Origami steel yacht construction

On a more serious note, the primer on pre-primed plates is not a suitable primer for a marine coating systems, I still think using pre-primed plates is worth it since you don't have to deal with mill scale but any marine paint specialist will tell you to sandblast and use a proper dual component primer.

Some primers, such as internatuonal nu plate F are useless as a finish primer. Nothing but vinyl will stick to vinyl. Cold galvanizing primers of inorganic zinc are a different animal ,and mine has lasted 26 years with epoxy tar over it with no problems.I have never sandblasted.
That green primer that Devoe makes is also excellent. Some steel shops use it over freshly wheelabraded steel. There is a place in Oregon which we have got it from,.
Welder Fitter.
If you have contacts in ther shipyards stil, it would be interesting to find out how much ablative antifouling they put on BC ferries per year.
48 north has found out that the amount of copper in puget sound waters from boat yards is 0.3% while that from brake shoes is 40%
We are being made scapegoats.

 

that will make the fortune of the booze maker, and a radical end of the society. nobody will work anymore, so tell me who will pay for our booze, nobody will have money to paid the gambles debts, the ladies will too expensive, even for a quickie...............................no brent don't give them this idea, we have to preserve our independence by leaching on the working suckers.

 

The short answer is that they don't.

The larger ferries are on 5 year schedules. The smaller ones are supposed to hit the grid at the end of Rice Mills Rd., Richmond, or Allied, every 2(?) years, but it doesn't seem to happen. The only drydocks that can accomodate the "C" class & "Spirit" class are the graving dock in Esquimalt - naval vessels - and Vancouver Drydock, where I spent most of my time. Other than 5 refits, from 2004 through 2008("Queen of... Coquitlam"/Oak Bay"/Alberni"/Surrey"/Nanaimo"), we only rarely saw a ferry in for scrape & paint, maybe 2(?) per year. You can tell when a ferry has been in to the Drydock, because most of North Van smells like a low-tide for a few days(tons of marine growth). Last I heard, "B.C. Ferry Services" was building their own facilities at Duke Point, I suppose because Vancouver Drydock's "Careen" is $10,000/day & the "Panamax" is $15,000/day.

I should also point out that copper-based ablative is no longer used.
Mike

 

If you want to look at it like that, every service the government provides is 'subsidized.' That includes fire fighting, police protection and the military.

Strangely enough, most governments are not set up as for-profit entities....

 

You haven't even come close to proving that other building methods are outdated or that yours is cheaper. You have nothing but unfounded assertions.

 

seems to me the the length of time it takes to build a boat would be determined by what you're most familiar with and how you want the boat outfitted

say you're a wood worker and have no experience with metal fabrication then the hull will take you a lot of time and thought

if like me you see the boat as a means to get out on the water and think liberty ships are beautiful, it may not take as long as someone who see's their boat as a status symbol

so whats wrong with a Formica covered plywood table?

and shower type curtains instead of doors?

 

Loud rustle.. prefer a proper cloth for such purpose

 

Troy2000,

Good government was not established as a profit making entity, sadly its what they have devolved into.

 

So you are expecting people to believe that quadrupling the number of feet of cutting , grinding , fitting and welding won't quadruple the time, welding rod , and wages it takes to get a hull together?

And you call me a liar?

Anyone who was around Newcastle Marina in Nanaimo BC in the spring of 84 can confirm my boat was launched one month from the time the steel arrived, with only two people working on her.
Anyone who has built my boats, can confirm how quickly they go together.
There are many in BC waters, and elsewhere. Ask them.
Wiley has told us that, after months of work ,he is ready to start plating , something that I have had finished in two days.

If time and money are major obstacles to realizing your cruising dreams then it wouldn't make much sense to to get your advice or plans from those who make no effort to solve that problem, nor from those who deny it is a problem for many people .Nor would it make any sense to get your advice from those who have never made it off the treadmill for any length of time, despite their having spouted advice on how to accomplish that for a long time.. Their qualifications are sadly lacking in this field.
Nor would it make sense to get your advice or plans form someone who's designs have usually taken months or years to get the hull together. Ask back yard builders of their designs how long that takes them.

 

Two points.

First, you have NOT finished plating in 2 days. At best you've finished TACKING TOGETHER a hull in 2 days. Not the same thing at all. It's dishonest of you to equate the 2. How long did it take to get Alex's hull weather tight? Over 2 years?

Second, I take months off to travel interstate so elapsed time is not equal to time working on the boat. It's a hobby for me and time really isn't of the essence.

A third point to throw into the discussion: Tom Colvin told me that it took him 31 weeks from start to finish to build ANTELOPE, a 37' junk rigged schooner, along with doing normal house, yard etc maintenance and running his business. That time included making all the sails and rigging. He built outdoors, single-handed. That makes him way quicker than you.

You don't have anything new to say, Brent, and we've heard it all before. Maybe 2 people at most here believe something that you say and I doubt that anyone believes your whole story because there are too many half truths and holes. Yeah, you can get a hull skin together quickly but so what? The real test is, how much faster can your technique get a structurally sound boat in the water and sailing? You have nothing relevant to say on that.

PDW

 

When I have the hull skin together, there remains a fraction the number of feet of welding to do.
My hull was launched in one month from the time the steel arrived and detailed in ten days, painted in ten then rigged in a week, a fraction the time Colvin took.

Some here expect us to believe that if the government sent them a cheque to cover most or all of their living expenses, they would send it back.

And they call me a liar?

 

I once watched a team install bow thrusters in an aluminium fishboat. The built a flight of steps up to the bow, cut a 4 ft hole in the side , spent weeks doing the hydraulics, then welded the hole shut. It saved them a huge amount of time. That is the advantage of metal hulls. If you cut a hole in to let the sand out, then weld it shut afterwards it saves a huge amount of effort. Being able to better see what you are blasting makes a better job as well.

 

Some friends once built a pre- fabed log house. With the amount of time they spent matching the numbers they said it would have been far easier and quicker had they just been given a pile of logs and a set of plans.
The same can happen with extremely complex steel boat designs, especially if things are a bit out on the dimensions.