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Old 01-25-2016, 07:41 AM   #1
chicagoq
Veteran Member
 
City: Naperville
Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 45
Fiberglass putty boat?

Disclaimer: I am completely new to boating and am in the process of getting the basic knowledge. I don't, never own any boats.

I have been watching boattester.com for a while, initially it was pretty exciting, Woo, these boats are great! The reviewers almost always praise the boats! Great this, great that, everything great. But after a while I grew suspicious, Really? There's no drawbacks at all? Every single boat is the best boat in the entire world! Go jump on it!

Yesterday while reading a cruising book. I found something deeply concerns me. The issue is with fiberglass. According to the book, a lot of new boats being built are labelled as "fiberglass", while in fact they are so called "core material", basically just junk material covered with a thin layer of fiber. Also according to the book, boats built before 1986 mostly are solid fiberglass. But most newer boats are not. Then I came upon this article: Are They Fiberglass Boats Anymore? by David Pascoe, Marine Surveyor

I got to say these are really discouraging news for newbies like me, If these are true, then count me out! Forget it, A boat is not a small investment, I am not paying that much money for a piece of junk!

I'd like to hear your opinion, are these true? The article is fairly old, dates back in 2000. Have things been improving? Or getting even worse? Is there any brand today still use solid fiberglass? Is there any reliable boat review that I can trust?
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