Steel Trawlers - Pros and Cons

[captmikem]

Most large yachts are steel.
I have driven a number of steel tugs in my time and a few 'Megayachts' built of steel. Most all were fine boats.

But for the average 'Yachtsman' who leaves their boat at the marina most of the time and thinks oil changes and a wash job and a bit of varnish is maintenance, a steel boat is not going to work. Large yachts and tugs have full time crews who maintain the ship, and they go into the yard once a year or so and have a lot of maintenance / repair done at a coast most small boat owners would not be willing to pay.

But I do like steel boats, I have small 50' ketch that is strong and sturdy.

M

 

[JohnS]

Steel Trawler - large - project?

Spotted this 65' x 18 x 6.5 BIG Dutch-built steel trawler. Says 90 register? tons.
Guy apparently not finishing his project.
At: buybluewateryacht.com
JohnS

 

[JohnS]

Steel trawler for sale - Galveston

Forgot to mention the boat has Volvo TMD70E diesels, hours not stated, is on the hard near Galveston and asking priced at $119,000.
Pics look nice. I wonder about what is not shown.
JohnS

 

[Judy at JWY]

Although I don't claim to be an expert, here's a bottom line summary of my credentials for sharing my personal/professional opinions: I have given seminars at TrawlerFest on the pros and cons of steel vs fiberglass vs aluminum. Out of the approximately 250 trawlers I have sold, about 50 have been steel and maybe 15 were aluminum. At one point I sent a questionnaire to my steel trawler owners and one of the questions was would they buy steel next go-round. Out of 35, only one said they would buy fiberglass and the rest were steel committed.

A few pros for steel:
Safer/less damage for collisions and allisions
Safer for fires if only to allow more time for escape from fumes and flames
Repairs can be made at most any port including 3rd world countries
Lower maintenance in time and expense
Most steel boats can withstand neglect and can be "brought back" if neglected
More credible survey information
Lower purchase price

A few cons for steel:
Lower resale value particularly for the first owner or two
Requires "preventative" maintenance
Requires yard capable of lifting heavy boats for haul-outs
Requires additional survey expense for audiogauging
Limits buyers to full-displacement hulls (max speeds top out at 12kn)
Scarcity of quality steel yachts in good condition on market

Aluminum yachts, in our "normal" parameters, are rare. They are usually faster than steel, more durable than fiberglass, and can be cheaper to maintain.

Judy

 

[balder8]

Hello,

I own a steel trawler built in the Netherlands. This is my first steel boat. I had before 6 sailing yachts and one trawler in fiberglass. I never met osmosis problems because they were new boats and I resale them after 10 or 12 years.
Planning to go with steel for comfort, insulation, strong building etc , I was a little bit concerned by the maintenance and afraid of that.
To be honest, after 5 years and some miles from the Netherlands to Med and Canary Islands, I feel very comfortable with work to be done as a regular maintenance.

1 - buy of course a boat in good shape about rust ( I approve what has been explained about inside chain locker, engine room, all frame inside)
2- maintenance:use and "adopt" only one range of products and be familiar with them: I mean an epoxy like JOTAMASTIC 87 or 90, a two coats epoxy paint for finish ( International, Hempel etc) and a filler. Do not hesitate to repare as soon as possible small scratches or rusty spots ( you will have some). I remember Dutch owners opening during the week end a small box with all their pencils, sanding papers and accessories like for surgery. It is the way to go. You need of course to have time.
3- accept to sandblast every ten year the epoxy barrier ( hull).
4- forget or remove teak wood or "faux" teak on decks and supertructure, a real trap for humidity, condensation and.... rust. Use a deck paint like International or Kiwi Grip ( very easy to use)

Let me tell you this not more work than polish an old gelcoat on a fiberglass boat or let your baby dry six months minimum on the hard to repare osmosis...

One lesson, I have hit a serious piece of wood in north Brittany, 20' sea. No damages, I didn't realize that happened before coming in the marina with some debris stucked on the bulb.
Lesson two: no more bloody noises under way with furnitures

Honestly, I do not regret my choice, considering all debris floating sometimes and "attack" of Orcas recently destroying rudders on fiberglass yachts like we have seen along Atlantic spanish coasts...

