Have you heard of them? They are an awesome couple who is cruising on a Carter 33 that they have been rebuilding as they go. They have the dream and are doing everything they can to make their dream their reality!
We met up with them in an anchorage on the south coast of Puerto Rico and they became friends for life!
For thousands of years, wood was the hull material of choice. This was the norm until fiberglass was introduced! Some will argue of the virtues of other hull materials but the truth is, all hull materials existed when fiberglass was introduced and fiberglass has dominated the market as the standard hull material for all personal boats being built.
The expert I interviewed was Matt from MJ Sailing as they have sailed extensively on a fiberglass sailboat, then an aluminum sailboat, and are now building a fiberglass catamaran to go on their next adventure!
When I say plywood, you are probably thinking of a wooden boat; but while plywood is “technically” a form of wood, the construction methods differ so greatly that it would be like saying that a horse and a mouse are the same thing because they both have four legs!
Cement boats? I know this sounds ridiculous but they have been making the boats out of ferro cement for a very long time; and they actually have some impressive properties!
Ferro Cement is very different from “Concrete” as those boats all were plagued with problems (and most of them sank). Ferro Cement is different and holds up really well in the marine environment. The metal frame is never exposed to water and therefore remains entombed inside the cement as the boat voyages around.
The main advantages of this hull material are that it is incredibly strong, while the biggest disadvantage of the ferro cement is that the boats are incredibly heavy. A heavy boat is only a disadvantage to someone who wants to race along light winds. To me, as a bluewater cruiser, a heavy and incredibly strong hull sounds like a dream come true!
Aluminum used to be called Unobtanium because its properties were so advantageous but they simply couldn’t make enough of it to actually build something out of it. Fast forward a few hundred years and we can all sail on yachts made from this wonder material of the future!
