Roberta and I spent a lot of time on the issue of 'fiberglass vs steel' and ultimately decided to order a steel hulled boat, but then switched literally at the last minute back to a Nordhavn.

Here's what we liked about a steel hull:

• Steel is substantially tougher than fiberglass. If you do hit something, you have a better chance of not losing the whole boat. 






• Steel hulls tend to have molded-in (integral) fuel tanks. This means that if you rip a hole in the hull, there is some chance that fuel leaks out, but water doesn't leak in



• Steel is easier to get repaired than fiberglass. They think in terms of 'welding on a new plate'



• It is simpler to make a steel boat that is a 'one off' than a fiberglass boat. We knew what we wanted, and it wasn't available in fiberglass. Thus we really had no choice.

The list of what we didn't like about steel hulls is much longer:

• Maintenance is a nightmare. If you aren't very careful, rust will creep in, and once you have it, it spreads. It's a constant battle, and often the rust is hidden behind walls.



• Resell value is lower



• We were told that it 'sweats' .. and, can be hotter on the inside



• Nothing is easy. No matter what you do, you need to be thinking about electrolysis. No two dissimilar metals can touch, or you will set up a chemical reaction.

Safety is a huge issue for us, and everyone seems to agree that steel wins in that department. One story that really caught our attention was here in La Paz Mexico. I noticed that all of the steel boats are on one dock. I asked why, and was told that during the hurricane a few years back, they had the steel boats randomly placed through the marina. In the story I was told, when the wind started pushing around the boats, the steel boats started crushing the plastic boats. 'The steel boats moved through the fiberglass boats, like a knife through butter.' To avoid this going forward, they put the steel boats where they would just bounce off each other.

We're headed to the South Pacific. Bumping into a reef is not impossible. With steel you can make a mistake, and possibly survive it. Fiberglass has less forgiveness.

So.. why did we go with a Fiberglass Nordhavn?

We have tremendous respect for Nordhavn boats, and their management team. When they said they would build a boat exactly like what we were seeking, it became an easy decision. As I mentioned, safety is priority #1. Hull strength is certainly an issue, but it's only one of many. The ultimately quality of the boat, and the experience of the manufacturer are also important issues. It was important to be on a vessel that has proven it can cross oceans, not just one that 'technically' should be able to do it. Nordhavn's are proven ocean-crossers, whereas there wasn't at the time a proven solution (in a production powerboat) available in steel.

The nightmare of maintenance also worried me. I'm not the worst at maintaining a boat, but neither is it my strong suit. It's just Roberta and I on the boat. I didn't want to have to spend ALL of my time maintaining the boat.

-Ken W