Hauled out

We hauled PARAMITA for the summer at Marina Turistica Guaymas in late March - as we have for done for the last 10 years or so. There is no question that - done properly - this twice yearly procedure of preparing a boat for hurricane season is a major ordeal...at least for this old man.

But it has to be done.

Anyone wanting to take a look at the boat this summer will have to contact Albert Klettke, our broker with Cortez Yacht Sales, who will have access and all the details.

+52 622 120 7683 albert@cortezyachtsales.com

We have had some interest from people looking for a steel boat of PARAMITA'S size, and lots of inquiries about details of the boat - most of which are actually readily available here on this site, by opening the PDF. Perhaps that link to the pdf is not prominent enough...

One question that pops up frequently is whether there has been a recent survey on the boat, and the answer is NO. For myself I do not need a surveyor to tell me anything about PARAMITA that I don't already know. And as far as a buyer is concerned, they should not trust a seller's survey anyway - there are no guarantees given by those so-called experts.

As a buyer, used to and knowledgable of fiberglass boats, but with no experience of steel vessels, I would only hire a surveyor specializing in metal boats ( hard to find in North America), or seek the advice of someone that has themselves owned a steel boat for many years, understands steel and is knowledgable about modern alloys and coatings systems. Many old-timer steelboat owners can be quite opinionated, but have no clue as to HSLA steel, closed-cell foams etc, and still think coal-tar paints are the only way to protect a hull.

Steel rusts when not protected; but whether rust becomes a problem can be mitigated by the type of steel used, the design and quality of construction, and the coating and protective measures taken after construction is completed.

I have seen steel boats with teak decks and superstructures instead of being designed all welded steel, like a monoqoque where water ingress is impossible ( if the ports and hatches are closed) . Those boats rust quickly and freely from the inside out as water collects behind stringers and corners, providing the electrolyte for galvanic action resulting in pinholes, eventually becoming evident as little points of rust bleeding through the paint outside.

There is no reliable way of telling where, exactly, any such problems areas might be. One would have to ultrascan every square centimeter of the entire hull to find out, and even then spots might be missed. Dealing with a boat rusting from the inside is a costly and time-consuming nightmare - in effect a near-impossibility.

So design, construction and careful preservation of the steel surfaces inside are of utmost importance.

Interiors can easily be changed, the newest electronics added - but a hull rusting from the inside?

I am confident that PARAMITA will be around for many years to come!

Hauled out at Marina Turistica Guaymas, early April 2025. Ready for summer in the desert...

We are planning to be back on the boat in late October.

Until next time, be safe and in good spirits.