With Aluminum it is easier to fix the holes and dents. My 14 ft fishing boat is aluminum , if it's a dent you bang it out, if it's a hole you can weld it closed. but that's my fishing boat and it's in and out of the water every use. Can't wait to hear about the other hulls instore.
Hi Herbie, The thing I remembered after you recorded this was paint! Aluminium and paint really don't get on. That's another big negative. I like the French approach which is to paint as little as possible. My boat is Dutch and they like to fair and paint the whole thing. It looks great for 10 years but then it's a huge job to repaint. Cheers Lindsey
I was wondering that about your boat. I have heard that painting is a real problem but your topsides looked really nice! All the other aluminum boats I have come across have been bare metal. Where are you guys now?
@@RiggingDoctor Yes it passes the 10 meters test and looks good from afar, bit once you get close you can see it is starting to bubble up in places, especially in areas near dissimilar metals such as the stainless railings. I'm taking the paint off where it bubbles up as in reality the paint above the waterline is decorative and the exposed aluminium is better as you can get corrosion under the paint but with no paint the aluminium oxidises and that's the end of the corrosion. We are in Crete for Christmas and then heading over to Turkey in the new year (Joys of Brexit and only having 90 days in Schengen now - as you are well aware, but it's new to us!) We had planned to cross to the Caribbean for the last 2 winters but Covid concerns have made us stay in the Med. Next year!! We've been following your travels with interest and enjoyed your blogs crossing the Atlantic. Cheers
I was pleased to get your guest's long-term insights into care and maintenance of aluminum hull. Transformer-coupling? Got it. Don't screw anything to the deck? Got it.
Yeah, bring it to the local redemption center and they'll give you $0.05. :) Just joking. One downside is that 1/2 of the world pronounce it the way the discoverer intended, and the other 1/2 don't. Also :).
I had an aluminum Houseboat years ago, it was an Alcan 370. I had the motors removed and I was going to repower it when I decided to go to another Marina. I had the owner of the new marina tow me over. He decided to show up later in the day when the wind was picking up but he assured me it was ok....I didn't listen to that little voice in my head....live and learn. He towed me into the corner of a concrete wall at high speeds. The side of the bow caved in but the boat didn't sink and the damage would have been repairable with a sledge hammer lol, to this day that's why I place aluminum as the number one boat building material, lack of maintenance and durability.
Very very interesting boat. Everything about this boat deserves more attention IMHO. Anyway, aluminum hull construction advantages and disadvantages are all far too technical for me. I do like the fact that the aluminum hull is extremely corrosion resistant.
Just wanted to say that many boats have been built on ferrocement. And others in cort-ten steel which to me is absolutely the best especially to one used with class specs.
If aluminum were any advantage for the operation of hulls, then the hulls of commercial ships would be built from it. But it is beneficial only for the construction of the hull, not for its operation) It bends easily, it is generally light. And it also shines beautifully and people are easily bought for the supposed absence of rust (it's just that aluminum has a different name for rust). But aluminum has one small, but very important feature: it cannot withstand loads close to maximum for a long time or repeatedly. For example: steel, without problems for its internal structure, can withstand up to ~ 80% of the load at which it breaks, and aluminum only up to ~ 30%. All this is highly dependent on the alloy, but I think that the principle is clear. Thus, it turns out that for aluminum the designed load will be only 29-30% of the total strength of the material, and for steel it will be ~ two and a half times more. This will be reflected in the actual weight of the boat - it will not be as good as the table volume weights for aluminum comparable to steel. Both are metals and therefore you will have to watch out for galvanic and electrical corrosion as well as stray currents. If the steel is hot-dip galvanized, then you can hardly worry about corrosion, of course you have to cover the body with special paint, then another, then another, then another, then another. Not tired? Then another layer, so that it was certainly reliable)) Yes ... this is not aluminum, this is steel, baby. It requires a little more attention, but much less often, and you are no longer so afraid to drop a steel bolt into the hold or under the floorboards, you are not so concerned about the currents in the marina, you are not so tormented by the issue of induced currents from your radar, and so on ... And this thing can also live 100 years or more. It can be welded by anyone in any country in the world. Even the most remote. This does not require argon and special equipment. And metals, unlike plastic hulls, don't contain the eternal chemicals (google it. it's really important to your health) that you'll inhale every time the sun shines on the boat and it heats up.
Good points. Steel is much more resilient but a properly designed aluminum boat is still pretty cool! I personally would never own one because of a neighbor on the hard with an 80’ aluminum sailboat. The hull had countless holes in it from galvanic corrosion. They were about the size of golf balls and well over twenty of them. The holes became apparent during the power wash as the smutz that was in them and plugging the hole got washed out. The owner was looking at a crazy repair bill and waiting for the insurance company to send someone to take a look at it. The hull had many anodes built into it and they were still in good shape, but for whatever reason, his hull was being eaten away. While aluminum boats look neat and are impressive, that little issue with electricity makes me shy away from that hull material for myself. While most cargo ships are steel, the 40-something foot coast guard boats are aluminum and they live a hard life. Crazy impressive boats, but I have no information about how long they last or what the maintenance costs are to keep these hulls operational.
didn't the owner say, "dry bilge?" i guess a wet bilge is not more problems than checking that you don't have chemicals spilling around or a poorly designed or maintained electrical system (by the way those are stupid human error and not a problem associated with the material) We have to look at things other than the obvious for ourselves to learn and see new things.
