Yacht totally destroyed

manta.bay · Joined: 25 Feb 2008 Posts: 2

Hello readers please take a moment to view the following:

A 17 m yacht "Melanie" was recently destroyed in a sudden and violent
storm, please go to http://www.lostyacht.org for pictures and more
information. (this is a donation site)

Archived from group: uk>rec>sailing

Ian · Joined: 17 Aug 2007 Posts: 21

On 24 Feb, 23:48, "manta.bay" wrote:
> Hello readers please take a moment to view the following:
>
> A 17 m yacht "Melanie" was recently destroyed in a sudden and violent
> storm, please go tohttp://www.lostyacht.orgfor pictures and more
> information. (this is a donation site)

Eek. Memo to self: don't buy a concrete boat.

Ian

Dennis Pogson · Joined: 17 Aug 2007 Posts: 115

Ian wrote:
> On 24 Feb, 23:48, "manta.bay" wrote:
>> Hello readers please take a moment to view the following:
>>
>> A 17 m yacht "Melanie" was recently destroyed in a sudden and violent
>> storm, please go tohttp://www.lostyacht.orgfor pictures and more
>> information. (this is a donation site)
>
> Eek. Memo to self: don't buy a concrete boat.
>
Unless you can handle a 400lb anchor!

Dennis.

ian · Joined: 17 Aug 2007 Posts: 33

It seems quite a storm they had a couple of weeks ago, with lots of
boats from the Whitsunday Sailing Club moorings and others in Airlie
Beach being blown ashore as well as a large trip boat being caught out
and having passengers and crew taken off.

On Sun, 24 Feb 2008 15:48:54 -0800 (PST), "manta.bay"
wrote:

>Hello readers please take a moment to view the following:
>
>A 17 m yacht "Melanie" was recently destroyed in a sudden and violent
>storm, please go to http://www.lostyacht.org for pictures and more
>information. (this is a donation site)

Andy Champ · Joined: 17 Aug 2007 Posts: 89

Dennis Pogson wrote:
> Ian wrote:
>> Eek. Memo to self: don't buy a concrete boat.
>>
> Unless you can handle a 400lb anchor!
>
> Dennis.
>
>
Not even then. The killer, as the OP says, is you can't insure them.

Andy

Ian · Joined: 17 Aug 2007 Posts: 21

On 26 Feb, 20:20, Andy Champ wrote:
> Dennis Pogson wrote:
> > Ian wrote:
> >> Eek. Memo to self: don't buy a concrete boat.
>
> > Unless you can handle a 400lb anchor!

> Not even then. The killer, as the OP says, is you can't insure them.

Anyone know why? I'm guessing - in view of the sad picture of a bloke
looking at lumps of rubble - that they tend to break irreparably when
things go wrong, but you'd think they could just be charged a whacking
premium.

Then of course there the question about whether sensible people would
borrow heavily to buy and refurbish a boat they couldn't insure.

Ian

Tim W · Joined: 17 Aug 2007 Posts: 6

"Ian" wrote in message @o10g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...
[...]
>
> Then of course there the question about whether sensible people would
> borrow heavily to buy and refurbish a boat they couldn't insure.
>
Then leave her lying to an anchor on an exposed coast while you go on a
three day trip.

Tim w

Dennis Pogson · Joined: 17 Aug 2007 Posts: 115

Ian wrote:
> On 26 Feb, 20:20, Andy Champ wrote:
>> Dennis Pogson wrote:
>>> Ian wrote:
>>>> Eek. Memo to self: don't buy a concrete boat.
>>
>>> Unless you can handle a 400lb anchor!
>
>> Not even then. The killer, as the OP says, is you can't insure them.
>
> Anyone know why? I'm guessing - in view of the sad picture of a bloke
> looking at lumps of rubble - that they tend to break irreparably when
> things go wrong, but you'd think they could just be charged a whacking
> premium.
>
> Then of course there the question about whether sensible people would
> borrow heavily to buy and refurbish a boat they couldn't insure.
>
If you can't insure them in Oz, you certainly can in UK. I suspect this is
another story to back up their plea for financial help. Ferro may be
unpopular, but there are still many of them in fine fettle sailing around
the coasts, and further afield. There's a real cracker for sale currently at
Fairlie Quay. I know she's in good nick 'cos I've sailed on her.

