Fibreglass Boats

Fibreglass has since the 1960's proven to be material best suited to mass production and is unquestionalbly the least problematic of all conventional boat building materials, that is until damaged.

Once damaged the structural integrity of the laminate and hull are often extensively compromised  and the effective repair of fibreglass boats can be more complex than is necessarily appreciated.

Resins are expensive and layups optimised to minimise scantlings to what is just suffcient. The manufacture of hulls, interiors and decks as seperate mouldings allows the combined bending resistence of this double skinned construction to contribute to the structural stiffness of the boat. However repairs when necessary become more complex and the full extent of damage can be much harder to find.

The use of viynlester in the outer laminates improved greatly the resistence of laminates to osmosis however this is not necessarily always the case especially for boats which have seen prolonged use in warmer waters.

It is recommended, that the boat has been ashore with bilges and tanks dry for at least 5 days prior to undertaking moisture readings. It is important that when brought ashore the hull has been washed down thoroughly with fresh water to remove the salt.

Readings may be taken, weather dependent, before this minimum recommended period but indications are likely to require qualification especially if the boat was built before the mid 1990's.

The owner of the boat should be made aware of and have given their consent for the removal of multiple areas of anti-fouling approximately 100mm x 100mm in order to expose the gel coat for visual inspection.

Removal of the anti-fouling will be done by the surveyor and should not be done in advance of the survey.

It is in the interest of both vendor and purchaser that any previous treatments or coatings applied to the hull should be disclosed to the surveyor together with reports and invoices for this work.