I’ve repaired my fiberglass boat and I am a welder by trade. It is faster to repair and easier to build with aluminum (once you put a few years into learning how to weld it properly)
I have no experience with aluminum sailboat hulls, but I do think that they are the best among powered vessels. The ballast in the keel must eliminate the biggest con which is hull slap.
Lighter performance sailboats with their flat bottoms can make that annoying hull slap rather well, but it’s normally masked by the noise of the wind, rigging, sails flapping, and ropes clanging! Older and heavier sailboats with deep V hulls going down to a heavy keel don’t have any hull slap, but they also don’t move very fast either. It’s nice when that ballast just helps you cut through bog waves 😎
@@RiggingDoctor I still hear wavelet breaking at waterline at anchor through 1-1/4" wood. A sound to get used to since it is so similar to dribbling water.
Iam in the process of building a 62' aluminum sailing catamaran. The boat will be equipped with a miller dynasty 350 so I can perform any repairs at sea.
Why no mention of using a proper (e.g. zinc) sacrificial anode? I get the importance of not having any stray currents from your electrical system, but a zinc anode is still a must-have, no? Am I missing something?
Absolutely. All boats need to have a sacrificial anode, but this is stuff that he feels are important to have in addition to the normal stuff boats have to fight electrolysis.
aluminium is king if you invest some time in learning all about spontaneous electrolysis and how anodes work it is far superior than others. you can basically hit underwater ice and drift to shore in storms and recover still
Galvanic corrosion is no joke! The US Navy lost a destroyer from that put a hole in it the size of a school bus lol. It was one of those try haul ships
And yet, Incat in Tasmania has hundreds of fast ferries with decades of service. . Perhaps your comment says more about the quality of hired-help these days than the material... or the try haul. Based on the loss of the Bonhomme to sabotage by a 'disgruntled' female sailor, could intentional ignorance of maintenance be a probability?
@@largemarge1603 well to be honest theirs on perfect material for making a sailboat. Also maintenance is always more important than the material everything wears out.
True, but the metal through hulls can still suffer from electrolysis. The fiberglass hulls will stay around for a very long time, they just need maintenance like any other boat. At least the bones of your hull will last a long time!
It's not that all Aluminium corrodes, many boats are not made with marine grade aluminium, and even within those grades some are better than other. With the use of sacrificial anodes, it is still the best and most viable hull material.
Eventually, sadly I haven’t come across someone on a steel boat who also knows how to repair their own hull to interview yet. As soon as I do, I’ll be posting it.
Also paints especially anti fouling paints like copper based can and are problematic I am interesting to know is extremely slippery carbon based paints are a problem with aluminum
That’s an excellent question! I know they make paints specifically for aluminum hulls because electrolosys but also because it’s hard to get paint to stick to them as well
@@RiggingDoctor I'm testing out a product called Finsultate as antifouling now. I liked the idea of it as it doesn't use chemicals, but mechanical motion to deter growth. Coppercoat is a big no no. Some people say you can with good epoxy layers between that and the aluminium but I'd not sleep with that as a scratch could expose the aluminium to the copper. Antifoul such as Trilux which is specified for aluminium is crazy expensive (€400+ for 5L in Spain) and in my experience isn't very effective. So yes I think good antifouling is also a negative on aluminium. I'm willing to dive and clean the boat regularly so I don't have a problem but if you want to paint it on (or stick it on in the case of Finsulate) and forget about it you will struggle.
The only hull choice that has a scare factor to me. The Australian/NZ have a different cost comparison to other choices. Dominant unlimited budget performance sector. Perfect maintenance, never take a short cut or push anything off. Leaving corrosion under a slap fix I have seen some in port have large 6"+ spots with shiny paint crumble apart. I wonder how many believe it is a sound choice for full time cruising multi year were it is your only home? My observation has been more for seasonal cruising that leave it behind for boatyards to maintain annually at minimum.
@@RiggingDoctor What is the fear factor? Every "glass" boat owner FEARS to run around...especially when they know its likely rock or reef. Can you find one aluminum s/v boat owner that has the same concerns? I will answer for you, no you can't. They are aware, but they don't fear like those that don't even know how thick their glass is or any idea whatsoever about real life vulenerabilty since they don't know the stregth of their hulls. We need to think more out of the box on all of these topics.
Actually I looked it up. It was originally Alumium and then changed to Aluminum around 1912. It was more recently changed to Aluminium to fit with other elements like Sodium and Potassium.
Interesting! I know that not too long ago (around 100 years ago) it was referred to as one of the Unobtaniums because it’s properties were so wonderful but there wasn’t enough of it around to actually build things out of. The Hoover Dam has aluminum doors because in 1936, this was wildly exotic! Now we make beer cans out of it and throw it away without even thinking about it.
Thats great thanks. Will you be touching on Balsa cored boats? Maybe find someone with an old one? I don't understand how the industry can turn a blind eye to constructing water craft with a water absorbent material that turns to mush when mixed with seawater. One often sees the description "high tech balsa". What does this mean? Do they grow hybrids that don't absorb water? I have seen balsa cored decks where the mush has spread. It must be much worse in in hulls where gravity will take the water absorption down into the hull.