Here, some pictures of the silicate blasting work done last september. After removing the ten years"old" epoxy and antifouling, hull appears like new!
By the way, one miserable mistake has been done by the company doing this work: they didn't protect enough the supertructures and most of the silicate flew on deck during operations with aventuri effect of wind blowing. This was a mess...

 

[Judy at JWY]

Beautiful yacht! Making my heart sing...

Judy

 

[balder8]

Beautiful yacht! Making my heart sing...

Judy

Coming from a professional like Judy, this is a real compliment! Thanks!

 

[moparharn]

I have read this with great interest. I have been searching for a trawler for about 5 years. After the first 1.5 to 2 years I gave up and purchased a nice 35 Bertram to use while I continued to look. I have made offers on 7 trawlers. These offers were either refused, or the due diligence revealed too many issues. Over the course of this search I have come to realize that a purchase in my size, style, and price range in GRP is unlikely as most of these boats have moisture or window /tankage issues that I cannot afford the repair of. Afford meaning $ or time or physical effort. I have one very good opportunity to purchase an excellent GRP boat, but the seller is not sure enough about our deal yet. The other three boats I am seriously considering are made of steel. I have made offers on all three of these boats. One was accepted verbally by the broker, then refused by the buyer, then accepted. I was not comfortable with the jerk around and then Covid hit locking me out of Canada. The second boat the owner refused the offer and still feels similarly. The third boat I made an offer and it was refused, then Covid hit and they accepted and I refused due to my circumstances. This boat is also complicated by Canadian location.

Once Covid is better controlled and my circumstances are more understood I intend to get after my Trawler. The steel boats have been for sale continuously for at least two years and possibly 3-4. The steel boats do not command the prices being asked of them in my situation and that is why they have not sold. Beyond my concern regarding resale, I am quite interested in steel and the only way I do not purchase in steel is if the GRP deal I spoke of comes back into play.

I am in fresh water. For GRP this is bad. For steel it is good. I am not concerned about the rust I can see or get to. The boats I am considering were properly coated and insulated when constructed. Steel fabricators and welders in my area are abundant and world class. I also weld myself (would not let me touch my boat). Two of the three steel boats have been meticulously faired and painted and appear as GRP from more than ten feet (in one case you would need a magnet). For me the only issue is "what can't I see". I am hoping a good surveyor can help with this. A good surveyor of steel boats in my area is almost non-existent. They are mostly commercial ship surveyors and I am not sure what that means to me.

My friends father purchased a 70-80 foot Broward (I think Aluminum)
He had it surveyed before purchase. The boat was scrapped with one or two years as the hull was failing and too thin. He took the insurance settlement and purchased a Burger. Truly excellent surveyors are not easy to find, and gauging devices can be a problem for both GRP and steel. At some point you trust your instincts and due diligence and make a decision. I have decided I am very interested in buying a steel trawler. I think this interest has been fueled by my frustration with moisture intrusion with GRP in my price range, and nice steel boats without this issue are falling into my price range potentially.

 

[David Ess]

We are considering only metal boats now for our next purchase...whether steel or aluminum The main reason is because it will WAAAAY up our chances for survival if we hit that floating fridge, or huge log at sea. There is tons of info out there on the benefits. And nowadays rust coatings are way better than those of years ago.

 

[Snapdragon III]

I think that Laser cleaning is going to be a revolution in the ownership of metal boats. These devices are new technology, and very expensive now, but I am sure they will come way down in price as the technology gets more mature. If these things work anywhere close to as good as YouTube videos make them look, it would make maintaining a steel or aluminum boat so much easier. The one in the video below is about $60,000 I think. Might be worth it if you were a boat yard doing lots of work on steel boats, but probably too expensive to have one of your own that you keep on board.

