Anyone owned a steel boat in the past?

[douglasl]

If I did jump at a Burger, it'd have to be better than any 53' Hatteras MY out there. Haven't found a Burger that's up there yet, but I just want to know from you veterans as to what I'd be getting into, if I do go that route.

I love Hatteras and would feel more comfortable in one. But, never say never.

[Fanfare]

I think Burgers are among the best boats ever. It will have been built right, with all the metal properly coated. The problem is that paint does not last forever. And once a boat is all put together it becomes impossible to reach every nook for scraping and applying new protective coatings. Since steel scales as it rusts I think it is harder to maintain than aluminum. At least up to age 50 paint on fiberglass appears to be purely aesthetic.

[rtrafford]

If I did jump at a Burger, it'd have to be better than any 53' Hatteras MY out there. Haven't found a Burger that's up there yet, but I just want to know from you veterans as to what I'd be getting into, if I do go that route.

I love Hatteras and would feel more comfortable in one. But, never say never.

What size Burger are you considering? I've had several under contract over the past year leading up to my purchase, all in the 65-75 range. I even have a survey or two.

[douglasl]

What size Burger are you considering? I've had several under contract over the past year leading up to my purchase, all in the 65-75 range. I even have a survey or two.

I was looking at a 60' in the LA area. Saw it the other day. It has the bones, but it's decrepit inside and out. Not kept and that's a shame. Holes in the ceiling, rust all over.

[Walter P]

How much are they offering to pay you to take it off their hands?

Walt

[krush]

So how come nearly every commercial big ship is made of steel? They seem to stay afloat. The repairs are super simple...grab a buzz box and some rods!

[jim rosenthal]

Different esthetic and a lot more room to work. No way could you build a large commercial boat of anything BUT steel. When you look at them up close, they don't look pretty. But they last and last, and they don't have to look good. Well, except for cruise ships.

[Fanfare]

And after thirty years or so they are scrapped.

[rsmith]

And after thirty years or so they are scrapped.

70 years old and still fishing the Bearing sea

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/FV_Wizard

[Walter P]

There are always exceptions to general expectations. The facts are that there are many old steel and wood boats still in service but generally they very unusual. The USS CONSTITUTION is still an officially commissioned U.S. NAVY ship of the line and is based at the Boston Navy Yard. The U.S. Coast Guard Training Barque EAGLE is still actively in service. I crewed on her many years ago. One is wood and the other is steel.

There are (IMO) some advantages to Steel or Alum hulls. A couple of years ago I crewed on a large Burger Yacht from Nassau to Conn and went Ocean side most of the way. I must admit that I felt very safe especially on one overnight run about 20 miles off the Carolinas when we rode out a storm. Lightning strikes all around us at 2am etc. I have also been in nasty seas on a few of our glass Hatts and felt quite safe, although my knuckles turned white.

Maintainence of metal boats is much higher than fiberglass not even including fancy paint jobs because of the potential corrosion issues of metal plating. Jim said it earlier in this thread and he has first hand experience with metal boats.

If you decide to go with an older Burger please do so with your eyes open wide and be prepared to dig very deeply into your pockets. Beautiful boats but too expensive for maintaince.

Walt