Well actually if you read about stainless steel, you will learn that it becomes brittle over time when exposed to salt water. If you are a boat person you will know this with regards to anchor chains. Stainless steel must be washed with fresh water, if not cleaned it will get microscopic cracks which severely effect its tensile strength. With the stresses a boat hull can experience, having a hull that may suddenly crack is not desirable. Titanium would be ideal, and vessels are beginning to be built from it.
@@chippyjohn1 that's interesting. It doesn't surprise me, the sea claims everything eventually. I saw that someone tried this but was having reactions every time a different metal was introduced to the stainless hull. He had to take it all to bits and start again with more specific materials to join in with the stainless.
@@chippyjohn1 There was a titanium hull Japanese ship in the Transpac race in around 1987. The joke was "please keep the can openers away from the boat". The wealthy owner had it put on a container ship for the journey back home. One of their crew members came aboard the Canvasback for it's journey from Honolulu to San Francisco. I got to cross the Pacific on that ship which was a 71' aluminum ketch rigged catamaran. It was interesting.
Do you guys think polythene/polypropelene (plastic /Roplene) hulled boats will ever be made big enough to compete in the sailing market? They are virtually indestructible and unsinkable so why not?
Good points! We had a dinghy made of that and the oar locks started to tear out. It was also incredibly thin! We shall see what the boat builders start doing at future boat shows.
I still haven’t met anyone on a steel boat who knows how to repair their own hull to interview. I have met many steel boat cruisers, but they all rely on boat yards to do all the maintenance of their hull. As soon as I meet someone who qualifies to be in the series, I will make that episode!
Aluminium are great but NOT at the mooring. Absoloute headaches with electric corrosion. I have an 8.6m with 7mm aluminium hull and 4mm pilot house (twin yamahas).
'Brazing' if your thinking bronze, no. Weld yes, same alloy. They are very repairable. 1# choice for workboats Aluminum marine should be a specific aloy with magnesium. Protective paints and antifouling are different and specific. Throw a copper penny in an aluminum dinghy and it will put a hole through it. Thickness of hull plates is more about cost than weight. Save catamarans.
Aluminum is an alloy you need to think of it as like a cake batter different additives to different things so make it hard others make it soft but A marine grade aluminum 5086 is very well suited for boats and saltwater environments as well has a lot of different chemicals metallurgy and allergies have come along way and have become even more corrosion resistant what is the man said can you do really have to watch out for Random electrical currents there are some awesome coatings/paints available now as well but they are very expensive and most are quite an extensive process to apply
@@RiggingDoctor Look at Garcia, KM Yachts - who built Skip Novak's Arctic expedition boats; Devillers of New Zealand. Also Selium aluminium doesn't suffer from galvanic cancer.
True; no material is perfect. For sail boats, AL is not the best; too many different metals creates problems. Powered vessels, eg ships, tugboats, etc, require steel, as do any vessels working daily in the Bering Sea. The average power yacht is used for pleasure, and for this AL is my preferred material, keeping all other metals to an absolute minimum and well insulated from the AL. Al can be coated and anodised, if the bare grey becomes too boring. But bare AL can act as a heat sink in the water. Use cork for decking, not teak. Cork is glued, so no leaks; glue is very easy to re-glue and to patch. Cork gives excellent grip, is scrubbable, and lasts +25 yrs.
@@RiggingDoctor Sorry neighbour I apologise. I never meant any offence with flavour of my humour… I’m am yes just and English Traveller of the intwerweb, attempting, badly, to manoeuvre and labour a very old quip… 😉 PS. Love the show… 😍 More Charlie please… 😊
I don’t know what brand the meter was but it checks for stray currents. Copper paint will cause a lot of problems, you need special paint for an aluminum hull to avoid issues of dissimilar metals between the hull and the paint.
7:34 - how does he treat the small holes … I assume he has to weld it … does that mean it is best to carry a welding machine? Can Copper be used for anti-foul?
You can’t use copper paint and yes, he would have to weld small holes closed. It’s an awesome material but I have seen too many aluminum horror stories to have one that I’m not always inspecting (my personal opinion)
@@RiggingDoctor I'm assuming if two clean aluminium surfaces come together without the oxide then a cold weld could take place. And Steel and Aluminium don't mix well as a reaction takes place to seize screw to hull/body. My question was more related to copper plated bottom not copper based paints… my bad I wasn't clear. I'm curious to the reactions of metals with sea water such as Aluminium Bronze. I like this hull material series you are doing it gives a lot of insight and info towards boating 👍🏼
@@RiggingDoctor Think I already did with White Spot, that little skinny German girl does all of her own work, down to pulling the engine & aligning the main shaft. She did fish plate the bottom of her AL hull between the twin keels. She beached the boat at High Tide & did a bottom job too. Funny she is not the "I don't need a man type" but more like can I do this & tries.
p.s. on a side note, why do you prefer a harness over a leg tether for charlie? p.p.s. I have way too many shirts. why don't you sell underpants and socks? that's all I really need. p.p.p.s the life behind bars shirt IS fareeging awesome, but I have too many shirts. underpants? maybe on the butt? pref jockeys.
🤣 The leg tether could hurt her hip if she fell off the boat and got hung up. The harness holds her more securely so she’s safe if she hangs in it. We tried selling socks but none sold so we took them off the store. We do sell hoodies. They go great over any shirt you have on ;)
ONLY ALUMINUM FOR ME! His pro of durability "on the rocks"...why isn't that the only one people need to know. All "cons" are basically human error issues, not a "con" of aluminum. Positives so outweigh any pros or cons of any other material. Pro not mentioned: Don't have to paint topsides (natural oxidation seals the aluminum). Advanced methods available to identify any potential leaks during the manufacturing proces. Doesn't stink like "glass" is a big pro for me as well.
