Ferro cement?

[Lt.]

What advantages are there with Ferro cement over steel, and fiberglass, and other building materials for boats?

[Sand crab]

Ferro has a bad rap which reflects in price. Sometimes the rap is warranted, sometimes not. Thought you wanted a multi?
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...archid=2924623

[bobconnie]

Maybe the LOW Prices on the ferro boats has him looking at Monos now!! Anyway as Sand Crab said, ferro has gotten a bad name because of some or even a lot of the home bilt boats made back in the ferro hayday !!There are some really fine ferro boats out there but mostly the really good ones are not so cheap !! Ive seen some I would love to own ! and Ive seen a bunch I would not even day sail !! ya gotta be careful cus it's even hard to find a good ferro surveyer!! Just my 2 cents

[Lt.]

What, you can't get Ferro cement cats?

[Sand crab]

Originally Posted by Lt.

What, you can't get Ferro cement cats?

You are joking, right?

[Lt.]

Uhh, know, again, I've barely got my feat wet with this yachting/sailing stuff. So...... mo not really, why couldn't you make a Ferro cat?

[sailronin]

Ferro is way too heavy for a multihull.
There is no advantage to a ferro hull other than lower initial cost of construction for home builders. In effect they save 50% of the hull cost which is only 20% of total boat cost.
It's very difficult to insure, many surveyors won't touch it as it's difficult to determine the condition of the armature under the plaster.
Not all ferro hulls are unsafe, but many are poorly constructed and subject to electrolysis and rust in the iron armature. This will result in the plaster cracking and chipping off, letting in more water that causes more rust which causes more cracking until the plaster flakes off and there's nothing left to keep the air in and the water out.
Your boat then becomes a nice artificial reef for the fish to enjoy...

[Lt.]

Alright, so bad idea, I get the point.

[Ex-Calif]

Here's about 1,200 hits on Cruiser's Forum discussing ferrocement boats.

ferro cement - Google Search


Lt. - I am one of the biggest advocates on CF for covering the same ground again and again but I gotta say that with all the threads you start the opening post is usually a bit obscure and it can be hard to figure out what you are trying to get at.

In the search bar on your computer is a "Google" search feature. It works great and it might be helpful if you read a few results and start new threads if something is not clear or something.

Sorry - I had to get that off my chest...

[Sand crab]

LT, get Tarjans book. Read the Bums blog and others. Read back pages of CF, BoatDesign.net and that forum Multihulls4Us. If you register at
The Catamaran Company - Catamarans For Sale. Caribbean Sailing, Virgin Island Sailing Vacations and Yacht Charters World Wide. Lagoon Catamarans For Charter, Crewed and bareboat charters worldwide, charter operater of lagoon catamarans. VOYAGE charte
then they will allow you one free digital download of an older issue of Multihulls magazine. This is a US publication and is different from the French mag MultihullsWorld. You can get Tarjans book and MW at Barnes and Noble off the shelf. I think Sailing magazine is doing their annual multi mag now also. Read, read, read. Constantly browse CL using Search Tempest for used cats and tris and compare to YachtWorld.

BTW Steel multis are also bad. Aluminum is OK although can be a bit heavy in a smaller multi. Monos use a big chunk of lead weighing several tons as ballast to keep them from tipping over from the force of the wind on the sails where multis have a wide beam and this platform conteracts that force. As a general rule a multi can be faster (but not always) and a mono can carry more weight without a severe performance penalty.

[jewel114]

Originally Posted by Lt.

What advantages are there with Ferro cement over steel, and fiberglass, and other building materials for boats?

Overall, none. Considering resale, Ferro cement is the least desirable.