games with Colin, and especially not for money.

There goes another potential source of income….

To answer a few of the issues you raise.

Bonding new cement can be done by applying a coating of PVA glue to the old cement, allowing to dry and then applying new cement. Quikrete also offer their own version of this procedure.

Large, dry repairs to the keel can be done with an epoxy mortar, Portland cement, silicon sand and epoxy added to mortar slump consistency.

Chlorinated Rubber Paint – absolutely! I’d completely forgotten about that…I think next time I have something I need to research I’ll ask you first – so much quicker than googling through pages of stuff.

And lastly whilst it wasn’t something you made a comment on I would say that re-sale values are low but so are purchase prices so I certainly don’t see that as an issue.

Thanks very much for the info on bonding new cement. PVA glue, of course – amazing stuff.

I’d agree on the sale/re-sale issue, and ferro can certainly get you out there cruising if your budget is tight, as you guys and Hannah can prove.

The short answer is yes they do make good cruising boats. Particularly if you are, like us, of the impecunious strand. You get a lot of boat for your $ or £ in our case. Hannah was 8 years old when we bought her and included all we needed to head off. 51,000 miles later, all in the North Atlantic, much of it in Northern waters I can honestly say she was a GREAT buy. We did have her surveyed, by the surveyor who actually put the builder out of business, and, whilst he indicated a few voids, he could find little wrong with the boat. But Matt was right; finding a surveyor who knows what to look for could be a struggle.

Are they solid? A few years after we bought her we were motor tacking up the river to Lézardrieux in France. A moments inattention on my behalf had us solidly and crunchingly amongst the rocks. We utilised the scrubbing berth the town has and examined the damage. The bottom of the keel had a gouge either side some 5′ long, 9″ high and and inch or more deep….over the next five days between tides we chipped away loose cement, washed the damaged area, and then filled the damage with the cement we had on board. That included fairing and anti-fouling. 3 years later and back in the UK we thought we’d do the job properly but couldn’t remove the repair we’d made. Seems pretty solid to me. And I don’t want to labour the point or make you think I go around with my eyes closed but we T-boned a growler in Greenland which resulted in Hannah coming to a very sudden standstill. No damage to the hull but the bolt holding the bobstay fitting to the stem bent enough to cause water to leak in. A sister ship to Hannah was holed below the waterline, managed to beach her and repaired the damage between a single tide, floated off and carried on.

Are there problems? For sure. Getting paint to stick to the underwater hull, for us, has always been an issue but perhaps no more than anything else other than grp?

Whilst you can drill through the hull the armature makes it a hard job. Holes need to be oversized and then epoxied before re-drilling to ensure the armature remains isolated from water.

Boats with cement decks have the centre of gravity raised so avoid if possible.

Insurance we have insured with third party Pantanneus since we bought her but have had a number of builders/buyers write to us over the years about the problem of finding insurance cover. No idea why and they may have been wanting fully comp – can’t remember what it’s called over here?

And lastly wooden boat snobs turn cold when they find out we’re concrete. We love that!!! Two guys came upon us scrubbing off in Southampton. They waxed lyrical about Hannah, her lines etc and offered to help (she draws 7′ and is huge underwater) We gladly accepted and they chatted amongst themselves about how tight the planking was and how no seams could be seen….we broke the news gently..they downed tools and left.

It always used to be said that major repairs were an issue with ferro hulls, due to the difficulty of getting the new concrete to bond effectively with the old? I’ve seen two boats that had been holed that were repaired by the owners (in one case bought back from the insurers) and it certainly looked OK, but I wonder if you have any knowledge of this?

And I’ve also heard that many owners used chlorinated rubber paints as a cheap and durable coating, which would seem to make sense.

And it’s a pity about the insurance issue – I knew an Irish owner who sailed an Endurance as a sail training vessel, but had to quit that due to the impossibility of getting the boat insured.

Ferro lasts, though. There are still a number of water barges around the Fal area in Cornwall, dating back to WW II and the D-Day invasion. I’ve even seen a few fishing vessels in Scotland built in ferro, and they were as tough as they come. There is at least one Falmouth working boat in ferro, and I know that many wooden boat fans mistook ‘Skua’ (a sister to your Hannah) for wood at classic boat festivals….

But I’d have to say that I haven’t seen a new build in ferro, for a long, long time – where are the low cost builders these days?

There is the oft repeated adage that the more steel you put into a ferro cement hull the better they are and once you get to 100% steel you get a pretty good boat. However, Danza is a steel boat and like any other material it has its own set of issues. During our circumnavigation on Danza we sailed with a number of Ferro boats and many of them were wonderful, strong boats. As mentioned in the other posts it starts with a well built hull and a good maintenance program. We also crossed paths with Mick and Bee on Hannah on our trip to Greenland and Hannah seemed to be a wonderful boat in many respects. I think the biggest drawback to ferro cement is the resale value but what boat is a good financial investment.

I owned a 60 ft LOD / 50 ft LWL / 18 ft beam Jay Benford ferro wishbone ketch for a couple of years around 1988-1990. She was called the ‘Rockwell Kent’ under my ownership, and the ‘Harambe’ under her original name – launched in the 70’s and built in Port Angeles, WA. As the second owner, I got her in a fairly neglected state – most systems needed some work, so I got a good look at her; it turned into a restoration-and-resale project, tho that was not the original intention.

She was well built for a one-off, semi-home built yacht, and the first thing that seriously put me off the material itself was the ferro deck. You could dribble a golf ball on the bare ferro deck! Even tho this huge boat was very stable, the deck added a lot of weight where it did not belong, and it could be sensed in breeze of wind that her stability curve could have been better with a deck of almost anything else. The impressive thing for most people was not that she was ferro, but that she had a huge wishbone ketch rig. From the tip of her bowsprit to the end of her stern davits measured 78 ft. It was great fun sailing a big, heavy boat; she was very comfortable, but the hull did sweat so condensation prevention was a concern. The maintenance was no harder with ferro than with any other material, but I used to get a fright everytime we bumped the bottom. I doubt the bottom of the keel could ever be easily be repaired with confidence.

In my opinion, the reasons no one builds in ferro any more is the huge time investment just to build the hull, and the abysmal resale value. I think even most dreamers now know that the savings on the hull materials alone simply don’t constitute sufficient savings against the whole project to justify ferro.

We owned an Al Mason designed, 33 ft. ferro-cement ketch, KORORA, from 1970-75 She was built in Taupo, NZ, in the early 1960’s, and sailed by her builder, a doctor, from New Zealeand to Annapolis, via the Cape of Good Hope. As newlyweds, my wife and I bought her in Annapolis for $11,000 and actively sailed her in the Caribbean and up the US East Coast for a year.

She treated us well and was, without doubt, the driest boat I have ever sailed. She was heavy and slow, since she was relatively short and had concrete decks. We sold her on to an Englishman who had fallen in love with her when he first saw her four years earlier and who had continued to bug us until we finally sold her to him. He then sailed her from Annapolis, via Panama, to San Francisco where we lost track of both him and the boat.

We had no significant structural or maintenance problems except for the occasional rust stain or paint blister. The only hull repair was done by the original owner. While anchored in Trinidad and pitching in the daily afternoon chop in Chaguaramus, the bow crashed down on the stern of a launch which was dropping off the crew. Fortunately, the damage was above the waterline and the skipper simply patched the damaged spot with concrete, placing a large British copper penny in the patched spot on the interior to commemorate the occasion.

If properly designed and built, I think a ferro boat can be very good. As a medium, it makes no sense for production building. As with so many home-built plywood trimarans, also popular in the 1960’s, poor workmanship and corners cut by backyard builders gave both types of construction a black eye.