@@RiggingDoctor ...somehow i missed the part of the series "what material that you can afford..." I thought the topic was simply based upon criteria that weren't related to budget , but "Material is BEST."
Fine if you're living aboard. This is not a material I would leave at the marina for a month and come back to - you might find a nightmare waiting for you.
For what size of boat? Are there any boats that you recommend as a good example of this hull material that I could read up on? I can then keep my eye peeled for one at anchor to interview the owner for this series!
Titanium can still corrode, it depends on which grade you are using. Grade 7 and Grade 12 are the only ones that will withstand the marine environment, the others will corrode away just like stainless steel.
As a PhD in marine materials science I really hate this title. There are literally thousands of different grades of aluminum, there are also changes that occur during the processing of a boat hull made of aluminum. This is stupid and insulting to people that have even the basic knowledge of materials.
This is a very basic introductory video about aluminum hulls. Would you be interested in being interviewed for a more in-depth video that goes into the most common grades of aluminum?
It's strange that there's two spellings of aluminum, aluminium, both are correct, one is definitely British. I like your videos, definitely informative, thank you. But...you really need to stop letting your gf cut your hair!
@@RiggingDoctor From Australia actually. More accurately you could say the US is the only country that calls it Aluminum. Scientifically it is recognised as Aluminium.
I’m sure you could but composite hulls are incredible on their own, they probably wouldn’t need to have the added layer of aluminum. A friend showed me amazing things with basalt in a composite hull it is literally bullet proof, axe proof, and pick-axe proof; because he shot it, and swung at it, yet was unable to puncture a very thin sample!
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Epic Aluminium/Aluminum fights at the beginning! Aluminium all the way.
With Aluminum it is easier to fix the holes and dents. My 14 ft fishing boat is aluminum , if it's a dent you bang it out, if it's a hole you can weld it closed. but that's my fishing boat and it's in and out of the water every use. Can't wait to hear about the other hulls instore.
That sure makes keeping the hull watertight through the years a lot easier!
Hi Herbie, The thing I remembered after you recorded this was paint! Aluminium and paint really don't get on. That's another big negative. I like the French approach which is to paint as little as possible. My boat is Dutch and they like to fair and paint the whole thing. It looks great for 10 years but then it's a huge job to repaint.
Cheers
Lindsey
I was wondering that about your boat. I have heard that painting is a real problem but your topsides looked really nice! All the other aluminum boats I have come across have been bare metal.
Where are you guys now?
@@RiggingDoctor Yes it passes the 10 meters test and looks good from afar, bit once you get close you can see it is starting to bubble up in places, especially in areas near dissimilar metals such as the stainless railings. I'm taking the paint off where it bubbles up as in reality the paint above the waterline is decorative and the exposed aluminium is better as you can get corrosion under the paint but with no paint the aluminium oxidises and that's the end of the corrosion.
We are in Crete for Christmas and then heading over to Turkey in the new year (Joys of Brexit and only having 90 days in Schengen now - as you are well aware, but it's new to us!) We had planned to cross to the Caribbean for the last 2 winters but Covid concerns have made us stay in the Med. Next year!!
We've been following your travels with interest and enjoyed your blogs crossing the Atlantic.
Cheers
@@LindseyGill The Bestevears I've seen are unpainted Aluminum.
I was pleased to get your guest's long-term insights into care and maintenance of aluminum hull. Transformer-coupling? Got it. Don't screw anything to the deck? Got it.
It really seems that if you set it up correctly, maintenance becomes very simple!
another plus is resale value. unlike other materials, if the whole thing is wrecked but not sunk, you can recycle it!
Yeah, bring it to the local redemption center and they'll give you $0.05. :) Just joking.
One downside is that 1/2 of the world pronounce it the way the discoverer intended, and the other 1/2 don't. Also :).
As long as it fits in a can recycler you get paid? 😂
Yessiree…Another Hull type that a Serious Contender…Strong, But requires attention of Corrosion
Indeed
Great series so far👍🏻
It was really fun meeting all the people to do the interviews.
I had an aluminum Houseboat years ago, it was an Alcan 370. I had the motors removed and I was going to repower it when I decided to go to another Marina. I had the owner of the new marina tow me over. He decided to show up later in the day when the wind was picking up but he assured me it was ok....I didn't listen to that little voice in my head....live and learn. He towed me into the corner of a concrete wall at high speeds. The side of the bow caved in but the boat didn't sink and the damage would have been repairable with a sledge hammer lol, to this day that's why I place aluminum as the number one boat building material, lack of maintenance and durability.
That’s incredible! Aluminum really is a remarkable material.
Thank you for this video! Very informative
You are welcome! I really liked seeing how everyone on their boat felt that the maintenance was acceptable and that the problems were not that bad.
Very very interesting boat. Everything about this boat deserves more attention IMHO.
Anyway, aluminum hull construction advantages and disadvantages are all far too technical for me.
I do like the fact that the aluminum hull is extremely corrosion resistant.
It was way above my comfort level for “not worrying” (maintenance wise) but it is very impressive.
Except for electrolysis!
@@richmorpurgo5554
Is electrolysis the addition of material?
Is galvanic corrosion the removal of material?
