Steel Hull Questions

Protecting the interior surface of steel hulls

Hello all,

Have any of you tried having a "Rhino Liner" style polymer sprayed on the interior surface? It seems that it should work. What do you think?

Ray Tarr
Patrick AFB, Fl
1963 Allied Seawind, Crackertail
Hull # 25

 

Steel hull plate replacement

Hello all,

Do any of you know of a web page that shows steel hull sailboat/other repairs? I am thinking about buying a used steel hull sailboat (upgrading from my fiberglass sailboat to a larger boat). An ongoing group of photos and "how it was done" items related to plating replacement would help me in my decision on the purchase.

Thanks,

Ray Tarr
Patrick AFB, Fl
1963 Allied Seawind, Crackertail
Hull # 25

 

Steel hull plate replacement

Here is a picture of the boat in question. She isn't pretty (single chine) but she has an amazing interior and I have two years before I can retire form the military so I should have plenty of time to get her ready to be a live aboard for me and the wife.

Ray Tarr
Patrick AFB, Fl
1963 Allied Seawind, Crackertail
Hull # 25

 

The good news is that your boat is a hard chine so you can work with flat plate without rolling. The bad news is that you will probably have to remove a lot of your nice interior, unless you want a fire, you got to paint it also.

The trick is painting properly with proper stuff , if done correctly it will be better that experimenting with other unknown methods.

 

Steel hull plate replacement

Thanks Frosty,

If I buy it, I plan on totally stripping the interior down to the stringers. I can't see any other way to cure the corrosion for sure. I would also like to treat and spray-foam the interior before putting it all back together again. How much corrosion would you have to see to decide that you are better of scrapping the boat?

Ray

 

Get a compressor and descaler ( needle gun ). A MIG welder and a few offcuts from a local steel fabricator.
After removing all the rust scale you will be able to see the areas that need re-plating . Simply chop out rectangular sections with a cutting blade in an angle grinder. Cut patches to suit with a gap equal to the steel thickness all around the edges. clamp in place with welding magnets and weld both sides.

You will see where you need access through the interior when you have cut your holes. Use a CO2 fire extinguisher in case fire gets behind the lining or use the MIG shield gas. Internal paint fires are easily controlled while welding with someone inside with a damp rag.

The areas than need replacing are usually a lot smaller than you expect as rust scale builds up around 5 times the thickness of the lost material. Smaller corrosion pits can be built up with the MIG .

Paint with a zinc rich primer first ( not below the waterline outside) and be prepared to check and patch paint in the lower interior hull every 5 years or so. For this you want good access through the cabin soles.

A good experienced steel welder can be had for a day for peanuts if you set everything up.

That boat is cheap at $2000 !

 

Steel hull plate replacement

Mike,

Thanks for the advise. My only fear is what might be inside that I can't see. I attached a couple of photos of the worst areas. Do you think it is worth the repair? BTW: how did you know the price? I didn't think I posted that.

Ray Tarr
Patrick AFB, Fl
1963 Allied Seawind, Crackertail
Hull # 25

 

What do the frames inside look like???

K9

 

Internal Frames

I am driving back down tomorrow to shine some light on the subject and will sent the pictures of what I find. I think the internal inspection might be my make-or-break on whether to go on with the repair. Do you have a point where you feel repairs are not worth it? What might a repaired 44 foot steel hull Ketch be worth (fair market USA)? Here is a picture of the interior for referance.

Ray

 

Interior

Oops, attachment didn't go through...

Ray

 

Well. A good hull no engine and nice interior could bring as much as say 20K. But with the market as soft as it is right now, I would think you would be very lucky to get 5K.

Take a hammer with you and hit the frames hard. If it appears that more then 1/3 of them will need replaceing I would think hard about this. The actuall plate on the hull is a bit less scary but again if you think just by a visuall and hammer inspection, that you will have to replace 1/3 per side or more your looking at a lot of money.

From the holes that I see in your pictures, its appearent that the hull was in the water for a long time with no, cathodic protection, so I would be very suspect of all the steel haveing very equall amounts of corrosion.

For your inspection go with this idea in your head.
Make the hull prove to you that its worth saving. In other words go there expecting to say "no way, forget it" and then try to find what is right and what is wrong. If the wrongs just outwiegh the rights then at the very least get the boat yard there to tell what they would charge to repair it and use that as a guide. They will likely get supplies cheaper then you can get them but charge a lot of labor, so see if they will split the estimate up into labor and material. They might charge you $100 OR $200 to do this but its money well spent.

You can also negotiate a bit on this. The boat isnt going anywhere, in this condition and the market is flat. So if your buying cash. I would use this evidence to bargian down.....a lot.

K9

 

Ray, having seen the photos here, the is no need to email them. However, it would be interested to see some of the frames in the rusted area, more so of the bottom plating.

My advice, if you want to have this boat a long time as I guess you will as a live aboard, do not patch. Sometimes you crate more problems than solving it that way. Rather rebuild the hull from the chine down including the transom as well as the frames/floors from the chine down.
Since this is a hard chine design, this may sounds like a mayor thing, but it is rather simple, fast and you will have a "new" hull below waterline... So keep the email line open and I will take you through it with how, what and not to do.

Ps. Mike, how did you knew the price? It makes me suspect 1 now since by the look of it only I had it

 

From the photo's there's a rusted out lazzarette some severe galvanic corrosion caused by bronze thru-hulls and an internal garboard-bilge problem.

I've seen many similar vessels re-built very robustly

The price and the vessel were already known to me.....enough said.

It is below salvage value, closer to its scrap metal value. It has masts winches steering etc. But it is a project and you need a cheap yard, at 44' it can be trucked easily enough.

 

44' Steel hull sailboat

Mike,

It is amazing that you know of the boat considering you are in Australia. It really is a small world! I guess large boats are more likely to have an international knowledge base considering how far they can travel. I see this kind of thing a lot in the military. When I was transitioning through Kuwait on the way to Iraq I saw an old friend walking along the flightline. I hadn't seen him in years but there he was.
I would very much appreciate any information you have on this boat to help me in my decision.


You wrote: But it is a project and you need a cheap yard

I am fortunate enough to be stationed at a base with an incredible marina. I can put her "on the hard" for $70 a month and my wet slip for my 30 foot sailboat only costs $100 a month. Live-aboard slips only cost a flat $250 so me and my wife might actually be able to live on Master Sergeant retirement pay. If you are bored you can check out the marina at: http://www.sail-race.com/mcm/index.htm

You wrote: at 44' it can be trucked easily enough

That is my biggest concern. How to ship it and put her on the hard. I really need to shop around for this one...

 

Rebuilding a 44' Sailboat

Wynand,

Thank you for the advise. I have looked at numerous boat-builds online and it seems all the hulls were built upside down then flipped for cabin and deck install. Is it possible to build a new chine-down hull while upright with the deck installed?

Also, I started a thread related to this project.

Ray