How long is a boat good for

[marauder11]

Just wondering life span. Let's say boat is taken care of. Repairs done to it when needed ect. Does fiberglass have a life span. What your guys thoughts.

 

[QC]

Re: How long is a boat good for

Forever . . . at least a lifetime. Especially a trailer boat.

 

[Summer Fun]

Re: How long is a boat good for

Forever if its well maintained.

My boat is 25yrs old & it looks brand new.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: How long is a boat good for

bout a gazillion years...... potentially.... the frp itself will be most quickly degraded by the sun and the wood parts die from moisture and fungus that cause rot

BTW fiberglass is actually fiberglass reenforced plastic (frp) the plastic degrades due too out-gassing and the sun accelerates that process.....

keep it dry and in the dark and it could outlast your grandkids

 

[tpenfield]

Re: How long is a boat good for

Lots of evidence on this board of folks with 20 - 30 year old boats. I have a 20 year old boat myself.

The FRP (aka fiberglass) will certainly last for decades, if not centuries. The other components of a boat are the things that will bring a boat to the end of its useful life. Older boats have a fair amount of wood in the structure and that usually does them in over time. Then, for powerboats, there is the engine & related components . . .

 

[fishrdan]

Re: How long is a boat good for

Forever . . . at least a lifetime.

Yup!!!

Viking Burial Boat

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: How long is a boat good for

fresh water is the enemy of wood; salt water is the enemy of metals (including electronics)

The row boat my great uncle built himself about 100 years ago sits next door at my neighbor's house, ready to go...

 

[greenbush future]

Re: How long is a boat good for

My 60 year old glass Lone Star is in good original condintion. None of the glass was going bad, the wood on the otherhand, is being replaced for it's second life with me. I also have a nice set of 1957 Johnson 35 hp outboards that will push this baby around well. They are in good original condition, needing only maintenance parts replaced. The trailer (original) needs blasting and paint, but it still works well too.

 

[southkogs]

Re: How long is a boat good for

Mine is 40 ... I'm 42 ... so, we're kinda' waiting to see who lasts longer

 

[idonthaveaname]

Re: How long is a boat good for

keep it dry and in the dark and it could outlast your grandkids

Kinda hard to do that in a boat!

 

[idonthaveaname]

Re: How long is a boat good for

Reminds of a story.... I stopped by Home Depot the other day and said to the man working in lumber...

"I need some 2 X 4's."

He said, "How long do you need them?"

I told him, "A long time. I'm building a house."

 

[Philster]

Re: How long is a boat good for

Unlimited maintenance = unlimited life.

I have an ax that is 500 years old. The head has been replaced five times and the handle has been replaced six or seven times.

With proper maintenance and replacing parts when they go bad, this ax will last infinity.

 

[paultjohnson]

Re: How long is a boat good for

Reminds of a story.... I stopped by Home Depot the other day and said to the man working in lumber...

"I need some 2 X 4's."

He said, "How long do you need them?"


I told him, "A long time. I'm building a house."

Baaaaa Haaaaaaaa Haaaaaaaaaaaaa !!!

 

[DuckHunterJon]

Re: How long is a boat good for

Yup, kinda open ended question. Anything properly maintained (meaning replacing parts that need or will need repair) will last forever. In general, the wood components in the transom and hull structure will be the first to go and most difficult to replace - yet they are easy to maintain. Just keep them dry.

That said, an ill maintained boat could turn to mush in 5 years or less (left outside, uncovered, etc).

 

[BTMCB]

Re: How long is a boat good for

Kind of like a woman.......pick the right one, treat her right, regular "maintenance", spend some money on her, run her often, let her warm up before you hit WOT, know how to handle her in rough conditions, do what you can to keep her looking good...................and.....she could last a long time.

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: How long is a boat good for

To Find a boat (or woman) you need time and money.

Therefore boat (woman) = time X money

We all know that time = money

Therefore boat (woman) = money X money. (money squared)

We also all know that money is the root of all problems

Therefore a boat (woman) = problems.

 

[H20Rat]

Re: How long is a boat good for

Unlimited maintenance = unlimited life.

I have an ax that is 500 years old. The head has been replaced five times and the handle has been replaced six or seven times.

I've got the modern analogy... I bought my first computer many moons ago, it was a pentium at 120 mhz. That computer is still my high end gaming machine to this day.

Its had at least a dozen different processors (currently quad core at 3.2ghz), 8 different motherboards (and memory), probably 15 different hard drives (now dual SSD's in raid), 4 different cases, 4 monitors, etc... None of it was ever swapped out at the same time, so technically its only been incremental upgrades.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: How long is a boat good for

Kinda hard to do that in a boat!

to an extent that's kinda my point..... though leaving it outside uncovered when not in use vs in a climate controlled garage makes a HUGE difference ya dig? ;D

 

[marauder11]

Re: How long is a boat good for

Wow opened up a can there.

 

[PiratePast40]

Re: How long is a boat good for

Wow opened up a can there.

With the economy the way it is, there will certainly be a few unemployed comedians in the mix. I think we're hearing from some of them now