@@RiggingDoctor Exactly, dragging anchor is enough to worry about. Don't do aluminum.
Just wanted to say that many boats have been built on ferrocement. And others in cort-ten steel which to me is absolutely the best especially to one used with class specs.
If aluminum were any advantage for the operation of hulls, then the hulls of commercial ships would be built from it. But it is beneficial only for the construction of the hull, not for its operation) It bends easily, it is generally light. And it also shines beautifully and people are easily bought for the supposed absence of rust (it's just that aluminum has a different name for rust). But aluminum has one small, but very important feature: it cannot withstand loads close to maximum for a long time or repeatedly. For example: steel, without problems for its internal structure, can withstand up to ~ 80% of the load at which it breaks, and aluminum only up to ~ 30%. All this is highly dependent on the alloy, but I think that the principle is clear. Thus, it turns out that for aluminum the designed load will be only 29-30% of the total strength of the material, and for steel it will be ~ two and a half times more. This will be reflected in the actual weight of the boat - it will not be as good as the table volume weights for aluminum comparable to steel. Both are metals and therefore you will have to watch out for galvanic and electrical corrosion as well as stray currents. If the steel is hot-dip galvanized, then you can hardly worry about corrosion, of course you have to cover the body with special paint, then another, then another, then another, then another. Not tired? Then another layer, so that it was certainly reliable)) Yes ... this is not aluminum, this is steel, baby. It requires a little more attention, but much less often, and you are no longer so afraid to drop a steel bolt into the hold or under the floorboards, you are not so concerned about the currents in the marina, you are not so tormented by the issue of induced currents from your radar, and so on ... And this thing can also live 100 years or more. It can be welded by anyone in any country in the world. Even the most remote. This does not require argon and special equipment. And metals, unlike plastic hulls, don't contain the eternal chemicals (google it. it's really important to your health) that you'll inhale every time the sun shines on the boat and it heats up.
Good points. Steel is much more resilient but a properly designed aluminum boat is still pretty cool!
I personally would never own one because of a neighbor on the hard with an 80’ aluminum sailboat. The hull had countless holes in it from galvanic corrosion. They were about the size of golf balls and well over twenty of them. The holes became apparent during the power wash as the smutz that was in them and plugging the hole got washed out. The owner was looking at a crazy repair bill and waiting for the insurance company to send someone to take a look at it. The hull had many anodes built into it and they were still in good shape, but for whatever reason, his hull was being eaten away.
While aluminum boats look neat and are impressive, that little issue with electricity makes me shy away from that hull material for myself.
While most cargo ships are steel, the 40-something foot coast guard boats are aluminum and they live a hard life. Crazy impressive boats, but I have no information about how long they last or what the maintenance costs are to keep these hulls operational.
Good one. I'm glad Iive never thought of getting one. Way more problems than I want.
I’m happy in my fiberglass home :)
didn't the owner say, "dry bilge?" i guess a wet bilge is not more problems than checking that you don't have chemicals spilling around or a poorly designed or maintained electrical system (by the way those are stupid human error and not a problem associated with the material) We have to look at things other than the obvious for ourselves to learn and see new things.
Bearing in mind that aluminium is only just above zinc in galvanic nobility tables.... I'm still looking for a titanium hull.
It’s a shame those screw holes weren’t welded up when the previous owner had the old deck removed. That’s the only way to be sure of avoiding leaks.
I’ve repaired my fiberglass boat and I am a welder by trade. It is faster to repair and easier to build with aluminum (once you put a few years into learning how to weld it properly)
Thanks for your input! I appreciate the opinion of someone with experience from both camps ;)
I have no experience with aluminum sailboat hulls, but I do think that they are the best among powered vessels. The ballast in the keel must eliminate the biggest con which is hull slap.
Lighter performance sailboats with their flat bottoms can make that annoying hull slap rather well, but it’s normally masked by the noise of the wind, rigging, sails flapping, and ropes clanging!
Older and heavier sailboats with deep V hulls going down to a heavy keel don’t have any hull slap, but they also don’t move very fast either. It’s nice when that ballast just helps you cut through bog waves 😎
@@RiggingDoctor I still hear wavelet breaking at waterline at anchor through 1-1/4" wood. A sound to get used to since it is so similar to dribbling water.
Iam in the process of building a 62' aluminum sailing catamaran. The boat will be equipped with a miller dynasty 350 so I can perform any repairs at sea.
Excellent! The best hull material is one that you can repair yourself anywhere!
Sounds like a great project. All the best with it
Why no mention of using a proper (e.g. zinc) sacrificial anode? I get the importance of not having any stray currents from your electrical system, but a zinc anode is still a must-have, no? Am I missing something?
Absolutely. All boats need to have a sacrificial anode, but this is stuff that he feels are important to have in addition to the normal stuff boats have to fight electrolysis.
Watch out for mercury as well. The amount coming out of a mercury thermometer is enough to make a hole.
But it will look awesome as it eats your boat away!
And Gallium
aluminium is king if you invest some time in learning all about spontaneous electrolysis and how anodes work it is far superior than others. you can basically hit underwater ice and drift to shore in storms and recover still
It is an amazing material!
TY. ⛵ ⛵ ⛵
Galvanic corrosion is no joke! The US Navy lost a destroyer from that put a hole in it the size of a school bus lol. It was one of those try haul ships
That’s terrible!