Thanks very much for the really interesting and well reasoned comments that filled in an area about boat construction materials that Phyllis and I were pretty much completely ignorant about.

The take-away, for me, was that the right ferro boat might easily provide a way for someone to get “out there” in a good boat without spending very much money—just another way to get the job done.

Hi We have a Ferro 29ft boat we love , solid cement deck also we are about to slip her to do a new paint job ,and as we are only on the Gordon River /MacQuarie Harbor all the time we were wondering if we should Anti Fowl ,We have had the best times on her Aquatic Mist is her name, and as far as we can find out she is 44 years old ,we are on the West Coast of Tasmania STRAHAN Cheers Maree.

Hello people, I am now fitting out my 60ft Hartley boat which is a stretched Hobart 57. I built the hull from scratch, and with a little help (25) plastered her in 5 hours. But I have put steel deck and top on her. The only problem I’v got at the moment is that one of the water tanks when plastered was left with the top surface of the mesh showing. I will have to give it a skim coat,I was thinking about 5mm thick, reading your earlier comments about sticking new cement to old, will PVA be ok in a water tank.I was going to use epoxy resin.

your views thanks Bob, in Kent.

Sorry, Bob, I haven’t a clue. Does anyone else out there have any knowledge of ferro boats that might help Bob?

Hi, I’m now with a ferro- hull, 37″ ,it’s a shell @ best, all seem to be sound, & no obvious repairs have been made. Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated. Regards Abel.

My wife and i built and lived on a 43 ft hartley fijian.Took 8 years to build and lived on it for 20 even after we built a house. were washed up in a storm which destroyed 5 boats of various mediums,bent rudder,3 days to refloat and dented pride. sails well cement deck with cumbed cork epoxied to it and covered with outside house paint. We tar epoxied the whole of the boatand put on a barrier coat then just used housepaint. hit the odd thing here and there but didnt even scratch the tar epoxy. I think if you have a good armature your ok We also added closer stringers below the water line and also the diagonals . dave

Thanks very much for the information. It sounds like ferro-cement has served you well.

Hi Just found your site, very good reading. I have a Hartly 36. Very dry boat, nice to sail, only had it for about 3 years, very happy with it. A few minor repairs used builders bog trade name works very well, easy to work with sand good finish, also used fiber glass for a hole in the hull from depth sensor, clean inside put 3 layers and 3 layer on the out side filed the dent with epoxy worked very good. the only people i have come across who like ferro boats are ferro owners, I have even com across a few old boat brokers who live on there old ferro boats and would not have any other, Due to less maintenance the have to carry out.

I saw the boat at the top of the column and immediately thought “I’ve seen her somewhere before.” A quick perusal of my files revealed several photographs taken in Beaufort, SC in February 2011 of this boat or an identical twin. It was by far the saltiest and classiest looking boat I saw on that trip, and that includes a Concordia yawl on the dock in Charleston. We were aboard a 30 foot wooden Wittholtz sloop.

Had an occasion to almost purchase a 53 foot ferro. It was a Samson Marine design called a Samson “Sea lord” I subsequently found and purchased a book put out by the shipyard that went thru history design , how to etc. The owner had a Sea lord that he circumnavigated the globe. I believe it was named the Ahwanee. (I would have to find the book to cofirm that) He claimed to have bottomed out at one point on a coral reef, after floating free, went into a harbor and essentially claims to have “Just repainted the Hull.” 2 Ideas. 1. If you can procure sand from Mt vesuvius region of italy Pozouli (SIE) perfect porosity for concrete work. It is what made Roman roads so durable. The porosity really increases strength due to maximized bonding surface, 2. There are now super penetrating concrete finishes on the market that offer tremendous strength and maintenance improvements. There is a commercial name but I would have to check with sources. I was impressed by the number of designs shown in the book. from commercial to pleasure.

We have had our Ferro Ketch for eight years, and totally refitted her. I have done some repairs, and a lot of research. There is a bonding additive by ACE hardware here in the states which is very good. A bit like PVA, or Elmers Glue, I believe they call it here. Polyester sticks better to it than Epoxy, as a repair/coating option. Type 5 Portland Cement, I am told.

if you want a good investment that has anything to do with water – rent a hot tub and put all your money in a bank or under your bed. If you want to live a life worth telling your story about – a hot tub lacks enough water and anytime on a boat is better than any story about money.

Well I,m glad there are no nightmare stories about ferro boats, all the research I have done so its time to go and get one , I was very lucky to find a pro built 37 foot Gaff Cutter, the internal fit out alone was enough to win me over in comparison to other vessel of similar size available, it was half the price and twice the boat ,I have heard all the stories ,but truth be known,knockers don,t own ferro boats, and would never own one they repeat the same old song ,Those that own a ferro love there boat with nothing but praise! the point being there are no owners of ferro boats with bad stories to tell as yet ! we will see the adventure continues from steel to alloy and now cement ! best so far for me ,interested to here from others who have recently bought ferro.

My experience seeing ferros sailing and (sadly) being broken up ashore has led me to believe that, when done well, they are (and perhaps remain) a viable and durable boat building material.

The problem is similar to Bruce Roberts’ designs in steel: Not a lot were done well, and can end up heavier and weaker due to owner/builder backyard techniques that put enthusiasm above experience.

I think if you find a design from the tail end of the Age of Ferro (i.e. the early 80s) that looks nearly new and was finished professionally, you might have a winner, perhaps only requiring a rerigging and an engine checkout to make for a great cruiser.

Of course, I see a lot of superficially decent ferros running under $30K for 50 feet of ketch, they are so disdained by “the market”. At that price, most people well-heeled enough to be shopping for that size of vessel could afford to repower and get new masts, if required.

There are allot of bad comments from people who listen to rumors and know nothing. steel and concrete having the same expansion rate work well together and done properly in one plaster up is probably the most serviceable hull you can get. In qld and the tropics, it is the only hull you can leave for 10 years on a mooring without fear of rust rot and worms .A mate live aboard hadn`t slipped for 15 years ,we put her on the sandbank shoveled off the barnicals and sailed 1000ks to cairns. They being round form .are very strong in a collision .at 6 to 7 knots going aground or bowling over a marker pile is not a worry . after being centre punched from a timber sharpy while on anchor .the crushed area was easly made stable boarding the inside .and repaired the next day with bondcrete and cement.The timber 35ft sharpy sank. Most think concrete doesn`t give but is surprisingly flexible and does flex and return to its original shape. (buildings sway) insurance is the only problem,why? They are cheap to buy cost little to maintain are very strong .very dry ,borer free. i line them with 1/2 foam sheet topped with cabin liner . looks and feels great no condensation.

There is a new ultra leather backed with 3/8 foam that i`ll use as a liner not cheap but luxury plus and soft to bang against .

If looks nice and fare, older than 5 years ,no rust showing(not freshly painted) it will last 100 years and then some.A good ferro is hard to beat for service. Next boat i get .yep, another ferro . about 40 + fit a gardner and putt away.

Built an endurance 35, took 9 years. 4 layers 1/4 weldmesh, 1/4 rods at 2″ centres. Ferro bulkhead holding frames 4 ” deep. Pro plastered withferro crete. Fantastic boat, smooth finish, sailed like a witch. Best boat I ever owned. For point impact carry instant cure epoxy cement. Only problem very high pressure point impact, but easily repairable, GRP you cannot fix it at sea. Ferro you can. Well painted with TLC last for ever. Must be well built.

Thanks very much. Great to get input from someone that has actually built a ferro boat.

