journey on
New member
How's that for a topic? Well, Judy's up tending to her mother and it's 100 deg outside, so why not?
Anyway I just finished reading a book: "Fiberglass Boats", by John Roberts. It was published in 1984, and I wish I'd read it then, instead of now. It covers the types of fiberglass, and other materials, such as carbon and Kevlar. Discusses cores both as to why and what: balsa, Koremat, Aerocore, PVC foam. Shows design and corresponding layup schedules, and why. Goes through construction problems. Great book on how to manufacture a fiberglass boat..
Now, why would I mention this on the C-Brats forum? Well, every so often, someone complains about the way a C-Dory is built. And here is what I learned. You get to have a different opinion, I understand.
Balsa core. For the money this is a very good material. Good in shear, strong. Doesn’t wick water, since it’s end grain. Hard to compress, versus the plastics. Bonds well. Good manufacturing properties (i.e.., easy to use when you’re building a boat.) One of the better ways to build a boat, especially one I can afford.
Build quality. This can be judged, to some extent, by defects that surface when the boat has been used for a time. Take Journey On, for example. There are NO stress cracks, and NO surface voids. Can’t say that for the Catalina sailboats, which I think were great boats. Journey On did have the dreaded transom cracks, which were fixed and for which the factory paid. I understand that this defect is limited to ~2005 C-25’s, and the factory changed the design. I know that there are some build exceptions, see C-Hawk, but overall they have a good record, whenever they were built. There isn’t a steady stream of specific complaints, and that leads me to believe that C-Dory does a good job.
Layup schedule. Not a clue, but does anybody know? Does anybody know where the C-Dorys are laid up? I never saw one on the factory tour, but then I never asked.
Boris
Anyway I just finished reading a book: "Fiberglass Boats", by John Roberts. It was published in 1984, and I wish I'd read it then, instead of now. It covers the types of fiberglass, and other materials, such as carbon and Kevlar. Discusses cores both as to why and what: balsa, Koremat, Aerocore, PVC foam. Shows design and corresponding layup schedules, and why. Goes through construction problems. Great book on how to manufacture a fiberglass boat..
Now, why would I mention this on the C-Brats forum? Well, every so often, someone complains about the way a C-Dory is built. And here is what I learned. You get to have a different opinion, I understand.
Balsa core. For the money this is a very good material. Good in shear, strong. Doesn’t wick water, since it’s end grain. Hard to compress, versus the plastics. Bonds well. Good manufacturing properties (i.e.., easy to use when you’re building a boat.) One of the better ways to build a boat, especially one I can afford.
Build quality. This can be judged, to some extent, by defects that surface when the boat has been used for a time. Take Journey On, for example. There are NO stress cracks, and NO surface voids. Can’t say that for the Catalina sailboats, which I think were great boats. Journey On did have the dreaded transom cracks, which were fixed and for which the factory paid. I understand that this defect is limited to ~2005 C-25’s, and the factory changed the design. I know that there are some build exceptions, see C-Hawk, but overall they have a good record, whenever they were built. There isn’t a steady stream of specific complaints, and that leads me to believe that C-Dory does a good job.
Layup schedule. Not a clue, but does anybody know? Does anybody know where the C-Dorys are laid up? I never saw one on the factory tour, but then I never asked.
Boris