You know for it being such a big snafu there's not a whole lot of press on, all the lcs's are @#$ed
And yet, Incat in Tasmania has hundreds of fast ferries with decades of service.
.
Perhaps your comment says more about the quality of hired-help these days than the material... or the try haul.
Based on the loss of the Bonhomme to sabotage by a 'disgruntled' female sailor, could intentional ignorance of maintenance be a probability?
@@largemarge1603 well to be honest theirs on perfect material for making a sailboat.
Also maintenance is always more important than the material everything wears out.
Modern builds in fibreglass are very strong, no corrosion, no problems with electric currents at the dock and good at market value.
True, but the metal through hulls can still suffer from electrolysis. The fiberglass hulls will stay around for a very long time, they just need maintenance like any other boat. At least the bones of your hull will last a long time!
It's not that all Aluminium corrodes, many boats are not made with marine grade aluminium, and even within those grades some are better than other. With the use of sacrificial anodes, it is still the best and most viable hull material.
It really is an amazing material with wonderful properties!
Are you going to cover steel hulls?
Eventually, sadly I haven’t come across someone on a steel boat who also knows how to repair their own hull to interview yet. As soon as I do, I’ll be posting it.
Put zinc anodes. It eliminates galvanic corrosion.
As long as they are still there to keep working. As soon as the anodes are gone, your hull is the next thing to get eaten away.
Cheers!!
Thanks!
Also paints especially anti fouling paints like copper based can and are problematic I am interesting to know is extremely slippery carbon based paints are a problem with aluminum
That’s an excellent question! I know they make paints specifically for aluminum hulls because electrolosys but also because it’s hard to get paint to stick to them as well
@@RiggingDoctor I'm testing out a product called Finsultate as antifouling now. I liked the idea of it as it doesn't use chemicals, but mechanical motion to deter growth. Coppercoat is a big no no. Some people say you can with good epoxy layers between that and the aluminium but I'd not sleep with that as a scratch could expose the aluminium to the copper. Antifoul such as Trilux which is specified for aluminium is crazy expensive (€400+ for 5L in Spain) and in my experience isn't very effective. So yes I think good antifouling is also a negative on aluminium. I'm willing to dive and clean the boat regularly so I don't have a problem but if you want to paint it on (or stick it on in the case of Finsulate) and forget about it you will struggle.
The only hull choice that has a scare factor to me. The Australian/NZ have a different cost comparison to other choices. Dominant unlimited budget performance sector. Perfect maintenance, never take a short cut or push anything off.
Leaving corrosion under a slap fix I have seen some in port have large 6"+ spots with shiny paint crumble apart.
I wonder how many believe it is a sound choice for full time cruising multi year were it is your only home? My observation has been more for seasonal cruising that leave it behind for boatyards to maintain annually at minimum.
I too am more comfortable with a solid glass hull.
Check out km yatch builders.
Their yatchs are used full time liveaboards such as BBC documentaries in the Arctics.
@@RiggingDoctor What is the fear factor? Every "glass" boat owner FEARS to run around...especially when they know its likely rock or reef. Can you find one aluminum s/v boat owner that has the same concerns? I will answer for you, no you can't. They are aware, but they don't fear like those that don't even know how thick their glass is or any idea whatsoever about real life vulenerabilty since they don't know the stregth of their hulls. We need to think more out of the box on all of these topics.
Maybe I'm mistaken, but I didn't think there was an I at the end of the word. It's Aluminum, not aluminium. That just always bug me.
In American English it’s Aluminum
In British English it’s Aluminium
@@RiggingDoctor what is it on the periodic table?
Actually I looked it up. It was originally Alumium and then changed to Aluminum around 1912. It was more recently changed to Aluminium to fit with other elements like Sodium and Potassium.
Interesting! I know that not too long ago (around 100 years ago) it was referred to as one of the Unobtaniums because it’s properties were so wonderful but there wasn’t enough of it around to actually build things out of.
The Hoover Dam has aluminum doors because in 1936, this was wildly exotic! Now we make beer cans out of it and throw it away without even thinking about it.
Thats great thanks. Will you be touching on Balsa cored boats? Maybe find someone with an old one? I don't understand how the industry can turn a blind eye to constructing water craft with a water absorbent material that turns to mush when mixed with seawater. One often sees the description "high tech balsa". What does this mean? Do they grow hybrids that don't absorb water?
I have seen balsa cored decks where the mush has spread. It must be much worse in in hulls where gravity will take the water absorption down into the hull.
th-cam.com/video/THjN3_HNBZw/w-d-xo.html
Right here!
Hey you need to fix the audio! Sound is very important. And you need to introduce the sailor with at least a quick tour of his boat.
Good points for the future, but you can’t alter a TH-cam video once it’s up.
All the knowledge that you need before looking. Thanks for the education guys.❤❤🙏🙏🪬🪬💎💎👍👍🇬🇧🇬🇧🥃🥃⛵️⛵️
Stainless steel would be a good one because if ever you sank it you could recover it and re-weld it. Aluminum suffers from rot eventually!
A stainless steel boat would be an incredible vessel!
Well actually if you read about stainless steel, you will learn that it becomes brittle over time when exposed to salt water. If you are a boat person you will know this with regards to anchor chains. Stainless steel must be washed with fresh water, if not cleaned it will get microscopic cracks which severely effect its tensile strength. With the stresses a boat hull can experience, having a hull that may suddenly crack is not desirable. Titanium would be ideal, and vessels are beginning to be built from it.