 

[woolf]

At one point I sent a questionnaire to my steel trawler owners and one of the questions was would they buy steel next go-round. Out of 35, only one said they would buy fiberglass and the rest were steel committed.
Judy

Optics should not be a concern either, as a well built and maintained steel trawler is hard to tell, even from a just polished GRP boat:

 

[balder8]

To Snapdragon: This laser machine looks great!
From what I know, less and less boatyards accept the traditional sandblasting work with sand and water.
We used silicate but as I explained, a lack of protection made a dirty job and a lot of cleaning at the end. Next time, ten years later I hope!, I will ask for more protection around the hull.
To give an idea of the cost, I paid more or less 8500 EUR ( I do not know how much USD it makes today...) including the labour, the silicate, the lift, crane etc without the painting materials but including the job paint ( airless , two coats of Jotamastic 90, a coat of primar and two coats of antifouling applied by roller.
If you are doing this by yourself which is not impossible, you should consider do it part by part to avoid flash rust. A good thing is that this Jotamastic 90 as been chemically done to be applied even on flash rusted bare metal.
It is mostly used for ships, cargos ,tugs and other "serious" boats. Another version is the Smart Pack package, more easy to apply because you have only to mix one for one component from a 5 liters can.I do not know if these products are imported in US or Canada.

Another thing about steel boat is silence aboard, if properly insulated as done in the northern countries like The Netherlands.
Of course, this material is better for trawlers, heavy displacment!

 

[David Ess]

Quite right, and jibes with what we're finding out.

 

[Snapdragon III]

To Snapdragon: This laser machine looks great!
From what I know, less and less boatyards accept the traditional sandblasting work with sand and water.
We used silicate but as I explained, a lack of protection made a dirty job and a lot of cleaning at the end. Next time, ten years later I hope!, I will ask for more protection around the hull.
To give an idea of the cost, I paid more or less 8500 EUR ( I do not know how much USD it makes today...) including the labour, the silicate, the lift, crane etc without the painting materials but including the job paint ( airless , two coats of Jotamastic 90, a coat of primar and two coats of antifouling applied by roller.
If you are doing this by yourself which is not impossible, you should consider do it part by part to avoid flash rust. A good thing is that this Jotamastic 90 as been chemically done to be applied even on flash rusted bare metal.
It is mostly used for ships, cargos ,tugs and other "serious" boats. Another version is the Smart Pack package, more easy to apply because you have only to mix one for one component from a 5 liters can.I do not know if these products are imported in US or Canada.

Another thing about steel boat is silence aboard, if properly insulated as done in the northern countries like The Netherlands.
Of course, this material is better for trawlers, heavy displacment!

I paid about 2/3 that amount to have the bottom of my 40' aluminum trawler blasted down to bare metal and redone a few years ago. I believe it was the original coating and it lasted 27 years, although there were some damaged spots that had not been fixed properly, and led to corrosion than required welding to repair before the new bottom system went on. I wanted to try and do the job myself, but found that where I live the environmental rules are strict enough that nobody would let you do any type of media blasting in their boat yard. They had to do it themselves, in special areas they had set up. It makes small ongoing repairs a pain as they charge a huge setup fee for the equipment, that makes it very expensive if you just want to hit a couple small areas. The laser cleaner would make it so much nicer. It would also be so much better for doing areas on the top sides around windows and doors and such. As you mentioned, it is super hard to keep the blasting media from getting everywhere.

On my boat they used a "Dustless" blaster, that mixed ground glass media with water and blasted it out. It was anything but dustless, and made a huge mess across a huge swath of the boatyard. I am sure it was way less dust than a traditional dry blaster but it was still an enormous mess.

 

[woolf]

Around here, they use recycling blasters for smaller surfaces. They work quite nicely, possible to use even inside a shed.

 

[Northern Spy]

Optics should not be a concern either, as a well built and maintained steel trawler is hard to tell, even from a just polished GRP boat:

Be still my heart...

Is that your boat? If so, I just violated at least two of the ten commandments.

 

[Northern Spy]

Laser cleaning is amazing to see done.

But (big but) it doesn't profile the surface for mechanical adhesion of most coatings. Inadequate surface prep is as much about lack of profile as it is remaining contamination.

It has it's place, but maybe not for coating prep.

Shifts of guys blasting here on site as I write trying to achieve NACE No 1 to prep for coating.