Some one says volncanic ash ect and porous.. Actually, I think thats not the reason roman concrete worked, and exterior concrete being ( more ) porpous might be a very bad idea.. Concrete IS porpous, though..

Actually, a modern variation ( apparently) of roman concrete chemistry is mixed with port;land type for a stronger LESS porous concrete. Sulphur Fume ( which presumably resembles the ash refered to chemistry wise..) reacts more of mix, and fillls the spaces in concrete.. ( apparently…) ANyway, by such methods special super strong concrete is being made in last 20 years or so, which makes me wonder if people didnt give up too soon, if indeed they stopped building concrete boats..

For reference normal concrete runs 4000 ( PSI..? ) These concretes can be 10000 to 20000 ( PSI..? ) according to what I saw.. Also there is use of Glass reinforcing in concrete ect ( GRC ) and another fascinating one I found was using hemp mixed in, somehow… They said its very strong, light, and increasing reacts to be stronger stone like material over time..

In short, I d guess there are a dozen ways to ” Out build” anytrhing done 20 or 30 years ago vis a vie concrete boats, if one put some time into learning and applying these things. You might even finish it like a concrete table top..? ha ha Now THAT might upset the wooden boat snobs permanently… haha

Well, good luck to all. Bye Scott

Ps Id be a woodenboat snob too, if I could afford it, lol

I have a 40ft ferrocement ketch that i wish to paint, the hull is coppercoated and ive done the decks with a normal nonslip deck paint, a want to paint the topsides is there anyone out there who knows which paint to use,dave nutcher.

Great reading. Yes I have recently purchased a hartley fijian 43 Very well constructed partly finished ferro. I too did a lot of research before hand and found a lot more pros than cons. Hope to have her in the water b4 Christmas and then head north for some long awaited adventure. I am a concert or by trade so seemed a natural choice for me. There are so many products now readily available to suit ferro it is easier than ever to repair and extend life span of them. Check local decorative concrete / pattern pavers for availability of sealers, concrete epoxy and etc.

i am thinking of building a hempcrete boat at the moment. A trimaran. I am an architect but have never built a boat, so this is a scale model initially.

I have used hemcrete and GRC before for building construction, and done the onsite work myself also, and so knwo how it is to work the material.

Hempcrete is not strong in terms of Youngs Modulus (compression), but it is resilient in ductile and tension stresses. Its is very very cheap to grow. In a normal climate you get 3 to 4 crops a year from it. You mow it done, let it air dry. separate out any crap, and then mulch it at about 2 cm lengths.

Then mix, volcanic ash, water, lime, cement. Now its very much like liquid wood, with integrated fibre.

I still need a super structure and am using glue lam beams ( instead of balsa), and then spraying the hemp crete around the inner liner. The hulls are NOT hollow. They are essentially each a submarine under water. The super structure then goes up vertically off eat to create a large flat deck. The advantage of this design i think is: – Submarine hull is safer in terms of leakage. If it does leak it does not matter, because they is NO steel mesh. SO no concrete cancer possible. -.Its very simple to work with. I use an air compressor and do real time mixing out of the 80 mm pipe using a flow adapter using in the shot creting industry. The mixture can be varied with the different thicknesses in real time – There is no form work as such. Instead Geo textiles or even plastic sheets can be used. Getting them stretched is just a matter of using the hanging chain / relaxation method, and then stable gunning them to the offset superstructure ( about 70 mm gap). In canada and japan they use this technique to make highly curved concrete structures that are load bearing. They end up having to use 30% less concrete, to crry the same structural forces. They are used for bridges, building etc. – Its much less weight – Its self insulating, and has no condensation issue too

I am also thinking of adding boron powdr. This was using for cement shell structures to make them much stronger.

also i will add glasswater to the mix and even more of it on the outside. It gives a very strong hardness and waterrpoofing and reduces friction.

thoughts ??

I am finding it impossible to locate an insurer for ferro cement! If anyone has any helpful info it would be very much appreciated.

Ferrocement Hull Construction

Building a concrete boat may sound like a very bad idea to the novice . . . but it is a time tested boat building method, that works, it is easier than you might think to produce an exceptionally strong and long lasting vessel relatively cheaply. A ferrocement hull has some significant advantages over conventionally boat constructions too: it will not rust or rot, sharp rock impacts will not punch holes in it and the hull actually just keeps on getting stronger for the next 30 years!

The technique requires you to build a frame, often wooden, in the shape of the boat requiredt, fasteb several layers of the specified netting material and metal rods . . . and then apply cement across the structure, cement is quite a forgiving material compared to wood or fibreglass. When the reinforced ( “ferro” ) cement sets, you’ll have a seaworthy durable hull that’s extremely cheap, extremely durable and extremely low maintenance, nearly maintenance-free in fact. In weight terms the hull can be kept comparable to the same hull with an all timber construction is the thickness of the concrete is restricted to less than an inch, and this will still provide plenty of strength.

The ferrocement process is the ideal solution for the home boat builder or enthusiast groups, expect to spend approximately 600 man hours to build a 35 foot hull or a complete 50 foot hull with deck and bulkheads for approximately 1800 man hours!

The technique of constructing boat hulls from concrete was rediscovered by an Italian engineer named Nervi in the 1940’s. The method was then used by some New Zealand boat builders and brought commercially to North America by John Samson when he established his ferrocement design and supply business in Canada. Several thousand ferrocement boats have now been launched or are currently being built around the world today, check the usedboat market to testify the age and longevity of this method of boat construction, as always if you are buying use a qualified boat surveyor and if building your own ferrocement hull please be sure to follow professional guidelines on material specifications and construction techniques to avoid costly mistakes or loss of life.

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Sailing adventures

• Aug 10, 2021

Ferrocement boats, connections and a beautiful story

We have a very beautiful story to tell you... but we have to start from the beginning.

Most sailing boats today are made from fibreglass and factory produced. Some are made from steel or aluminium. However, as you know, Ambrym is different and she is made from Ferro-Cement. This technique has been around for over 100years!

In the 60’s-70’s in particular a lot of people started building their own boats at home, many from wood. But also many from Ferroconcrete. Plans were bought from Naval Architects, however, there were a few issues: Many people started building a boat way too big for their skills, abilities and finances.

Then there were the people who decided they knew how to make the design “better”- this rarely worked out well…

Then when launched it was quite common to find the build quality was not as it should have been…

As a result a high percentage of ferrocement boats were not fit for purpose and quite a few were scuttled (sunk) for the insurance money! (Which also means difficult to get insurance now).

That's why "ferro" boats got a very bad reputation a while ago. It's also why is so important to know if a ferrocement boat was well constructed from the beginning.

When we first saw Ambrym a year ago she was in the water. That means that we couldn't make a proper inspection of the hull. But we saw so many details that were showing that she was a very good and solid boat, that after a closer look swimming and diving, Lloyd decided to follow his heart and good intuition and get her.

When we took Ambrym out of the water for the first time last winter, we were really impressed. The hull is so well built, so smooth and regular. Many people have said that she's one of the best built ferrocement boats they have seen.

We couldn't follow her history back to the builder. The only information we had was from a contract from 1985 showing a common enough surname and an address that now had an apartment block on it... everything pointed to her being professionally built, but we couldn't trace it.

During this last year, we have been trying to get more information, asking, researching... with no result.

Until only a couple of weeks ago...

...without losing the hope of finding more info about Ambrym's history, Lloyd kept asking and talking about it with everyone.

And one of the many sailor friends that he has made this last month in Kalamata came one morning with amazing news: "I think I've found your boat!"

She found an ad on a French forum . Cédric was looking for the boat his father built between 1971 and 1979 and had to sell not long after. Wondering if she was still sailing, where and how... Her name was originally Ambrym.

