Hi Steve, Absolutely the best investment I have made before going full time cruising is your Offshore Cruising Encyclopedia. However I am hoping you can elaborate on one small statement that I keep coming back to, and it has a major bearing on the type of yachts we are looking at purchasing. As you’re aware, there are many more fibreglass boats to choose from, even in the South Pacific where steel is reasonably popular choice. Which seems to confirm your statement that "on average 1 in 12 yachts that spend more than 2 years in the South Pacific basin ends up on a reef permanently". As I am looking at the South Pacific, the Great Barrier Reef, and the archipelago of Western Australia’s Kimberley Coast – much of which is still not charted – as the areas we most wish to spend our time. I had resigned my looking to steel or aluminium yachts, however I have found a strongly built balsa cored 40′ cruising yacht that I particularly like, but I keep thinking about those reefs and rocks. Any more information you can give me or direct me to in helping me make a decision on whether to buy this yacht or keep looking would be very much appreciated. Regards, Peter
Hi Peter: There is no easy answer to your question. It comes down to weighing the risks. Some folks feel that with GPS, the risks are less. But charts are not any more accurate in the good cruising than in the olden days. Where GPS helps is in enabling you to follow a track out that brought you safely into port.
That still leaves the risks of getting into port in the first place, and the odd mistake which we all make.
My own personal preference is metal. Not only is it better with mistakes, but if the boat is done correctly you won’t have to worry about leaks.
Having said that, one of our Deerfoot 2-62s took on one of the Tuamotus some years ago, spent a week or so visiting on the reef, and then was towed off by a commercial salvage vessel. Her GRP for the most part came through unscathed – but there was some damage that would not have been there on a metal boat. And she spent quite a bit of time in New Zealand being repaired.
The vast majority of cruising boats are GRP – and if the boat is well built, and you are prudent, you will probably be OK. But sometimes things go awry with the best laid plans – or a neighboring vessel starts a chain reaction in a crowded anchorage. In which case you would rather be on a metal boat.
I know I have not answered your question – there are no easy answers as I said in the beginning. – Steve
Posted by Steve Dashew (November 30, 1999)
