Are Burgers Aluminum Hatts?

[jim rosenthal]

Sorry- I HAD a Striker and they are distinctly overrated boats. There was never really a Striker yard- the boats were built on contract to Striker by yards familiar with aluminum boatbuilding. In my case, the boat was built by Fjellstrand Aluminum Boats in Norway, which is a yard that builds North Sea pilot boats. It was a sturdy vessel, but until you have tried to deal with all the issue of a metal boat sitting in a bath of electrolyte (salt water) you don't know what anxiety is. Even flakes of rust that had fallen off the engines had enough metal left in them to eat pits in the hull plating halfway through. Metal boats require fanatical maintenance for safety, just like wooden boats do. It can be done, and done well, and if it's done they are safe, but the burden of worry and expense is far greater than in a FRP boat.

Mind you, Burgers and Roamers are beautiful boats. None nicer- absolutely. But too much work for me- I've been there, and done that. Oh, and aluminum boats are noisy and damp in the winter. I've been there, too.

[MikeP]

I didn't realize that Burgers were aluminum. Guess I should have read more carefully in the Hargrave book and Yachtworld postings. But, at the same time, it wouldn't have mattered because until now I didn't know that AL boats were a problem. And THAT being said, if I could afford the Burger (and the Bentley and a Vincent Black Shadow) I probably wouldn't care how much it cost to maintain!