So that was it! We found Ambrym's builder and first owner!! We have been in touch with them since. Alain (Cédric's father) was a concrete structure engineer that built his own boat, making some improvements to the famous Endurance 40ft model, applying his knowledge and skills both about ferrocement and sailing, building the fantastic Schooner that is Ambrym.

We can't express how happy we are about this. Getting to know them, to share so many emails, pictures and stories with them. Seeing how excited they are to have contacted us. Learning so much from every single email we receive from Alain full of information, tricks, pictures from the first sails, data and even cooking recipes!

We are looking forward to having them onboard. Reuniting Ambrym with her builder and his family. Sharing some sailing with them and keeping learning from Alain.

It's so special seeing these old pictures. Comparing and finding the modifications made over the years, but so surprised to find many things original, still beatiful and working after more than 40 years...

We are so excited and emotional about this. Another proof of how amazing the sailing community is. Showing that sailing is not a sport, or a trip, even an adventure. It's so much more than all this, it's difficult to express.

Thank you Claudia! (the sailor who found the link)

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Across the Atlantic in a £1500 ferrocement schooner

• May 19, 2021

Tom Cunliffe introduces an extract from The Boat They Laughed At in which Max Liberson sets off across the Atlantic in his Schooner to prove she can make it

Of all the yachting books I have read, not one starts like The Boat They Laughed At , by the inimitable Max Liberson:

‘I tapped the large man on the shoulder, interrupting his current occupation which was hitting the security guard repeatedly on the head while he lay in the road. He turned and looked at me. At first he was somewhat at a loss for words. ‘I asked him, “Just what exactly do you think you are doing?” With this he lost his temper and shouted to his mate who was standing behind the security van they were robbing. “Shoot him!” To my horror, the other man had an automatic pistol in his left hand…’

This unusual opening paragraph sets the scene for a rollercoaster read. Max is down on his luck as a dispatch rider in London, but a set of curious chances leads him to a beamy, shallow-draughted ferrocement 42ft schooner, which he buys for the princely sum of £1,500.

His pals in the Essex mud laugh at the boat and, in response to a wind-up, Max decides to sail her to the Caribbean and back, which he promptly does against all the odds.

Max shows himself to be not only a warm-hearted human being, but also a seaman of considerable ingenuity and grit. His self-steering arrangements are an essay in the understanding of how a boat sails, while his ability to deal with dodgy wiring and his quick fix when his inner forestay falls down are exemplary.

We join Max homeward bound mid- Atlantic , with his engine having long since given up the ghost, hacking north across the trades from the Caribbean looking for westerlies. Read on, and ask yourself, as I did, if you really need to spend so much money on your adventures…

It was a pig to get down as well, and quite often it would get caught and then I’d have another repair to do on it.

Life was very busy for me. I would snatch an hour or so of sleep, but there always seemed to be something that needed fixing, or a sail change, or adjustment to the steering that needed to be done. I also had the SSB receiving radio to play with. I’d been given the frequencies for the American weather forecast, but it was some kind of robot and very difficult to understand.

This radio also had AM on it and I could pick up lots of American stations, but mostly these seemed to be Christian evangelical stuff that got tedious very rapidly and had me more likely to question if there is a God rather than reaffirming my faith.

The most time I‘d ever spent alone had been the four-day trip between Porto Santo and Gran Canaria. Now after a period of weeks I found myself getting very emotional about insignificant things.

I began to dwell more and more on my past life, and the mistakes I had made seemed to become of greater magnitude than they had assumed before. I began to despise myself, and this went on for at least a week.

New awakening

Then one morning I had a moment of clarity – one of those realisations that make a big difference. I really got the fact that what had been done before was done, I could live a better life in the future and in the now, and gradually I calmed down and won the victory of feeling comfortable with myself and able to be by myself. It was a magic moment, and I think seldom experienced by many people today.

Our course became more north by west. I really wanted to go north-east but the only way possible was towards New York. If I’d had an engine or crew I would have gone in there, but as it was I gave it a miss – I had no money and plenty of food, and after a particularly savage rainstorm, our water tanks were full.

Max Liberson and Gloria on a mud berth at Battlesbridge in Essex. Photo: Graham Snook

Once we were about 150 miles north of Bermuda and after sailing for three weeks the wind got a bit of west in it, and at last we could point towards the UK. We were on our way!

A group of dorado joined us that night and I shone the torch on them. Either side of Gloria ’ s bow they spread out like outriders escorting a queen.

I know they were just making use of Gloria as a stalking horse; the flying fish would take to the air when she got close, and the dorados would be waiting when they landed, but it seemed more magical than that. More like Valkyries bringing a fallen warrior to the halls of Valhalla. All I needed was a bit of Wagner.

That night it got cold enough to put on some clothes, and the next day the dorados were gone, as was the aquamarine colour of the sea; it was starting to go grey, but Gloria was in the groove and romping towards home, and she had found the blessed Gulf Stream with its 2-3 knots of favourable current.

I could not complain. I began to see whales quite frequently. I think they thought Gloria was one of them. She was travelling about the right speed and the black antifoul looked very whale-like.

I also started to pick up Herb, the famous weather router on the SSB radio. He was sending the yachts closest to me back down to Latitude 35, into light and variable winds, which is okay if you have a motor and plenty of diesel but no good for us.

The first really bad blow started up and I struggled to get sail off and get Gloria steering on course. I just about had it sorted, when we fell off a wave and all the electrics went off.

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There was only 30 minutes before nightfall, and I had nothing: no lights or navigation instruments.

Leaving Gloria to herself I dashed below. I knew there was a common negative connection on the engine; my first thought was that it had come off. I reached under the engine to check it and found that it was arcing out. I managed to get it disconnected and then put a multi-metre on the engine. I found that the engine was showing 12.65V! I expected any moment to have to deal with a fire.

Nothing I did seemed to make any difference to the current in the engine. I got out a pair of snips in the end and cut the whole wiring loom. That did it. Then I started rewiring the boat. Lights first, then the navigation and so on.

It was a good job Gloria knew which way to go.

Reduced speed

We were getting bashed about a bit, but when I did get topside we were on course and doing 7 knots, so I left well alone and went to get some food and rest.

The wind kept blowing. Twenty-four hours later I thought it freshened, but when I checked the GPS we were only doing 5.5 knots. I was really tired and put the discrepancy down to exhaustion, so I went below to try and rest.

Down below Gloria’s saloon was an eclectic mix of found objects and home-made equipment. Photo: Graham Snook

At first light I noticed a long orange sea monster following the boat! Once a bit of common sense crept into my thinking I had a good look and realised there was something around the skeg. The wind dropped down and I was able to hook up the ‘monster’. It was a long-lost liferaft drogue and rope – a real sod to get aboard.

I was having trouble hearing Herb properly but I thought he said that after the strong blow we’d had the wind would go north-west for a few days, then go back to south-west and blow again, which is exactly what happened.

On 19 June I heard Herb telling a yacht called Bear to get the hell north above Lat 42 as fast as possible. We were in Lat 41, so what was the choice? Go south and prolong the blow or go north and hope?

We went north and 24 hours later the wind started to howl. I was reducing sail, the barometer was dropping fast, the waves were getting really big, but the thing that was making life nasty was a swell from somewhere else running at an angle to the swell driven by the wind.

Our speed was generating a big wake making the waves break. I needed to find a way to get Gloria to steer herself and slow down. She was on the point of broaching and I was rapidly running out of energy. I started letting ropes out over the stern. As each one reached its end, I tied another to it. Once I had all the ropes out I tied off the tiller and went forward to drop the sails, hoping the drag astern would keep her running before the wind.

