I saw this add, does what he says make sense?



To my best knowledge the fee for a recreational vessel is $500 plus other

> fees if you employ an agent...realistically, one could expect to get thru

> the Panama Canal for less than $1000. Hull is of marine grade douglas

fir

> plywood, 1/2", on solid fir stringers with epoxy/glass over. We've jumped

> this boat off of and through some nice sized waves at 7-8 knots and the

boat

> flexes and vibrates much less than most of the solid glass monohulls I've

> owned and sailed. I believe Three Angels could take a lot of serious

> punishment with no adverse effects. By the way most production

'fiberglass'

> boats use plywood cores in the decks and other places. A properly

> maintained glass over plywood boat is no more of a libility than a so

called

> 'fiberglass' boat. I have talked at length with professional boatwright

who

> have spent a lot of time cutting the decks and hulls of 'fiberglass' boats

> to replace rotting wood and, yes, soggy and deteriorated synthetic foam

core

> materials. Glass over plywood is very easy to maintain and repair with

> simple tools...very handy if you are away from major supply centers. Just

> take a little WEST epoxy, some glass and some small pieces of plywood with

> you....I do. Have only repaired very minor dings and boos. Sorry I don't have any good pics of the interior....need a really CLOSE-up

> lens...don't have.

Sometime back i read an article by a major boat yard.

They claimed that by far the boats requiring the least maintenance were ply coated in fibreglass and epoxy resin.

(If I can find the article I'll post it for you to look at.)

If you think about it such a boat is just a glass sandwich boat with a structual core.

Such a boat built correctly will last an awful long time.

This type of boat has the potntial to be a great boat but it all gets down to the competence of the builder as to whether that potential is realised.

I'm in the process of repairing an old outboard powerboat. The thing is 30 years old. It was built with fir stringers covered with glass/polyester resin. The transom was mulch but the stringers were like new. This, in spite of incredibly sloppy workmanship.

I'm rebuilding with marine ply and epoxy and expecting the thing should outlast me.

btw. I've also discovered that the folks on the powerboat forums are, by and large, far more friendly, helpful and generally enthusiastic than most of the knuckleheads on the "old" catsailor forum. Kind of sad that after 20 years of sailing catamarans I'm finding myself gravitating towards the powerboat crowd.

1/2" ply on solid stringers? yeah, that's a fine hull construction system, but way WAAAAAY overbuilt if it's a beachcat.



what kind of boat are we talking about?

oh, I see there's mention of an interior.... not a beachcat. still, how big?

40' custom tri

Now were looking at cats, it looks like they have more room & are just a safe, stable & user friendly as a tri, what do you think?

Thanks for the info, were in California & not many multi hulls for sale like in Florida.

Were tying to find a few there to look at then fly over but we want it to be a probable buy before we go.