STEEL- Stronger than dirt... and coral: The following excerpts were taken from an article written by the renowned naval architect, Ted Brewer entitled Is There A Metal Boat In Your Future? Article taken from Good Old Boat magazine: Volume 2, Number
4, July/August 1999."Each
material has its advantages, but the racing skipper will choose aluminum
construction for its combination of lightness and strength. The
cruiser, on the other hand, may prefer steel for its greater strength and lower
initial cost.Steel's
strength advantage compared to aluminum seems obvious. Steel
also has the advantage of being 60 percent harder than aluminum, so it is much
more resistant to abrasion in a grounding on rock or rubbing up against a
concrete bulkhead. And, it is more malleable, so it will stretch farther in a
collision or a hard grounding on granite before rupturing. Aluminum,
in turn, is more resistant to abrasion than either fiberglass or wood and will
stretch a great deal more in a collision. Too, both steel and aluminum yachts are essentially
one-piece structures without the annoyance of leaking hull/deck joints, leaking
chainplates or other weak points. Even cleats and other hardware can be welded
to the deck, or machine-screw fastened to pads welded in place, to avoid bolt
holes through an otherwise watertight structure.
Built-in tanks work well in both materials and increase the tankage capacity substantially. An unusual advantage of metal boats is that the built-in tanks are easy to repair. You simply cut a hole in the hull, repair the tank from the inside, and weld the hull back up again. It beats trying to wrestle a 50-gallon tank out of a 40-gallon opening so you can get at it to fix a bad leak.
Emergency
repairs on either material are fairly straightforward. Not as simple as
repairing a wooden boat, perhaps, but certainly as easy as fiberglass. A repair
patch can be quickly welded onto a steel hull and almost any out-of the-way
port will have the necessary equipment to do it.Fire in the hold In the event of an out-of-control fire aboard a vessel at sea, the vessel must be abandoned until the fire has abated and the vessel has cooled. In the case of fiberglass construction, the vessel would no longer be seaworthy whereas with a steel vessel, the hull, superstructure, and water tanks would still be intact. VESSELHISTORY: Vaya Con
Dios was built by the De Alm Shipyard in Holland and launched in 1992. The
Vanderhoeven trawlers were originally designed and built exclusively for service as rugged fishing trawlers capable of working the often stormy North Sea. At the request of potential pleasure craft buyers, the De Alm Shipyard modified the hull and superstructure design so the trawler could be built and sold as a seaworthy pleasure craft. Vaya Con Dios was built to this new motor-yacht standard. Upon completion, her
German owner sailed her from Holland to the Spanish port of Almerimar on the
Costa Del Sol. I purchased her from the original owner in 2001 while on a
circumnavigation aboard my Peterson 46, Black Rose.THE CROSSING, short version:Having two boats but not wanting to make the Atlantic crossing twice, I signed on a South African crew and the four of us towed Black Rose across the Atlantic by way of Gibraltar, Cabo Verde and the Canary Islands.Having two engines but wanting reduce fuel consumption, we made the voyage using one engine at a time averaging 5 knots.We completed the 4000 mile crossing from Spain to Trinidad in thirty days.
Upon arrival in Trinidad, Vaya Con Dios was laid up on the hard in the port city of Chaguaramous. When we returned the following season, we spent several months island hopping through the Caribbean and after transiting the Panama Canal, we continued our cruise up the west coast of Central America and Mexico, ending our adventure in our home port of Newport Beach.
A MOST SEAWORTHY VESSEL: The purpose of the previous story was to provide verification to potential buyers as to the seaworthy nature of Vaya Con Dios during her cruise from Spain to Newport Beach, California. The purpose of the following story is to provide verification as to the seaworthy nature of a steel built vessel compared with one constructed of fiberglass. As discussed in the article by Ted Brewer, the simple fact is,ocean-going trawlers of fiberglass construction cannot match the brute strength of steel built trawlers.
