Ingrid 38

[Chinook92]

ahh yes....

the Ingrid 38 big sister to the wetsnail and a tried and true old school blue water beast. slower than a hurt turtle, with not the largest interior for her size, but damn those are some classic lines...

ok enough with the banter, heres the deal.

SUPERBLY built Ingrid 38 with one of the nicest interiors of any sail yacht, professionally built, professionally done interior, overall an absolutely beautiful boat. one of the nicest looking classic sailboat designs ive seen in a while, all for the low price of simply being competent enough to install an engine, and do the typical boat maintenance.

i have insurance lined up, i have surveys lined up..... i have the deal in place, everything is in place. i work at a yacht yard, im a mechanic, been doing boats for 20 years, including commercial fishing in alaska. i know boats inside and out, and so far everything points to this being an amazing once boat that only comes around once in a lifetime, however there is a ketch (Pun intended)....

shes ferro

professionally built by an expert mason, in the late late 1980s, this isnt some backyard pipedream, this is an intentionally thought out, purpose built, solid tank of a boat

im gonna have my surveyor look at it, im going to go over this with a fine tooth comb, but so far, i am beyond confident in this boat, although she is on the hard the moment and needs some work, this is by no means a project boat.....

as a marine professional i am fully aware of the dangers and limitations of ferro and why 90+% of them are liabilities, however every piece of evidence i unearth point at this being an amazing opportunity to get into a boat i otherwise would never be able to afford

ive made a poll as im curious the thoughts on this thing. im 85% ready to pull the trigger, although everything depends on survey

[Oeanda]

No idea, but thanks for the eye candy ❤️

[Celestialsailor]

I owned an Ingrid 38 fiberglass. Great boat built in Washington State. No...Ingrid is not the Big Sister to the Westsail 32. No comparison. There is also a Bentley 38 which is a Taiwan copy, of poor construction. Then there is the Alajuala 38 which made very sweet boats of high quality.
As far as ferro?...One rock looking for another. But like most people, you have made up your mind based on your heart strings being tugged at. Sure, it has a very nice interior. But it's a cement boat with all the failings of an inadequate hull material.

[Fore and Aft]

Chinook92 I think the biggest issue is concrete cancer, I am not aware if anyone can predict if your Ingrid will get it? Concrete is slightly porous so who knows how much moisture it has absorbed after 40 years in the water?
In my travels I see more ferro boats crushed than repaired.

Ketch you later

[Bowdrie]

Their is no reason per se that a ferro boat has to be bad, it was all the atrocious ones that gave ferro a bad name.
One of the problems with ferro was the tendency to build them too heavy, resulting in low ballast ratios, and boats sitting way below their designed lines.
Have a look at the bobstay fitting, is it already underwater with an unloaded boat?
The twin backstays are farther aft then they should be, that looks like it hampers full rudder travel.
The athwartships galley stove will demand some "fancy action" when trying to use it heeled over, but there are ways to overcome.
A friend of mine has a ferro boat that's from ~'85, it's dry as a bone, dust in the bilge, has never leaked a drop.
Hardware installation can be an "interesting" job.

[DMF Sailing]

That interior has me salivating. Thanks for posting.

I shall make screenshots, and, when looking at them, imagine myself curling up next to that stove with my dog-eared copies of Tales of Sea and Shore or The Small-Boat Skipper and His Problems whilst anchored in Provincetown Harbor, a generous pour of Elijah Craig Barrel Proof in hand.

As often is the case, Celestial has a good line. One rock looking for another.

And this is not at all intended to dismiss the far-more-informative-than-mine post of Bowdrie...

[Jim Cate]

The Ingrid is my favorite of the crab crusher double ender designs (and I'm not a big fan of them at all) but one wonders about the ferro build. One critical thing to learn is what her actual displacement might be. So many ferro builds are heavy to start with and then somehow gain so much weight that they flounder, especially in light airs. This is not so easy to learn, but if she is lifted for a sea trial, sometimes the crane or travel lift will actually have a calibrated scale to weigh her. All too many fail the "calibrated" test, though, so be careful!

The apparent quality of the fit out is a hopeful sign. If the plastering was done with the same skill and care, she might well be a beaut!

Good luck!

