Metal hull / Real Ships - ongoing maintenance

Hey Everyone

I have been trying to find out more about ongoing care/maintenance of a steel hull trawler. (Late 90's build)

I am actually under contract on a Real Ships trawler, which appears in excellent condition. I of course am going down the route of survey etc, but am more curious on real world experiences in maintaining a Steel vs FRP hull trawler.

Boat would primarily be moored in fresh lake water in Seattle, but many voyages in the Sound. Can any other Real Ships owners chime in with their experiences or even others that are in the know?

I have been told these have an excellent ceramic type paint or something on complete inside of hull. outside has just been stripped, completely xrayed/checked out, and repainted.

i just have had several friends warn me of the extra care a steel hull needs, but when i do my digging, i really cant find much that substantiates the rumor. what do you all know on this???

thanks

Wade

Wow. Nothing? I have never seen this group speechless. Did the walk through today and things look great with the boat. But as someone who has never owned a steel hull vessel, am I missing anything? It appears too good to be true. Which tells me I am missing something

Any Real Ships owners out there?

It's the weekend, people may be away form the forum...boating.

Ted

Greetings,
Mr. JP. About the only thing I know about steel is if you keep everything painted, you won't have any problems with rust. To ME, that suggests ready and easy access to every part of the hull and fitments from the inside for both inspection AND maintenance.

There are at least 2 people on the forum that have a Seahorse and Diesel Duck, respectively. Maybe a quick search (one is Amadeus) to locate them and ping them directly? They should have some real-world experience.

I like the idea of steel, and I wouldn’t miss the polishing and waxing.

Let us know how it goes...good luck.

Got to be able to get to every square foot of the interior of the hull. If any areas are inaccessible, big red flag.

I bought a 31 year old steel motorsailer and kept it going for 15 more years.
There were many lessons along the way and I learned some of them the hard way.

The present condition of your boat is all that matters. If it was well sealed inside and
properly maintained you should have no surprises. Just remain vigilant with any rust.

We had a 30 year old steel hulled sailboat whose previous maintenance was ok. Upkeep was not a huge deal, as someone else pointed out it is just a matter of keeping up with it. A neglected steel hull is a lot of work to bring back. Even after owning a steel boat, it is still my material of choice for a boat hull.

Bump. Be patient members will help you.

My experience is mostly ships and commercial boats. To stop rust and wastage, you need a good barrier coat. The best I've seen is zinc sprayed on newly sandblasted steel. The 2nd best is epoxy also on newly sandblasted steel. If you fix breaks in the barrier in a timely manner you won't have rust problems. If you have a good barrier on the boat now you may never have to go to bare metal.
Steel is my favorite hull material, strongest, and the easiest to repair.

Thanks everyone for the info. Continuing forward with it. Just wanted to be sure i wasnt missing anything.

I enjoy following along Dangar Marine (down under) restoring a smaller steel trawler. Eye opening. Here is a link to the series of restoration videos.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJD0gZGZdCufGyRWHrcDp7StAO5COOEY4