 

[Snapdragon III]

Laser cleaning is amazing to see done.

But (big but) it doesn't profile the surface for mechanical adhesion of most coatings. Inadequate surface prep is as much about lack of profile as it is remaining contamination.

It has it's place, but maybe not for coating prep.

Shifts of guys blasting here on site as I write trying to achieve NACE No 1 to prep for coating.

If you were to laser clean an area that had intact coating on it, over properly profiled metal originally, do you think the Laser would clean out the original profile and allow recoating without additional prep?

 

[woolf]

Be still my heart...

Is that your boat? If so, I just violated at least two of the ten commandments.

Sorry for causing any medical or spiritual conditions … that was when she came out of the refit shed in Holland in fall last year.


She should long have been at your doorstep in the PNW by now, but is still pinned down in Europe, after Covid-19 toppled over all long and carefully prepared cruising plans in January.

 

[Snapdragon III]

Sorry for causing any medical or spiritual conditions … that was when she came out of the refit shed in Holland in fall last year.


She should long have been at your doorstep in the PNW by now, but is still pinned down in Europe, after Covid-19 toppled over all long and carefully prepared cruising plans in January.

If you are comfortable sharing it, I would be very curious what your experience/future expectations are for the annual cost of maintaining a magnificent boat like that. Not counting moorage or fuel.

 

[Northern Spy]

If you were to laser clean an area that had intact coating on it, over properly profiled metal originally, do you think the Laser would clean out the original profile and allow recoating without additional prep?

I would venture yes. I'm on my way out today and won't have a chance to ask an inspector.

But corrosion is going to change the profile for sure.

 

[Hippocampus]

Magnificent vessel. Please tell us more about her. Where she was made (what yard). Who designed her. ?Stock plans or one off?

 

[woolf]

If you are comfortable sharing it, I would be very curious what your experience/future expectations are for the annual cost of maintaining a magnificent boat like that. Not counting moorage or fuel.

Impossible to say – she just came out of a substantial refit to better than new condition, that made her ready for the NW Passage.

Happy to discuss again in 3 years …

 

[woolf]

Magnificent vessel. Please tell us more about her. Where she was made (what yard). Who designed her. ?Stock plans or one off?

[FONT=&quot]Thank you![/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]She's a [FONT=&quot]Vripack custom “Research Vessel” explorer design.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Built by Kuipers [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Scheepsbouw in Holland (known in the US mainly for their line of Doggersbank yachts) to superyacht standards with a Lloyds certificate - 22,90m x 5,90m x 2,30m @ 90t. [/FONT]

 

[balder8]

[FONT=&quot]Thank you![/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]She's a [FONT=&quot]Vripack custom “Research Vessel” explorer design.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Built by Kuipers [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Scheepsbouw in Holland (known in the US mainly for their line of Doggersbank yachts) to superyacht standards with a Lloyds certificate - 22,90m x 5,90m x 2,30m @ 90t. [/FONT]

Do you are the ''official'' broker? I saw this trawler for sale by DeValk now few months ago?
Magnifique!

 

[woolf]

Do you are the ''official'' broker? I saw this trawler for sale by DeValk now few months ago?
Magnifique!

Certainly not - neither official nor unofficial !

The one you saw was built a few years later, when the adapted plans were used again by a commercial shipyard in China.

 

[balder8]

@Woolf: You are talking about NW passage... Do you expect to cross Atlantic from East (Europe) by the northern route?

 

[FF]

I have always understood steel vessels rust from the inside out.

And blasting and painting the hull interior was the expensive process .

Building with flat bar instead if T bar is claimed to make the blasting job easier and better , but still a huge mess .

 

[woolf]

@Woolf: You are talking about NW passage... Do you expect to cross Atlantic from East (Europe) by the northern route?

That was the plan until 2019: Holland - Norway - Faroer - Iceland - Greenland to Halifax for the winter. I have done the trade wind route via Canaries and Cape Verde before.

Unfortunately, with the current outlook for 2021, this routing plan is unlikely to materialize.

 

[Hippocampus]

Just wondering. West to east not bad northern route but east to west generally better southern route. ?why did you make that choice?