Is she a bargain? Haven't a clue!

Dennis.

Ronald Raygun · Joined: 17 Aug 2007 Posts: 154

Ian wrote:

> On 26 Feb, 20:20, Andy Champ wrote:
>> Dennis Pogson wrote:
>> > Ian wrote:
>> >> Eek. Memo to self: don't buy a concrete boat.
>>
>> > Unless you can handle a 400lb anchor!
>
>> Not even then. The killer, as the OP says, is you can't insure them.
>
> Anyone know why? I'm guessing - in view of the sad picture of a bloke
> looking at lumps of rubble - that they tend to break irreparably when
> things go wrong, but you'd think they could just be charged a whacking
> premium.

In the article it says: "It is regrettable that ferro cement boats
are virtually impossible to insure comprehensively". That doesn't mean
you "can't insure them". What "virtually impossible" suggests to me in
this context is precisely what you are guessing -- that they are actually
quite easy to insure, but only at a "whacking" (effectively unaffordable)
premium.

> Then of course there the question about whether sensible people would
> borrow heavily to buy and refurbish a boat they couldn't insure.

Quite so. They will have done their own risk assessment. They gambled and
lost. Poor dears. But at the end of the day it's just tough luck and
doesn't really make them deserving of our charity.

Perhaps if they were to write a book about it, I might be minded to buy a
copy for a tenner. But if it's a case of donating a tenner, I would find
someone more deserving to give it to. Sorry.

Mark Bluemel · Joined: 17 Aug 2007 Posts: 4

Ronald Raygun wrote:
> Ian wrote:
>
>> Then of course there the question about whether sensible people would
>> borrow heavily to buy and refurbish a boat they couldn't insure.

> Quite so. They will have done their own risk assessment. They gambled and
> lost. Poor dears. But at the end of the day it's just tough luck and
> doesn't really make them deserving of our charity.
>
> Perhaps if they were to write a book about it, I might be minded to buy a
> copy for a tenner. But if it's a case of donating a tenner, I would find
> someone more deserving to give it to. Sorry.

Hear, Hear!

The message seemed to boil down to "We couldn't get anyone to insure it
for good money, will you be post-hoc insurers for free please?".

Dennis Pogson · Joined: 17 Aug 2007 Posts: 115

Mark Bluemel wrote:
> Ronald Raygun wrote:
>> Ian wrote:
>>
>>> Then of course there the question about whether sensible people
>>> would borrow heavily to buy and refurbish a boat they couldn't
>>> insure.
>
>> Quite so. They will have done their own risk assessment. They
>> gambled and lost. Poor dears. But at the end of the day it's just
>> tough luck and doesn't really make them deserving of our charity.
>>
>> Perhaps if they were to write a book about it, I might be minded to
>> buy a copy for a tenner. But if it's a case of donating a tenner, I
>> would find someone more deserving to give it to. Sorry.
>
> Hear, Hear!
>
> The message seemed to boil down to "We couldn't get anyone to insure
> it for good money, will you be post-hoc insurers for free please?".

I don't think they tried very hard. Probably found that a survey was
demanded by the insurance people and decided that was one expense too many.

Dennis.

Al Thomason · Joined: 17 Aug 2007 Posts: 1

On Tue, 26 Feb 2008 12:26:24 -0800 (PST), Ian
wrote:

>> Not even then. The killer, as the OP says, is you can't insure them.
>
>Anyone know why?

As I understand it, ferro cement has the problem that there is no
practical way to inspect the hull for internal defects. Most common
being improper reinforcing steel, or worse water making it inside and
causing rust and resulting fracture of the hull at that point. (Of
course, with enough rust, it would become obvious).

I have know a couple of people who owned ferro cement boats, and it
seems the general rule of thumb is: If she has lasted 30 years, she
will last forever. Thinking being that any building defects would
have failed well before the end of 30 years; along with that cement
has the tendency to get stronger over time.

-al-

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Yacht totally destroyed Hello readers please take a moment to view the following: A 17 m yacht "Melanie" was recently destroyed in a sudden and violent storm, please go to for pictures and more information. (this is a donation site)

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