It did at first, but then a massive wave loomed out of the darkness and she just turned into it. I had not clipped on and was in between the two masts on the lee side. As the wall of water reared up I realised I had screwed up badly and I was going to pay.

When we went horizontal I would be washed overboard. But it did not happen, good old Gloria assumed a nice lean, then because she was 14ft wide but only drew 5ft 7in she was pushed sideways. I saw the huge pressure wave building up like a bow wave on the lee side, hardly any water came aboard, but a lump of concrete capping rail landed at my foot!

I got the sails down, the ropes were keeping Gloria slightly off the wind, so it seemed to me the safest course of action was to shut up the companionway and stay below.

And that’s what I did, as big waves came thundering in. The water found every weak spot and soon the whole inside was running wet, but apart from filling up the cockpit and getting past the companionway boards, the waves did not do a lot of damage, or so I thought.

About four hours later, I felt the wind easing, Climbing out I got my first sight of the massive swell that was running, but the wind had definitely dropped down a notch or two. I put up the working jib and the staysail. Once the sheet was made off to the tiller and Gloria was steering herself, I started to recover the trailing ropes.

It took an awful lot of work to get the ropes in. I was sweating and my muscles were on fire by the time the cockpit was filled up with the stuff. I set to coiling it all down and stowing it. My right arm was aching and it felt like I had pulled a muscle. It needed resting – some chance!

I got some sleep, maybe a couple of hours, then coming up I saw the staysail drop to the deck. The inner forestay had gone. This was really bad news, because I needed the staysail to steer. The mast fitting had pulled out. I had to repair it, and looking around the spares locker I found a short bit of rigging wire with an eye at each end just long enough to go around the mast twice.

I rooted around until I found a handful of shackles, then sorted out my bosun’s chair.  This was connected to a four-part tackle.

My next problem was my arm with its pulled muscle. If the rolling boat bashed me against the mast and I lost my grip, there was no one to help me. I waited for daylight, and then it was time. I got up there fast, the repair worked well and less than an hour later we were back under sail. Gloria was once more steering herself. ”

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We love Ferro cement but beware !

Discussion in ' Boat Design ' started by manta.bay , Feb 23, 2008 .

PAR Yacht Designer/Builder

Terry, you're correct in principle that ferro is a building material and should be able capable of being shaped into a boat. The problem is three fold. The first is the armature is going to rust. Not maybe it will rust, but it will rust, this is a given. Someone with a trowel pushed some "mud" too hard and nicked the mesh's coating or other "problems". You know what happens next. The rust goes unseen until it's ruptured it's way through the area and stains appear. Secondly, the material isn't repairable easily, certainly not with more concrete. Lastly, the armature, which is the key to the build, can't be inspected after it's built. Well, okay it can, but you have to use an x-ray machine and most surveyors just don't carry these around in their back pocket.  

ancient kayaker aka Terry Haines

All true Paul, but equally all apply to non-boat construction and the problems are routinely solved there. None of the materials I identified are immune to the problems you noted or their equivalents. The difference is - compared to bridges and such - boats are generally privately owned and private citizens for the most part lack the deep pockets to maintain the oversight during construction and the maintenance following launch. Concrete is cheap, widely available and easy to handle, as is rebar. They both demand skill to use properly, but skilled folks are available in some numbers from the construction industry and the output per labour-hour is high for a non-factory activity. I suspect if it were not for the fear factor there would be a lot more FC boats out there and they would be very cheap. The problems you identify don't show up until a few decades have passed in construction and by then a cheap boat has outlasted its attraction. I don't think the problem is strength. A concrete boat with a steel heart has a steel heart, after all. Cracks in reinforced concrete structures do very little to weaken them, just creat a path for moisture, so rust is the problem, fear is the enemy and inspection is the cure. I suspect the real snag is, the cost of the bare hull is not the only thing contributing to the cost of a boat. In the end, slashing the hull cost might knock off less than 10% of the boat's cost, but a concrete hull might knock off 50% of a boat's perceived value.  

gonzo Senior Member

Does anyone have experience with plastering a boat with the new type of cement with fibers in it?  

Terry, you don't understand ferro cement structures well enough. They are thin, I mean really thin compared to land based structures. The armature is a much higher percentage of the finished product then it is in a bridge deck or building support column. Lets take a section of 1" thick ferro hull, 3/8" to 1/2" of it will be armature. Now imagine how much the steel can expand before this ruptures the shell. This is considerably different then a column that has 12" of concrete surrounding a couple pieces of heavy bar stock. The bar stock can move around a fair bit, locally crushing concrete along the bar, without transmitting these stresses to the surface.  

boat fan Senior Member

PAR is right about all of what he said. I do think it`s a viable way to produce fixed pontoon based house boats , marina piers and gangways , or floating homes. You could safely go a little thicker for those applications too. Can be constructed with shotcrete in simple molds with galvanized steel re- enforcement - just unbolt and dismantle mold when cured. Similar to building some swimming pools.Could last a long time .  

Attached Files:

Shotcrete.gif.

WestVanHan Not a Senior Member

I've ocean kayaked around ten ships (on several occasions) that have been floating as a breakwater,with most of them being there since just after the war. So 60 + years,with maintenance consisting of pumping out the rainwater on occasion. One of them is pushing 90 years of age. Done right,seems OK to me. http://www.concreteships.org/ships/powellriver/  

Steve W Senior Member

Just curious,do any of you guys have any actual experience building a ferro cement boat or are you just going by what you have read/seen/heard? I ask this because whenever i read one of these many ferro threads i find many people who have opinions based on nothing.I do have real experience with the method and although i havnt had anything to do with them for many years i am still quite fond of them.They actually have a lot going for them. During my apprentice days in the early 70s while i was building custom cold molded wood and foam/glass boats as well as fitting out production glass boats at work i found time to build a modified Hartley RORC 39 for myself as well as act as a grunt on plastering day for a bunch of my friends who were also building ferro boats and i can tell you that there were many many boats built by both proffesional yards and amatures that were as fine as those in any other material.The hull of my 39ft boat was just 11/16"thick and inside that was 5 gauge hard drawn wire stringers on 2"centers fore and aft with 4 layers of 1/2"galv chicken mesh on each side of the stringers.The key is to spend a lot of time fairing the steel armature before plastering so the plasters are just skimming over the mesh maybe 1/16",thats all so there is very little unreinforced plaster,you absolutly do not want to be fairing with plaster.After the initial cure you run water over every square inch for a couple of weeks during which time you go over the entire hull with a carborundem stone which washes away all the loose sand etc,you become intimate with every inch of hull and know where every wire tie that is too close to the surface is as the start to rust.This is exactly what you want,if there were no rust spots you have applied too much plaster and produced a heavy hull.After you shut off the water and the hull dries out you chisel out the rust spots and leave the boat to thoroughly dry out while you move ahead with the fitout,you come back and fill the spots with epoxy filler months or years later when its good and dry before you paint the whole thing with epoxy.Water will no more get at the armature than at the core of a glass boat.Yes,if you bang something and damage the barrier coat you need to patch it promptly,just like you need to with a steel boat and especially a balsa core glass boat or a glassed wood boat,the consequences of not being dillegent are equally dire for all.A well built ferro boat is not any better or worse than any of the other methods for its intended purpose.We have a big steel Chris Craft Roamer in the shop that is getting the bottom replated because when we blasted the bottom we found it was so thin you could stab a screwdriver through it all over the place and this is a fresh water boat.I have recored more glass boats than i care to remember so i dont understand why so many people who should know better are so hung up on the same problem with ferro boats namely water penetration,its simply no worse a problem with ferro.The other big piece of nonsense is the statement the armchair experts so often sprout that you cant survey them because you dont know whats inside the skin, ive news for you,you have no idea whats inside the skin of a glass boat either unless you take core samples and i dont see surveyors doing that, i see many(most) glass boats that are horribly resin rich,over catylized,full of air bubbles,voids etc which transalates to weak and overweight,sound familiar,same issues as some ferro boats may have.My point is a well built ferro boat is as good as any other material for its purpose and a bad one is ,well,crap just like any other material. Steve.  

