Thanks Johnny, it’s been a fun and rewarding project with a steep learning curve. Lots of things I know I’d do differently or better a second time around. And I think I’ve definitely got the boat bug now. I’m not sure if the next one will be built instead of bought but I’m sure it is only a matter of time before I move on to something a bit more capable of heading further afield in tougher conditions. A deeper V-Hull is a must for whatever comes next. And no, it won’t be a Catamaran Mr Hood.
If you dislike some one ........... give them a boat If you hate some one ............... give them a wooden boat. great project , ill be watching this with interest , are you keeping a close note of the costs involved . Be very interesting too , once thought about doing one of these only in stainless , i know the drawbacks , but liked the idea.
I’d not fancy forming all the curves in stainless. It could looks awesome all polished up though. And yes I’ve kept a reasonably good track on the price. All up it’s still a shade under 6 grand. But it will go up with painting and the addition of a GPS and depth sounder next year (if I end up keeping it) I might not bother with the GPS if I decide to sell as it won’t add value just cost me more.
stress cracking etc all a down side ,,, but a shiny boat would look smart and may help with washing down.
That's a smart boat Jim. Nice job. Out of curiosity, did the makers suggest, or you decide, to take any particular precautions against electrolytic corrosion? I mean small electric currents flowing through the boat, from dissimilar metals and salt water acting as a battery. Yours is welded of course, but I have seen similar alu boats which were rivetted, get condemned when all the rivets fell out due to this kind of rot, which can happen much faster than steel rusts. Definitely worth considering. My boatyard owner has a pricey aluminium yacht, and all the unavoidable stainless fittings are insulated from the aluminium with sheets of plastic etc.
You could ask the Italians to knock you up a tender though same sort of idea https://www.wally.com/wallytender/43-wallytender.html have a look at their other stuff , I was moored beside a Wally yacht in Palma a few years ago , it was totally amazing then , and their stuff just keeps getting nicer.
The build manual and the books/articles I’ve read are very specific about how to avoid galvanic action/corrosion. You must not use the hull or anything electrically in contact with the hull as an earth. All electrical devices must have their earths routed back to the battery. I‘ve bought insulated M8 studs I can mount on the back of the dashboard/fuse panel eventually so I can have a positive and negative bus bar. Measures must be taken to isolate dissimilar metals or electrically active components from the metal of the boat itself. Mine doesn’t live in the sea it’s a trailer boat and it gets washed thoroughly every use but I still take precautions. The stainless bolts to hold the seats, the isolator, hatch covers, cleats, bow-roller etc all get coated with a green barrier grease, I forget what it’s called but Hood probably goes through tons of the stuff. I even took the precaution of isolating my throttle mechanism form the hull by mounting it on a nylon plate and my helm mechanism is also on nylon washers with top-hats to isolate it from the hull itself even though they are both aluminium. The engine is fitted wit anodes and these need regular checking to make sure they are in good electrical contact with the engine itself and that they are all present and correct. If they go the next thing to start to fizz away is the outboard or the hull so it’s cheaper to keep on top of the maintenance I’m sure. Here’s the plastic insulator I used to mount the throttle on the side bracket (I cut up an old kitchen chopping board to make it)
Nope, never have an issue with corrosion between Alu and stainless fasteners. I do use aluminium anti seize grease on the stainless but that is all. Any other metals then I will isolate with plastic of some sort. I have found the worst thing for corroding the aluminium is when you have something bolted to it that is not solidly fixed and can vibrate. Stuff such as plastic on the top as a wear surface can be particularly bad. The water gets between the plastic and the aluminium and the constant vibration never lets the oxide layer heal properly and thus it keeps getting eaten away, the cure for that is sikaflex(or as we call it sh**aflex) or similar
That makes sense, I did buy some sikaflex for bedding the screen, cleats and bow-roller once it goes together for the last time after fairing and painting.
When I looked at an earlier pic, I thought "Hang on, shouldn't that grab handle be on the passenger's side...?" All is clear now! That's just....outrageous! Aye, but the electronics will be rubbish....
