You are combining two issues. 1. Is the boat sound now? A good surveyor is the key to this. All these boats are old and all can have issues, cored or not cored. 2. Damage from reefs and rocks. At the point the hull has holes in it, the boat is in bad shape regardless and will need to be hauled and repaired if that is even possible. Sure the core will need replacing in the damaged areas, but that will be the least of your problems. End-grain balsa does not let water spread easily, so it isn’t like the whole core is saturated in a day. I would not hesitate to sail a cored boat because of potential damage from collisions. My uncored boat would be totaled pretty quickly if she were holed on a reef with waves washing over. If I could get loose and patch a minor hole, I could also get loose and patch a hole in a cored hull too.
Joe Della Barba Coquina From: Shawn Wright via CnC-List <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> Sent: Monday, March 20, 2023 7:06 PM To: Stus-List <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> Cc: Shawn Wright <shawngwri...@gmail.com> Subject: [EXTERNAL] Stus-List Cored hulls feedback wanted As we once again consider a boat with cored hull (LF43 or LF38), I am reminded of why we eventually chose our current 35 four years ago. I couldn't be sure of the hull integrity without an expensive survey, and at the low price range we could afford, avoiding a cored hull just removed this concern. But as I understand it, most C&Cs over 35' have been cored since the late 60s or early 70s depending on the model, so that includes a lot of boats, most of which are probably still sailing, albeit mainly coastal cruising or racing. Now as we consider the next boat for our long term offshore boat, things like potential hull damage from a reef or a collision in a remote part of the world are a concern. So I am interested in hearing about experiences with cored C&Cs, problem which have occurred under both normal use and as a result of damage from impact, and how effectively they could be repaired. I guess an additional question is how C&C's balsa coring compares with modern day foam coring, either with or without vacuum bagging. I assume foam has some advantages in not absorbing water. Thanks. -- Shawn Wright shawngwri...@gmail.com<mailto:shawngwri...@gmail.com> S/V Callisto, 1974 C&C 35 https://www.facebook.com/SVCallisto
Please show your appreciation for this list and the Photo Album site and help me pay the associated bills. Make a contribution at: https://www.paypal.me/stumurray Thanks for your help. Stu