@@chippyjohn1 that's interesting. It doesn't surprise me, the sea claims everything eventually. I saw that someone tried this but was having reactions every time a different metal was introduced to the stainless hull. He had to take it all to bits and start again with more specific materials to join in with the stainless.
@@chippyjohn1 There was a titanium hull Japanese ship in the Transpac race in around 1987. The joke was "please keep the can openers away from the boat". The wealthy owner had it put on a container ship for the journey back home. One of their crew members came aboard the Canvasback for it's journey from Honolulu to San Francisco. I got to cross the Pacific on that ship which was a 71' aluminum ketch rigged catamaran. It was interesting.
@@mikeh2520 Did the hull suffer damage? I don't understand the joke.
Do you guys think polythene/polypropelene (plastic /Roplene) hulled boats will ever be made big enough to compete in the sailing market? They are virtually indestructible and unsinkable so why not?
Good points! We had a dinghy made of that and the oar locks started to tear out. It was also incredibly thin!
We shall see what the boat builders start doing at future boat shows.
Which Hull Material is BEST: Steel pls.
I still haven’t met anyone on a steel boat who knows how to repair their own hull to interview. I have met many steel boat cruisers, but they all rely on boat yards to do all the maintenance of their hull.
As soon as I meet someone who qualifies to be in the series, I will make that episode!
@@RiggingDoctor Thank you very much!
Aluminium are great but NOT at the mooring. Absoloute headaches with electric corrosion. I have an 8.6m with 7mm aluminium hull and 4mm pilot house (twin yamahas).
I agree. It’s an amazing material but in the end I chose to buy a plastic fiberglass boat.
Can you fill holes on a aluminum boat with brazing rods? Or would the hull be too thick?
'Brazing' if your thinking bronze, no. Weld yes, same alloy. They are very repairable. 1# choice for workboats
Aluminum marine should be a specific aloy with magnesium. Protective paints and antifouling are different and specific.
Throw a copper penny in an aluminum dinghy and it will put a hole through it.
Thickness of hull plates is more about cost than weight. Save catamarans.
The proper way to fix a hole like that is cut a v and and mig the hell out of it lol
These repairs are outside of my skill zone. I don’t know how to weld yet.
You can't braze a hole at sea because you will lose all heat to the water. Dry dock would be ok
The cost is also a factor. They seem to be more expensive.
Definitely outside of my budget! That’s why I went with fiberglass
Yeah but glass with poly boats even really old ones are everywhere.
That they are
Aluminum is an alloy you need to think of it as like a cake batter different additives to different things so make it hard others make it soft but A marine grade aluminum 5086 is very well suited for boats and saltwater environments as well has a lot of different chemicals metallurgy and allergies have come along way and have become even more corrosion resistant what is the man said can you do really have to watch out for Random electrical currents there are some awesome coatings/paints available now as well but they are very expensive and most are quite an extensive process to apply
Aluminum really is an impressive material for boat hulls!
@@RiggingDoctor Look at Garcia, KM Yachts - who built Skip Novak's Arctic expedition boats; Devillers of New Zealand.
Also Selium aluminium doesn't suffer from galvanic cancer.
True; no material is perfect. For sail boats, AL is not the best; too many different metals creates problems. Powered vessels, eg ships, tugboats, etc, require steel, as do any vessels working daily in the Bering Sea. The average power yacht is used for pleasure, and for this AL is my preferred material, keeping all other metals to an absolute minimum and well insulated from the AL. Al can be coated and anodised, if the bare grey becomes too boring. But bare AL can act as a heat sink in the water. Use cork for decking, not teak. Cork is glued, so no leaks; glue is very easy to re-glue and to patch. Cork gives excellent grip, is scrubbable, and lasts +25 yrs.
Oh what is this new and exciting element "aluminum" you talk of....? Hehehe....(Taxi for Fletch.... )
I take it you are English and call it “Aluminium” 🤓
@@RiggingDoctor Sorry neighbour I apologise. I never meant any offence with flavour of my humour… I’m am yes just and English Traveller of the intwerweb, attempting, badly, to manoeuvre and labour a very old quip… 😉
PS. Love the show… 😍 More Charlie please… 😊
name of this boat?
It was a custom made Arctic exploration vessel that was then converted to cruising, so it doesn’t really have a name.
What meter to you use to monitor stray currents? Do you use a copper-based anti-fouling paint?
I don’t know what brand the meter was but it checks for stray currents.
Copper paint will cause a lot of problems, you need special paint for an aluminum hull to avoid issues of dissimilar metals between the hull and the paint.
7:34 - how does he treat the small holes … I assume he has to weld it … does that mean it is best to carry a welding machine? Can Copper be used for anti-foul?
You can’t use copper paint and yes, he would have to weld small holes closed.
It’s an awesome material but I have seen too many aluminum horror stories to have one that I’m not always inspecting (my personal opinion)
@@RiggingDoctor I'm assuming if two clean aluminium surfaces come together without the oxide then a cold weld could take place. And Steel and Aluminium don't mix well as a reaction takes place to seize screw to hull/body.
My question was more related to copper plated bottom not copper based paints… my bad I wasn't clear.
I'm curious to the reactions of metals with sea water such as Aluminium Bronze. I like this hull material series you are doing it gives a lot of insight and info towards boating 👍🏼
@@firstlast9384
"... don't mix well as a reaction..."?