Jim

[Chinook92]

yeah i wouldnt take this thing to Hawaii Alaska is definitely in the cards though, but i can say that because ive done the trip to and from alaska 6 times in various boats, my main thoughts are to serve as a liveaboard and as something to poke around the san juans and puget sound and canada with, i do have to work for a living ya know, so i cant go too far for too long

[stormalong]

Buy it. Set it in a hole in the ground. Live in it.

It would make a nice home on one of the San Juans.

[DMF Sailing]

I love me a good poll with a cheeky out option.

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by Fore and Aft

Chinook92 I think the biggest issue is concrete cancer, I am not aware if anyone can predict if your Ingrid will get it? Concrete is slightly porous so who knows how much moisture it has absorbed after 40 years in the water?
In my travels I see more ferro boats crushed than repaired.

Ketch you later

Not just water intrusion from outside. I saw one in Guaymas, Mx., on the hard, that was being "decommissioned" due to an oil leak from the engine into the engine sump area over years that had migrated through the concrete to the outside.
I was suppose to be on a delivery of a South African build ferro from Santa Cruz to Hawaii and the delivery skipper asked for a survey before leaving. Minute crazing of the hull was investigated leading to crumbling well into the hull to the iron rebar.

Ferro started of as a big deal in the early 70's to the late 70's. But issues began to appear early and dismissed as poor workmanship. But really it was an indication of what was to come. Save your penny's and get something that has and will stand the test of time.

[psk125]

If you had a backhoe and a piece of land you could dig a foundation hole and simply drop it in. Never have to worry about the hull again, or how slow it is. Make sure to orient the boat to provide the best possible views out the portholes.

[Cheechako]

I think it could be a fine boat, just don't pay much and plan that you can never sell it to get any money back. If that's good for you .....go for it if there is no evidence of deterioration, especially rust bleeding through from internal steel.

But a big question is... can it be Insured? You need liability for most marinas now days....

I'd love a boat like that planted in the ground for a guest house!

[Chinook92]

im not going to publically say what the price for this boat is, however, the price is "right". and that is all. it needs an engine. it needs a new bobstay tang/stem (ill have one made from welded 316-alloy stainless).

this boat is barely 30 years old, commissioned in 1989

i have a surveyor lined up, whom couldnt find the boat initially because he couldnt find a ferro boat in the yard, until i told him what boat he was looking for, this boat has already stumped my surveyor because he thought it was fiberglass and i was pulling his leg

i have insurance with comprehensive and liability lined up

i have an industrial concrete survey company lined up that can xray the hull and determine if there is any corrosion on the inner frame, and i think the entire boat is epoxy coated


look, i do boats for a living, been wrenching and sailing for 20 years. i basically live in a boatyard (not really but it feels like that)

i know better than to obtain a ferro cement boat, however with that being said, all the evidence i can dig up on this boat points towards it being one of few and rare the very well built boats, which is why im investigating this as far as i am.

if i dont find any smoking gun or red flags, and this boat is solid, and has an epoxy painted/coated/protected hull, my question to you all is, in that specific case, how bad can ferro really be in regards to longevity?

this is probably going to serve as a weekend boat and week day liveaboard, maybe an after work cocktail cruiser. about as far as i could immagine sailing in this thing is alaska (from washington) and even on that trip you usually stop nightly and it isnt a 3.5 week open ocean passage.... i wouldnt take a ferro boat anywhere i wouldnt take a catalina 27... and just because Childress took a catalina 27 on a circumnavigation, and many others have done it on a ferro, doesnt mean i am intending on doing so

[Bowdrie]

It sounds as though one of our forum members might be getting a new boat?
I'll be dating myself with this post, but in 1971 I was highly interested in perhaps building a ferro boat.
Close by me was a "Samson" yard, the yard had only Samson ferro boats in it, perhaps a dozen or so under various stages of construction.
Their was a "learning curve" in the beginning.
High quality CLEAN sand of not all the same sieve-sizes was required, along with clean water that was not heavily mineralized/chlorinated, (the purer the better).
Real hot-dipped galvanized "chicken wire" was necessary, along with galvanized tie-wires.
It was also found that "Pozzolan" added to the mix produced superior bonding results between wire and cement.
The better/best finishes were generally obtained by plastering crews who were experienced in plastering the compound curves of swimming pools, (go figure).
Anyway, with certain criteria met their is no special reason that a ferro boat can't last almost forever.
Did the ancient Romans know a thing or three about cement that now is lost?