The following excerpt is taken from the sancarlos.com cruising forum discussing the grounding of a heavily built fiberglass Nordhavn 62 along the coast of Mexico:
"Evidently this boat was trying to make the entrance to Mag Bay. They were running too close to shore and hit an uncharted, submerged rock about three miles south of the entrance. The rock tore off the starboard stabilizer and left a hole in the hull. The crew tried to beach the boat on what they thought was a sand beach but turned out to be strewn with large boulders. The deceased crewman tried to jump from the boat to the rocks to tie a line. He was caught in the surf and apparently suffered a head injury that proved fatal."
VESSELDESCRIPTION
VESSEL DRAFT: 6' 1"
DISPLACEMENT: 47 tons.
CONSTRUCTION: The hull is double-chined and double welded with the inside weld left unground for additional strength. The hull and superstructure are built with Lloyds grade A approved steel considerably thicker than usual for this size vessel. The hull has a full-length keel with twin side-keels protecting the propeller shafts. Each propeller is surrounded by a protective ring of steel to minimize possible damage caused by such flotsam as fishing nets and lines. All railings, bollards, anchor-chain tubes, upper-deck ladder and water tank are constructed of high-grade 316 stainless steel.
ENGINES: The commercial diesel engines were made in Holland with approximately 2200 hours on them since a major overhaul. They are massive in size and designed to run for thousands of additional hours. They start easily and run strong. I spend most weekends on the vessel and while she's been my "condo on the water" for the last twelve years, I run the engines weekly.
TANKAGE: Fuel- The main fuel-tank is located in the midships bilge and holds 1585 gallons. The secondary fuel-tank, holding 530 gallons, is located in the engine-room bilge.The two gravity feed fuel-tanks are located on the forward engine room bulkhead and hold 100 gallons. Total fuel-tank capacity is 2215 gallons. Holding tanks- One forward tank and one aft tank, each holding 40 gallons.
RANGE: This vessel's maximum range is approximately 4,000 nautical miles running on one engine at a time at an average speed of 5 knots. Running at 8 or 9 knots with both engines will have a significant reduction in range.
FUEL CONSUMPTION: The fuel consumption was slightly over 2 nautical mile/ U.S. gallon.
STEERING SYSTEM: Hydraulic
ANCHOR WINDLASS: LoFranz
GROUND TACKLE: There are two ship's anchors as seen in photos along with 300' of 7/16 galvanized chain.
BOW-THRUSTER TUBE: and wiring installed but needs new thruster.
STABILIZERS: Hydraulic, in need of repair.
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 24 volt dc and European 240 volt 50 cycle ac. If vessel kept at an American marina, it should be converted to 110 volt system. Existing panel is servicable but could be replaced with American style panel.
GEN-SET: 13 kw Diesel Sole 220 v. dc 50 cycle runs but needs repair
HEATING: Diesel furnace with radiators in each cabin. Water heater is 240 volts.
WASHER/DRYER: 240 volt electric, front loading.
AUTOPILOT: Autohelm 7000 in need of repair or replacement.
ELECTRONICS: Furuno 48 mile open array. Furuno GPS. Icom VHF radio. All work well.
LIFE-RAFT: Givens eight-man raft in fiberglass hard-shell case, certification not current.
DINGY: Avon Redcrest inflatable with wood floor.
RECENT ENGINE MAINTENANCE: New transmission oil coolers and two new Johnson raw-water pumps purchased but not yet installed. There are many spare parts including an alternator, new engine belts, oil filters and fuel filters. Also there are numerous hand tools.
INTERIOR LAYOUT: On the lower-deck, the captain's cabin and head are aft. Next is the large engine room. Forward of that are the port and starboard staterooms, then the port and starboard heads, followed by the fourth stateroom at the bow.
On the upper-deck forward is the wheelhouse. Aft of that is the port-side galley followed by the main salon and aft-deck.
VESSEL LOCATION: Vaya Con Dios is located on a mooring at the Newport Harbor Yacht Club, Newport Beach, California.
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