Not so I`m afraid...... i dont understand why so many people who should know better are so hung up on the same problem with ferro boats namely water penetration,its simply no worse a problem with ferro. Click to expand...

MikeJohns Senior Member

I have surveyed everything from ferro-cement vessels to commercial concrete barges. Over the years I have seen a lot of problems not so much related to construction (they die early deaths) but from accidental damage. Surveys to determine layup can be done readily with x-ray equipment. Most boat damage occurs not from the sea but from collisions, ferro-cement hulls lose local watertight integrity fairly easily and I like to see watertight bulkheads with this construction. I have seen Swinging anchors that have gone through ferro-cement hulls. Any collision with rock reef or concrete dockside (if not taken directly on the stem or keel ) will usually sink the boat unless you can fother the hole, unfortunately this is usually impossible when the boat is grinding on the rock or reef. Here are some insurance pics I have lots more and it's quite informative to look at the damage, it's usually very localized but often leads to the vessels loss similar to trad timber vessel planking damage.  

IMG_4397.JPG

Img_4402.jpg, img_4403.jpg.

I have also surveyed ferro built and also participated in a few builds back in the 70's, when I had long hair and the method was still fashionable. It's one thing to design and build with it, having good intentions and all, but another to live with it in the realities of the marine environment.  

PAR said: ↑ I have also surveyed ferro built and also participated in a few builds back in the 70's, when I had long hair and the method was still fashionable. Click to expand...

Yes, it was a "movement" and many children only a mother could love, rose from the depths of backyards around the country. On the other hand a few companies and designers were actually doing good work with the material, but they too got caught up in the "eventualities" of this material if used on small and mid size yachts. With modern additives, fiber reinforcement, better mortar mixes and most importantly, thick enough hull shells, it's a good material. Those light ships and such of ferro cement that have survived 100 years of continuous use, should be looked at as examples of the method. Their hulls are massive, which is why they've survived. The first ferro builds took place in the early 1800's with many from the 1890's still around. One good look at how they were built shows why.  

Interesting Mike. The thing with Ferro is , even if the boat does not sink after such localized damage , any fractures caused will allow the chlorides dissolved in sea water to wick into the cement matrix by capillary action.Even if you can repair the the damage around the area of impact and deformation , you essentially seal in the chlorides.The longer the time of chloride exposure the worse the problem. PAR put his finger on the root of the problem : thickness of armature cover is vital .Not all that useful for small craft.The good ones ( boats ) have low chloride concentrations in the matrix.Not easy to determine.Some of the dodgy backyard builds had armatures that were not even galvanized . This is interesting: http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&s...wJToDA&usg=AFQjCNH0qWpDsmKkFpVWdZTie69wXKkGjA  

Don't forget that reinforced concrete was invented in France to build a boat.  

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gonzo said: ↑ Don't forget that reinforced concrete was invented in France to build a boat. Click to expand...

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Modern professional ferrocement boatbuilders?

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The pros and cons of ferrocement boats.

• Thread starter Lloydroberts
• Start date 12 Jan 2015
• 13 Jan 2015

Well-known member

snowleopard said: They have several big advantages, not least that they can be repaired anywhere in the world. Click to expand...

My chum with his - own built and it seemed well done, he's a serious pro engineer - 35' ferro job had a protruding bolt in a lockside somewhere like Holland punch a hole in the topsides, which he remarked was very easy to repair. I think that's the sort of thing where the ' easy to repair ' saying comes from, if one gets a big hole it's a different matter. As mentioned, underwater holes are very bad news as one can't fill the hole temporarily with the mesh in the way, I heard there were quite a few blue water ferro boats lost after contact with coral heads, as BurnitBlue says.  

savageseadog

Just can't see the point of Ferro. GRP is more expensive but far better, the cost of the rest of it is the same anyway. I know of a Ferro boat that was incredibly heavy and floated like an fully laden oil tanker, awful.  

Active member

alant said: IIRC, a Windboat 35' Endurance, was Boat of the Show at Earls Court, but ran aground on East Coast on way home & poundered itself to complete destruction on a boulder strewn beach. No ground anchors laid after grounding apparently. Click to expand...

Twister_Ken

Barnac1e said: We've been down this path before (grounding on the east side of Whitby harbour entrance) and anchors or not, she would still have foundered. I lived in Whitby at the time and witnessed the sad event; no way could she have been saved as the strong onshore wind and flood tide started to lift and drop the bilge on the rock shelf she was lying on in a smother of foam and breakers. She was too far out to get any equipment to her from an inaccessible rocky beach and too far in the rock shallows from seaward. See my link in post #6 of this thread. Click to expand...

Twister_Ken said: Presumably the same would have been true of a wooden or GRP boat in those circumstances. And would steel or ali have survived? Click to expand...

PetiteFleur

Many years ago we looked at a 35' ferro boat at a nearby boatyard. It was owned by a boat builder who had the hull professionally built and fitted out by himself so was in very nice condition. It was a cheap price, unusual hydraulic drive for prop, BUT the drawback for us was that no-one would give us a price for insurance so we passed it by - but we were tempted!  

duncan99210

mjcoon said: Neither of those attributes seems to add up to "horror"! Was there something else, in addition to prejudice? Mike. Click to expand...

• 15 Jan 2015

There are lots of less than perfect examples of GRP and steel boats out there. As for the "I once heard of" stories you should probably ask those that have owned and or sailed good distances in a Ferro boat what they think. Just to put your mind at rest I have had mine for 10 years now and would not change her. She is fast, warm, comfortable and very sea kindly. She is not regarded as heavy because she is of Ferro construct, she is regarded as heavy because of her design, she is a full keel Schooner. As for the repair of larger holes, well you will need some galvanised steel mesh, some epoxy, and some sharp sand and some cement. Work the mesh into the exposed mesh around the edges of the hole, mix some epoxy and paint the edges with epoxy, whilst it is still tacky (kicking) make up the cement using epoxy in stead of water, plaster over the hole. When you hear that epoxy is "easy" to repair, it means without the need of specialist equipment or knowledge. For me the beauty of Ferro is that I got the Boat I wanted, at a price that did not break the bank and we are living our dream right now. Yours Simes  

Simes said: As for the repair of larger holes, well you will need some galvanised steel mesh, some epoxy, and some sharp sand and some cement. Work the mesh into the exposed mesh around the edges of the hole, mix some epoxy and paint the edges with epoxy, whilst it is still tacky (kicking) make up the cement using epoxy in stead of water, plaster over the hole. When you hear that epoxy is "easy" to repair, it means without the need of specialist equipment or knowledge. Simes Click to expand...

Touchstone  

Simes said: As for the repair of larger holes, well you will need some galvanised steel mesh, some epoxy, and some sharp sand and some cement. Work the mesh into the exposed mesh around the edges of the hole, mix some epoxy and paint the edges with epoxy, whilst it is still tacky (kicking) make up the cement using epoxy in stead of water, plaster over the hole. Click to expand...

sarabande said: Touchstone Click to expand...