Could you re-phrase this using standard grammar?
@@largemarge1603 i could but i couldn't be arsed
Aluminum with closed cell foam. Will last a long time and will float if you accidentally sink it.
The foam also makes the boat incredibly comfortable as it keeps the temperature much more even in the boat.
@@RiggingDoctor ooh I didn’t even think of that.
Gonna be controversial here; This was a pronunciation battle.
Ah lum minion ✅
Ah loo min um ❌
Oh and
Con trov fussy✅
Con troh viersy❌
He forgot the cost on the negatives. But maybe that is not something someone owning a 50+ft aluminium boat is concerned about in the first place ;)
Well said!
Wonder if "White Spot Pirates" or Vet Tales knows all of this, they both have AL boats in warm central America waters.
You could share it with them ;)
@@RiggingDoctor Think I already did with White Spot, that little skinny German girl does all of her own work, down to pulling the engine & aligning the main shaft. She did fish plate the bottom of her AL hull between the twin keels. She beached the boat at High Tide & did a bottom job too. Funny she is not the "I don't need a man type" but more like can I do this & tries.
p.s. on a side note, why do you prefer a harness over a leg tether for charlie? p.p.s. I have way too many shirts. why don't you sell underpants and socks? that's all I really need. p.p.p.s the life behind bars shirt IS fareeging awesome, but I have too many shirts. underpants? maybe on the butt? pref jockeys.
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The leg tether could hurt her hip if she fell off the boat and got hung up. The harness holds her more securely so she’s safe if she hangs in it.
We tried selling socks but none sold so we took them off the store. We do sell hoodies. They go great over any shirt you have on ;)
Alu boat is potentially BIG BIG BIG trouble
That’s how I feel. They are great when they are great, and a mess if not maintained.
And you could waste your life laying safely in bed...
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Thanks!
Don't use teak on an Aluminum boat. Use the polymer or elastomer mats.
Good point!
@@RiggingDoctor Or the vinyl teak-look. :) But the pads work better.
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ONLY ALUMINUM FOR ME! His pro of durability "on the rocks"...why isn't that the only one people need to know. All "cons" are basically human error issues, not a "con" of aluminum. Positives so outweigh any pros or cons of any other material. Pro not mentioned: Don't have to paint topsides (natural oxidation seals the aluminum). Advanced methods available to identify any potential leaks during the manufacturing proces. Doesn't stink like "glass" is a big pro for me as well.
Aluminum is an amazing material, but if you can’t afford it, you can float in a plastic bottle and look at the aluminum boats.
@@RiggingDoctor ...somehow i missed the part of the series "what material that you can afford..." I thought the topic was simply based upon criteria that weren't related to budget , but "Material is BEST."
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Only 5 million stress cycles makes it unattractive for long term use on a blue water cruising boat.
That’s not very many when you figure waves are every 4 seconds on average
Fine if you're living aboard. This is not a material I would leave at the marina for a month and come back to - you might find a nightmare waiting for you.
I agree.
detergent destroys aluminium.
Good to know
AUDIO = high pass filter !!! make mic closer to person talking filter out noise as best you can !
Good to know! Always a learning process 👍
HDPE is the best hull material, not even a contest
For what size of boat? Are there any boats that you recommend as a good example of this hull material that I could read up on? I can then keep my eye peeled for one at anchor to interview the owner for this series!
Lexie,
Are you referring to that brittle stuff?
Is it engineered to break-down in sunlight?
Can it be re-cycled?
Best is titanium, aluminum can corrode,titanium is not.
Titanium can still corrode, it depends on which grade you are using. Grade 7 and Grade 12 are the only ones that will withstand the marine environment, the others will corrode away just like stainless steel.
As a PhD in marine materials science I really hate this title. There are literally thousands of different grades of aluminum, there are also changes that occur during the processing of a boat hull made of aluminum. This is stupid and insulting to people that have even the basic knowledge of materials.
This is a very basic introductory video about aluminum hulls. Would you be interested in being interviewed for a more in-depth video that goes into the most common grades of aluminum?
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It's strange that there's two spellings of aluminum, aluminium, both are correct, one is definitely British. I like your videos, definitely informative, thank you. But...you really need to stop letting your gf cut your hair!
Yeah, Covid wasn’t a great time for my hair.
Aluminium, not aluminum!
I take it you are from England 😉
In the US, Al is called aluminum. In the UK, Al is called aluminium.
@@RiggingDoctor From Australia actually. More accurately you could say the US is the only country that calls it Aluminum. Scientifically it is recognised as Aluminium.
So what’s the typical thickness of sheets on Ali boards?❤❤🙏🙏👍👍🥃🥃🪬🪬💎💎⛵️⛵️🇬🇧🇬🇧
Hi can you have a boat haul made out of composite with a thin aluminum layer on top?
I’m sure you could but composite hulls are incredible on their own, they probably wouldn’t need to have the added layer of aluminum.
A friend showed me amazing things with basalt in a composite hull it is literally bullet proof, axe proof, and pick-axe proof; because he shot it, and swung at it, yet was unable to puncture a very thin sample!
what a bunch of nothing bal bla bla bla
It will turn into a bunch of nothing if you don’t keep an eye on stray current.
Opinguins?
Opinions?
One of many restored Feathercraft boats: th-cam.com/video/IHdIYm86Gik/w-d-xo.html
I hope they named it Silver Bullet!