Welded aluminum vs. Fiberglass - Page 3 - The Hull Truth

RingLeader · 10-18-2003, 07:29 PM

I'm gonna hit the sack right after the LSU game, but in about 10 hours I'll be on a 32' Gravois! I'll bring the camera and take some shots of the cockpit. It is a truely custom boat. The capt. of the boat I'm going on tomorrow said that Gravios gave him a magic marker and said "I want you to draw everything you can think of and exactly where you'll want it"

http://www.classicmako.com

cgrand · 10-18-2003, 07:46 PM

glad to see gravois getting some airtime here...catch em up ringleader

skypoke · 10-18-2003, 09:17 PM

Mbb, sure you can do a one off in glass. Just be prepared to spend many many yours fairing anything built off a plug/ prelam cores, cflex etc. as opposed to a female mold. Seems like I remember the guy was two years in building Hammer though it is one fine lookin boat and I applaud his effort. FRP is a production material, superb for that purpose. With the exception of carbon fibre reinforced though, it lags in engineering performance compared to aluminum alloy. For lightweight strength nothing beats carbon. If you can afford it.

Chuck

skypoke · 10-18-2003, 09:25 PM

Big-Matt A couple other advantages in going to Lafayette La. to get your boat...friendly people, beautiful women, a hotbed of low key high tech boatbuilders and some of the best food you ever ate. Damn I like that part of the country! Good time every time. And those boys know how to build a boat that'll get you home.

Chuck

muddywater · 10-19-2003, 01:02 AM

For the guy who was complaining about the damage from running an aluminum hull into a floating log or tree, I have done it on more than one occasion in addition to smacking it into an oyster reef or two and the boat has only scratches to show for it. I am not talking saplings here either - I was launched out of the boat as if from a cannon and can tell you that it is not fun to find yourself in the water at 11 pm in January wondering what the heck just happened. (boat was built by Dugas)

For those of you interested in Gravois, this is their contact info:
Gravios Aluminum Boats
(318) 364-0777
6818 E. Admiral Doyle Drive
Jeanerette, LA 70544

They do not have a web site, though I do have a copy of their brochure which is black & white. I may scan it if I have time.

Though their address is Jeanerette, they are on the outskirts of New Iberia (SE of Lafayette).

If you are serious about buying an aluminum boat, you should also check out Leblanc's Boat Works in Erath, LA which in my opinion has a better fit and finish than Gravois (1 yr waiting list last I checked though), and check out Gaudet's in Sorrento, LA for <=24' bay boat. If you want a flat, skiff, or crawfish boat go to Dugas in Coteau Holmes, La.

-Muddy

cgrand · 10-19-2003, 08:19 AM

good info from muddy-

and yes, skypoke, the lafayette area boats some of the best food, best boats, and beautiful women that will ever be found

i dropped my pacific off the back of my trailer onto a concrete ramp, result was three small scratches on the keel, nothing else. i also rammed in abeam into a concrete bridge piling at about 15 mph, my prize was a small gouge in the gunwale extrusion. in either case, a glass boat would have required a trip to the boat ER

cat man · 10-19-2003, 02:17 PM

cgrand, how's the ride in the 19?

Jay is building me a 3/4 hardtop 26.

cgrand · 10-19-2003, 04:17 PM

cat man you're going to love it, very soft and dry, with a nice bow entry into rough seas. i just put tabs on mine, and now it rides even better- took away the occasional bow-steer and raises the stern to "stick" you to the seas

i couldn't be more happy with it

RingLeader · 10-19-2003, 08:33 PM

Just got done cleaning up and bagging fish. Its been a long and fun day. We managed to get offshore a bit, but didn't go after tuna. Being that the weather had been 5'+ seas for the last 2-3 days the capt. didn't want to risk making a canyon run and not have any shrimp boats to tail out there. The seas were a solid 3-4' all day today. We (6 of us) kept 20 red snappers and threw back about double that, 10 mangrove snappers, and 4 nice cobia.

Getting to the Gravios we went on today. It is actually 34' with the motor bracket. Beam is 10' powered by twin yamaha F225's. 300 gal. fuel capacity. 50 degrees entry in the front and 24 degrees deadrise at transom. The total weight of the rig is about 12,000lbs. Shes a real hoss. Proabably more stout than a brick shithouse.

We cruised through 3-4 footers at about 27-28 kts turning 47-4800rpm burning 24-26 gph. Lots of tab today as well. Once the tabs were backed off the fuel consumption dropped to about 22gph. The capt. said that his speed has suffered a bit since the bottom paint was poorly done and is coming off in sheets. Gravios is going to blast the bottom and redo the bottom job for free in his offseason. The boat is no speed demon, but it will cruise at 28kts with 7 big guys aboard, tons of tackle, ice, bait, and full fuel. The motors ran from 6am until 2:30pm and only burnt 75 gallons of gas! I estimate we covered over 100 miles today.

I have to say that the boat ran great. It is a very smooth and extremely stable boat. It does bounce around a bit in rough seas, but it really comes down smooth. I'd have to say that we maybe pounded twice all day today. At reast the boat is outrageously stable. 4 or 5 of us on one side fishing made barely any list to that side.

I didn't get sea sick until well into the day, which is unusual for me. I'm usually worthless after about 10 minutes of fishing on a rough day. I put my relief band on, relaxed and hooked into a few big cobia and I was pretty much better for the rest of the day. The boat is very well laid out, plenty of room, great nonskid. We took multiple rogue waves to the stern and no more than a few cups full got into the cockpit. A notched transom boat on a day like today doing the fishing that we were doing would have been a disaster!

There are tons of rod holders on the boat and giant coolers built into the front of the console and the leaning post. There is absolutlely no need for any other ice chest on the boat. No deck clutter. There is toe kick around the majority of the cockpit.

The boat rides great, sure there is better, but for a boat that you don't have to worry about chips in gelcoat, waxing, polishing, and other dumb assed stuff that a freak like me worries about... its great. It is the ideal charter/heavy usage boat. It will last forever, just get it sand blasted and repainted every 10 years or so!

Now for my only complaint. It is one WET sucker! I grant that the wind was blowing 15-20kts all day and we could see the wind blowing the tops off of waves. But I've never been so wet in my life on a boat. It was constant! Like a little gnome was hiding in the front of the boat with a wash down hose spraying me the whole way out. Coming home wasn't as bad. But I had more salt in my hair and ears than I can ever remember! Getting some spray rails welded on wouldn't be a bad idea. The capt agrees that the boat is wet, but claims he has been on much worse. He really enjoys working off of this boat. He was running an ocean master before and swears that this hull beats the heck out of that hull.

I'm very tired, being sea sick takes it out of me. I'll post pics tomorrow.

http://www.classicmako.com