Burnham Bob

Having sailed a 40ft+ ferroconcrete boat in an unexpected force 10 (honest guv it wasn't in the forecast!) I have great admiration for the way it ploughed through the wind and the weather. And having had Mike Peyton's boat swing into my 23 foot halcyon at anchor one night off Stone Point I know which one I'd rather have in a collision situation. All materials have their drawbacks and their strengths. There are well built boats and dodgy boats in all materials but maybe ferro needs a little more examination than grp as the latter tend to be long production runs with their faults already exposed. Can't think of any long production run ferro boats.  

Lloydroberts

Thank you for all the replies, info and pm's with offers of advice and help. It has certainly given me 'food for thought' and more options to consider.  

Daydream believer

Summing up I think you just need some concrete evidence that all is ok with the hull to reinforce others opinions but do not get plastered in the bar when doing the deal as you may pay too much for a load of hardcore  

Daydream believer said: Summing up I think you just need some concrete evidence that all is ok with the hull to reinforce others opinions but do not get plastered in the bar when doing the deal as you may pay too much for a load of hardcore Click to expand...

• 16 Jan 2015

Gordonmc said: The pontoon didn't fare particularly well, by the way. Click to expand...

I own a harltey fijian ferro yacht and love it. Bought cheaply because it is ferro but we have owned her for 8 years now and she is a joy to own. AS long as over around 40 feet then they are no heavier than other materials. Maintenance wise the important thing if rust is seen then it needs investigating early and easily treated with epoxy or mortar repair. We keep the boat in Spain and I believe that the construction keeps her much cooler than other materials, certainly I find going on board GRP boats in similar conditions much hotter. Best advice I can give is buy an old one, ours is now over 35 years old. If they are badly built the problems show relatively early on. Once over 20 years of age or so and if lasting well there is no reason why they should not continue to do so.  

• 30 Apr 2023

In the early 1990s, I bought the 72' ferrocement schooner "Rich Harvest". (She may be seen on the Wikipedia page on ferrocement: Ferrocement - Wikipedia ). She was professionally yard-built by Derek Williams, and has a particularly fair hull that could be mistaken for a moulded GRP yacht. She became the flagship for Brighton Marina and has safely crossed the Atlantic to the Caribbean and back. At first, I was able to insure her comprehensively, but after ten years or so it became impossible to get even the third-party cover that marinas and ports require. I despair of Yacht Insurers; they are mealy-mouthed and do not properly assess the actual risk, but rely on prejudice. Even round-the-world yachtsman Robin Knox-Johnson was negative about the material. The situation now is that insurance is virtually unobtainable for ferro.  

