Metal Boats, 2Ed

A Practical Guide for Building or Buying Small Steel and Aluminum

By Ken Scott


Cruising World, December 1999:

“A metal boat withstands abuse, is easy to customize, and is inexpensive to build according to Scott, who's currently on a two- to three-year cruise aboard his own Bruce Roberts-designed, 26-foot steel sloop. This how-to book deals with welding, electrolysis and corrosion, the best metals to use, boat safety and comfort, and other skills and knowledge to help you build or buy a steel or aluminum boat. Abundantly photo-illustrated.”


Fishing Boat World, October 1996:

“…it is a very useful little book to anyone involved in building or buying a metal boat or even for anyone who currently owns a metal boat and may be thinking of making improvements to it.

“The book provides a simple and very useful guide to the subject. It is well illustrated and covers almost every imaginable aspect of metal boats.”


IM, Spring 1995:

“‘Steel or aluminum will give you many advantages over other boatbuilding materials,’ writes Ken Scott, who built his own steel boat 10 years ago and lived happily ever after. Why? No delamination of fiberglass; no gelcoat bubbles; stanchions and other fittings welded right to the hull without need for drilled holes and bedding compound; cheaper hull construction compared with custom fiberglass; more forgiving if you go aground or hit a ledge. If you ever wanted to know more about metal-boat construction, this is the book. Not a technical manual, but an overview, it is a guide to the plusses and minuses of metal boats, design considerations, steel and aluminum types, dealing with corrosion, welding methods, things to consider when having a metal hull custom built, joinerwork, installing engines and associated gear, and more. The explanations are simple and clear, with enough technical information to help you decide if this is a construction material you would be comfortable with, but not so much that the forest is missed for all the trees. In other words, this book is for those who want to know why they should consider metal boats, or why not, and how they should go about obtaining one – home built, custom built, or a combination of the two – if they decide that is what they want. Best of all are the excellent photographs of metal yachts under construction and a special section containing yacht designs, sail and power.”



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