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  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 2019
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    Default Farrier 18ft trimaran -- buying advice

    Hello all. This isn't about building but it is about boats and wood. Tomorrow I'm having a look at (and a test sail of) a Farrier 18ft trimaran, which I'm keen on but also reticent about determining it's true condition and the possible high maintenance costs I've been warned of. It was built in 1986 from plywood with fibreglass cladding, and my main concern is rotten wood. Any advice on how to detect this and how easy it would be to fix would be most welcome. Thanks. Matt
    Do I contradict myself?
    Very well then I contradict myself;
    (I am large, I contain multitudes.)
    ~ Walt Whitman

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  3. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Location
    Wollongong
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    Default

    Hey Matt-Thought I should chime in here.Depending on if you have bought the boat already,this could all be moot.

    Typically, decay in wooden boats often occurs around penetrations in the deck such as winches, standing rigging, instruments etc are located. Fresh water may seep into the plywood if these areas are not properly sealed. Also look around low lying areas such as cockpits, wells and so on .In the interior, check in the bilges and the frames if fresh water again has been trapped or laying around. Have a look also around the chainplates ,underside where attached to bulkheads and hatch locations where these go through the deck as these are a common spot .

    If you can hold of a moisture meter and probe around and also feel for any 'soft spots'.

    Try and take a friend along with a boating/carpentry background that has experience.

    Hope this is of help and good luck-C.R.

  4. #3
    Join Date
    May 2019
    Location
    Kenmore, Brisbane
    Age
    58
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    61

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Cool Runnings View Post
    Hey Matt-Thought I should chime in here.Depending on if you have bought the boat already,this could all be moot.

    Typically, decay in wooden boats often occurs around penetrations in the deck such as winches, standing rigging, instruments etc are located. Fresh water may seep into the plywood if these areas are not properly sealed. Also look around low lying areas such as cockpits, wells and so on .In the interior, check in the bilges and the frames if fresh water again has been trapped or laying around. Have a look also around the chainplates ,underside where attached to bulkheads and hatch locations where these go through the deck as these are a common spot .

    If you can hold of a moisture meter and probe around and also feel for any 'soft spots'.

    Try and take a friend along with a boating/carpentry background that has experience.

    Hope this is of help and good luck-C.R.
    Thanks CR. The owner had actually sold the boat before I got a chance to sail it, which was perhaps a good thing as I may have been drawn into an impulse buy of something rotten. Your and other advice has since made me wary of old plywood boats, and intuitively it just seems unlikely that they'd last 30-40 years without water seeping into the plywood through one of the many fittings you mention. I don't need a high maintenance boat, I want something that's all about the sailing. Now I'm in the market for a trailerable fibreglass trimaran for around $10-15K, so if you hear of anything ...

    Cheers, Matt
    Do I contradict myself?
    Very well then I contradict myself;
    (I am large, I contain multitudes.)
    ~ Walt Whitman

  5. #4
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Mt Crosby, Brisbane
    Posts
    2,548

    Default

    Trailer tramps go for that sort of money in good order, no cabin but they could be had back in the day with a fitted deck tent. Check sails, new ones are about $100 sqm, rigging etc. Personally I'd run a 4hp long shaft on a tramp as it negates registration and has adequate power but some "sailors" seem to need massive engines. Obviously a rusty trailer is expensive to replace, up to $5k.
    I'm just a startled bunny in the headlights of life. L.J. Young.
    We live in a free country. We have freedom of choice. You can choose to agree with me, or you can choose to be wrong.
    Wait! No one told you your government was a sitcom?

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