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> > Please support our sponsors and let them know you heard about their products on Cruisers Forums. 30-08-2020, 06:18   . There are some of the where the concrete degraded and I now want to fix that. But I am not sure which steps I need make. Where do I start and which coating products are the best fit for a concrete ? thank you very much 30-08-2020, 06:20   Boat: BUILT!!! Roberts Mauritius 43ft . There are some of the where the concrete degraded and I now want to fix that. But I am not sure which steps I need make. Where do I start and which coating products are the best fit for a concrete ? thank you very much 30-08-2020, 06:32   Boat: Island Packet 38 30-08-2020, 13:57   Boat: Sabre 402 coming off of possibly spalling concrete. You may be able to fix the concrete with some sort of material. Others may have specific ideas about which one(s) to use. The will need to be sanded and repainted. Looks like about a month of indoors or 30 days of favorable , unless you have a crew of four or five to help you. The spalling concrete may be an indication of problems with the reinforcement structure inside the concrete matrix. Often it gets wet and starts to rust. This causes it to expand, cracking the concrete, which allows more to enter. Failure of the painted coating on the deck may have started this happening. Investigating this may require opening up the deck to see. This is why ferrocement are cheaper to buy. They can be expensive to fix. 30-08-2020, 16:37   Boat: plastic production boat, suitable for deep blue water ;) wires in the concrete are visible. It is not a paint that protects the armature, but the concrete itself: being homogeneous cement that has no voids and is not cracked. If it is cracked, moisture will enter and start the of the steel, steel expands and will keep continue to crack the concrete and thus destroying its integrity and strength. The only way for repairing I know, is to chip and grind the concrete away from the top and from the inside, until nice clean steel is showing, then use either new concrete (with the correct additives), or use thick . For large areas you can use woven mats to reinforce as well. Do no apply too much epoxy at one time as the curing reaction is exotherm, meaning it produces heat, and could start burning. Hmmm, once I had a starting to smoke.... had to redo the job. When applying epoxy in a larger hole, you will need something from underneath to stop it sagging, ie a board, or a board covered with some closed cell foam to conform to a curve of the deck. After you do the deck, expect that after a few months or so, you will find patches that may need further repair. If the hull is like the deck..... maybe the job is too big to be able to be repaired economically or from a strength point of view. I had a boat myself for 20 years, and repaired /worked on several others as well. 30-08-2020, 17:18   Boat: Key West 2020 CC It's the name associated with the YouTube account where the above video was posted. 30-08-2020, 17:37   enough so follow the experts .. buy the book and do it right. 01-09-2020, 10:02   enough so follow the experts .. buy the book and do it right. 01-09-2020, 10:06   of the steel, steel expands and will keep continue to crack the concrete and thus destroying its integrity and strength. The only way for repairing I know, is to chip and grind the concrete away from the top and from the inside, until nice clean steel is showing, then use either new concrete (with the correct additives), or use thick epoxy. For large areas you can use woven mats to reinforce as well. Do no apply too much epoxy at one time as the curing reaction is exotherm, meaning it produces heat, and could start burning. Hmmm, once I had a repair starting to smoke.... had to redo the job. When applying epoxy in a larger hole, you will need something from underneath to stop it sagging, ie a board, or a board covered with some closed cell foam to conform to a curve of the deck. After you do the deck, expect that after a few months or so, you will find patches that may need further repair. If the hull is like the deck..... maybe the job is too big to be able to be repaired economically or from a strength point of view. I had a boat myself for 20 years, and repaired /worked on several others as well. 01-09-2020, 10:24   Boat: Beneteau 432, C&C Landfall 42, Roberts Offshore 38 them or go to your local Ace or Home Depot..there many different varieties used for different purposes....you need to study some of the material to decide which to use....some can be injected from a cartridge, others scraped from a tub...but very strong....make sure that whatever you use is the " non-shrink" variety....before slathering it on....you also need to " nuetralize" exposed steel...again....several products available....just paint it on and let it dry..and then cover with the grout.... 01-09-2020, 10:35   01-09-2020, 14:12   Boat: Beneteau 432, C&C Landfall 42, Roberts Offshore 38 strands to concrete to help with tensile strength, but there was no way of telling of which way the strands would orient themselves, get knotted...tangled...etc...so the idea was abandoned... I've been in the construction business a long time. There are several excellent grout materials available for "patching"...far too many to list or recommend here, but most are readily available. Just do a modicum of online ....just " grout for concrete repair"...or find someone in the construction business and ask what products they use.....they will direct you....it's all pretty straight forward.... , , , , Thread Tools Rate This Thread : Posting Rules post new threads post replies post attachments edit your posts is are code is are are are Similar Threads Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post MtUmutSarac Monohull Sailboats 82 04-07-2017 09:18 PoolParty Construction, Maintenance & Refit 0 01-11-2010 03:31 ssullivan Monohull Sailboats 5 07-05-2010 15:52 Colorado Dreamer Construction, Maintenance & Refit 10 16-10-2008 11:19 - - - - - - - Privacy Guaranteed - your email is never shared with anyone, opt out any time. 321 IMAGES Across the Atlantic in a £1500 ferrocement schooner 38 Ferrocement yacht Across the Atlantic in a £1500 ferrocement schooner Ferro Cement Yacht Project for sale from United Kingdom Hartley Queenslander Ferrocement Yacht Hartley Queenslander Ferrocement Yacht VIDEO I Carried Them Both to Unreal Rank ferrocement dinghy, concrete boat ferrocement with aluminum Learn Ferrocement easily ORNAMENTAL ferrocement Yacht How To Build A Ferrocement Boat: A Conversation With William Laurance COMMENTS Ferrocement Ferrocement or ferro-cement[1] is a system of construction using reinforced mortar [2] or plaster (lime or cement, sand, and water) applied over an "armature" of metal mesh, woven, expanded metal, or metal-fibers, and closely spaced thin steel rods such as rebar. The metal commonly used is iron or some type of steel, and the mesh is made with ... Facts & Falacies That have been designed are a 12ft dinghy and the 130ft Steam Yacht 'Blackwater Lady'. The British designed a 120ft submarine in ferro-cement. The oldest ferroboat still afloat and in daily use. ... Ferro-cement is the name given by English speaking people to a boat building method using steel wires covered with a sand and cement plaster ... Ferrocement Ferrocement, also referred to as ferro concrete or reinforced concrete, a mixture of Portland cement and sand applied over layers of woven or expanded steel mesh and closely spaced small-diameter steel rods rebar.It can be used to form relatively thin, compound-curved sheets of concrete ideal for such applications as hulls for boats, shell roofs, and water tanks. What are the advantages and disadvantages of owning a ferro-cement boat However, like all things, owning a ferro-cement boat comes with its own set of advantages and disadvantages. Advantages of owning a ferro-cement boat: 1. Durability: Ferro-cement boats are known for their durability and strength. They are built to withstand extreme weather conditions and can last for several decades. Maritime History Notes: Ships of concrete Frenchman J.L. Lambot at the time constructed a series of rowboats using a procedure he called "Fericement." Fericement is a forerunner of what is known today as ferro-cement. This is because steel rods are used to form a wire mesh that creates a skeleton of the ship's hull, over which concrete is poured to form the hull. Ferrocement -- Boat Building and Beyond Properly made, ferrocement is a high-quality material whose simple constituents and fabrication process make it usable for many construction purposes. There are five basic steps in the fabrication process: (1) the desired shape is outlined by a framing system; (2) layers of wire mesh and reinforcing bars are laid over the frame and tightly ... PDF UNDERSTANDING FERROCEMENT little water inside them. Underground ferrocement grain silos in. waterproofed After curing, the surface is cleaned brush, with and a coat. 1 volume sion of to emulvolume of water) is scrubbed into the surface. dries, a After cement/ it emulsion mixture (1 volume of water to of cement 1 volume to 10 volumes o. emu. Ferro-Cement Yacht Ferro-Cement Yacht. Basically, a ferro-cement yacht is usually a dream concocted in the mind of an amateur boat builder who has seen pictures of a hull under construction, or has seen a boat such as the 52 foot cutter "Awahnee." The dream is simply that such a hull can be produced in the back yard with simple tools and no previous experience ... Ferrocement The World Of Ferro-Cement Boats. This site is devoted to the promotion of Ferroboats as well as a base for all matters Ferro in the boating world. Ferro-cement is the name given by English speaking people to a boat building method using steel wires covered with a sand and cement plaster, patented in 1855 by the French, who called it Ferciment. History The earliest photographic evidence we have of 'ferro-cement boats', are of the two dinghies built by Joseph Louis Lambot in 1848, in Miraval, Southern France. Where he also took out patents for his methods under the name of 'ferciment', in 1855. Another small craft built in Belgium, could be seen for many years in the 'Pelican Pool', at ... What is Ferrocement? Ferrocement is a composite material composed of a mortar reinforced with light steel fabric/mesh, used to form thin sections. (Ferrocement should not be confused with 'Ferroconcrete', a name given to early reinforced concrete.) The construction process consists of forming the shape of the required structure with a mesh of fine reinforcement ... Ferrocement -boatbuilding and beyond owned ferrocement yacht built in New Zealand, circumnavigated the world without serious mishap—al-though it encountered 70-knot g a l e s , collided with an iceberg and was rammed by a steel-hulled yacht. Other ferrocement boats have s h own similar practicality and their number is steadily increasing. In 1973 the Helsal, a 72-foot pre- How To Build A Ferrocement Boat: A Conversation With William ... A conversation with boatbuilder William Laurance Esq.January 2012.Featuring William & Thomas LauranceCinematography: Joseph GainsboroughPhotography: William ... Concrete ship Concrete ship. Concrete ships are built primarily with ferrocement (reinforced concrete) hulls, reinforced with steel bars. [1] This contrasts against more traditional materials, such as pure steel or wood. The advantage of ferrocement construction is that materials are cheap and readily available, while the disadvantages are that construction ... The pros and cons of ferrocement boats. I have noticed a few ferrocement yachts for sale at prices that seem very reasonable for size by comparison. These are around 25 years old. Has anyone got any experience of owning such a yacht and any advice on maintenance needs/pitfalls etc. Tia. Q&A: What About Ferro-Cement Boats? Answer: We have no experience with ferro-cement boats, other than hearing that they do not handle abrasion well. But we do know Mick and Bee who have been sailing their gaff-rigged ferro-cement sailboat Hannah for many years, though we've never asked them for their thoughts on ferro-cement. Does anyone out there have personal first-hand ... Ferrocement Hull Construction The ferrocement process is the ideal solution for the home boat builder or enthusiast groups, expect to spend approximately 600 man hours to build a 35 foot hull or a complete 50 foot hull with deck and bulkheads for approximately 1800 man hours! The technique of constructing boat hulls from concrete was rediscovered by an Italian engineer ... 21th Century Ferrocement Yacht Hull Technology Re: 21th Century Ferrocement Yacht Hull Technology. With traditional ferro construction, when done properly, the outside 1st then the inside are plastered continuously with no stoppages or construction joints. Often using quite a large team of plasterers. The main objective is to avoid joints and porosity. Ferrocement boats, connections and a beautiful story Most sailing boats today are made from fibreglass and factory produced. Some are made from steel or aluminium. However, as you know, Ambrym is different and she is made from Ferro-Cement. This technique has been around for over 100years! In the 60's-70's in particular a lot of people started building their own boats at home, many from wood. Across the Atlantic in a £1500 ferrocement schooner Max is down on his luck as a dispatch rider in London, but a set of curious chances leads him to a beamy, shallow-draughted ferrocement 42ft schooner, which he buys for the princely sum of £1,500 ... We love Ferro cement but beware ! PAR Yacht Designer/Builder. Terry, you're correct in principle that ferro is a building material and should be able capable of being shaped into a boat. The problem is three fold. The first is the armature is going to rust. Not maybe it will rust, but it will rust, this is a given. Someone with a trowel pushed some "mud" too hard and nicked the ... The pros and cons of ferrocement boats. All materials have their drawbacks and their strengths. There are well built boats and dodgy boats in all materials but maybe ferro needs a little more examination than grp as the latter tend to be long production runs with their faults already exposed. Can't think of any long production run ferro boats. 15 Jan 2015. FerroCement sailing Yacht Boat: Sabre 402. Posts: 2,817. Re: FerroCement sailing Yacht. The video posted looks like thick layers of paint coming off of possibly spalling concrete. You may be able to fix the concrete with some sort of epoxy repair material. Others may have specific ideas about which one (s) to use. The paint will need to be sanded and repainted. catamaran gulet motorboat powerboat riverboat sailboat trimaran yacht