Asbestos in your boat.

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Ozzie
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Investigator Boat Name: Spritzig II
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Asbestos in your boat.

Post by Ozzie »

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-07-18/p ... ll/7636922

It's timely with this report to remind everyone, particularly new 563 owners that asbestos was a common filler used in FG boats back in the Investigators day. You can't say for sure its in your boat, but consider the possibility when doing ANY REPAIR or mods to your vessel. It was used as a filler to bulk out filleting around jointed areas mostly and Spritzig has lots of rough areas under the floor that I'm suspicious of.

In the years before I retired full time I did some casual maintenance work with a government dept. I was staggered at the ignorance of people, even those charged with occupational safety , regarding asbestos. If you even suspect you are dealing with it leave it alone , get professional advice or at the very least take proper precautions re masks protective clothing and above all keep it wet . On other boat sites it is suggested any cutting in old FG boats should be done with hand drill starter hole and then hand hack saw. Electric tools are an effective way to dust the entire inside of your boat. The early days of asbestos sheeting used hand operated guilotine style cutters which gave a clean reasonably dust free cut. The advent of power tools however meant tradies and handy people were in line for trouble.

My late dad died of lung cancer we suspect was asbestos related and my father in law, an ex dockyard worker from mesothelioma . Not nice. I've been terrified of the stuff for years. Ever since I owned cars/ trailers I always wash brakes down first when servicing them, in warm soapy water and collect the runoff in a bucket and then tip it down the sewer. My mate who was a mechanic remembers his apprenticeship at a car dealers regularly going into the workshop in a cloud of dust from brake-drums blown out with compressed air.

Sorry for grim post but thought it was worth a warning.

Edit .spelling.
Last edited by Ozzie on Wed Jul 20, 2016 7:19 am, edited 1 time in total.
Ozzie
Investigator #143 "SPRITZIG II"

The Mariner - “It’s too strange here. It doesn’t move right." ...
Enola - “Helen said that it’s only land sickness."
Waterworld (1995)
no way
Posts: 187
Joined: Thu Jul 08, 2010 6:48 pm

Re: Asbestos in your boat.

Post by no way »

I built grp boats from early 70's till mid 80's. The only asbestos that I ever came across was used as the filler in the rubber gunwales used on most power boats. It was encapsulated in polyester resin - Trade name was "Gunk". In late 70's we developed with Taubmans a non-asbestos version for glueing hulls and decks together. I know for a fact there was never any asbestos based fillers used in Compass Careels we built and I think most filleting anywhere in the industry would have been talc based putty (similar to today's Builders Bog) which was cheaper, you could make it yourself, and it cured quicker.
Agree, still be careful and diligent with any dust.
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Ozzie
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Re: Asbestos in your boat.

Post by Ozzie »

Interesting about the gunnels no way. I think that's the problem with asbestos in odd places, is that's it's so hard to detect and it's unexpected. It was used as a filler in concrete in govt buildings in the first half of last century but it's just not obvious when you demolish it like with wall board. Is there any simple detection method other than lab testing I wonder?

My neighbour, a retired brickie, said he had a bag of Asbestos fibre he used like fire clay to repair chimneys which he had to pay to get disposed of properly when he retired. Only problem was when he made a repair they did not mark the chimney in any way so any subsequent demolition would be unaware of its presence.

It is also in small ratios in the the old hard Lino floor tiles used extensively in government buildings.

As it appears the investigator was constructed in several different locals it's just a lottery I guess as to whether the manufacturer used it.

One you don't want to win.
Ozzie
Investigator #143 "SPRITZIG II"

The Mariner - “It’s too strange here. It doesn’t move right." ...
Enola - “Helen said that it’s only land sickness."
Waterworld (1995)
Bartman
Posts: 11
Joined: Mon May 25, 2020 12:09 am
Investigator Boat Name: Sailing Scene
Location: Berry, NSW

Re: Asbestos in your boat.

Post by Bartman »

Hi Ozzie,
To use the vernacular of the day - OMG.
I too am terrified of this stuff (I can't even bring myself to type the word)...
I know this was an old post but I'm just wondering if you ever figured out if our investigators are in fact "infected".
Should I be going mental with a caulking gun trying to seal up any rough joints like the ones up under the cockpit locker panels/walls ?
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Ozzie
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Joined: Wed May 27, 2009 1:07 pm
Investigator Boat Name: Spritzig II
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Re: Asbestos in your boat.

Post by Ozzie »

I am always sorry to inject any sour note into Investigators Bart but knowledge is obviously better than ignorance. Asbestos is, in its place not dangerous providing it’s not disturbed. We live in a home we built in the early 80s and I know the fibre cement panels still contain asbestos. But when dealing with it I’m just super careful. As “no way” said there is a good chance most Investigators were not built with it BUT as they were built under license in many locations including WA you simply don’t know the practice of individual manufacturers. I would not worry too much .

David’s advice re barrier coat is obviously best practice but if you have a quality oil based undercoat, it does stick and that has worked for me in places that don’t get abraded . Asbestos sealed in resin would I believe be fairly abrasion resistant, with sealer or paint more so. The real threat with this stuff is cutting into it and this increases a hundred fold when power tools are used. Remember the descriptions I’ve read say it was used as bulking agent in fillets so drilling a hole in your deck to mount a new winch you are fine other than normal precautions you would take with dust.
Ozzie
Investigator #143 "SPRITZIG II"

The Mariner - “It’s too strange here. It doesn’t move right." ...
Enola - “Helen said that it’s only land sickness."
Waterworld (1995)
Bartman
Posts: 11
Joined: Mon May 25, 2020 12:09 am
Investigator Boat Name: Sailing Scene
Location: Berry, NSW

Re: Asbestos in your boat.

Post by Bartman »

Yes Ozzie.
It's just one of those words.... like the "C" word (when it comes to health).

No-one likes talking about it and as noway said its surprising how ignorant people are about it. Possibly because it's such an odious, awful substance to deal with its easier to just not think about it. I have the same issue as you with the hardiplank at home.

So understanding that were continuing the conversation about best practice here and its not a given that our Investigators actually do contain "it".

Please excuse my ignorance about "fillets" .... I googled it and got the response (In mechanical engineering, a fillet is a rounding of an interior or exterior corner of a part design). On my investigator where would I find a "fillet" - not that they DO contain this stuff - but just to know if anywhere, this is a place to use extreme care.
Investigator 563 - "Sailing Scene" - Sail #138 - Housed in Berry NSW
Bartman
Posts: 11
Joined: Mon May 25, 2020 12:09 am
Investigator Boat Name: Sailing Scene
Location: Berry, NSW

Re: Asbestos in your boat.

Post by Bartman »

The picture tells a thousand words (or at least a hundred-odd) :)
Thanks for the drawing you included David it pretty much explains everything.

After a bit more googling I understand where to look for the filleting.
It's kind of analogous to skirting boards in the lounge room or silicone around the kitchen bench tops. Except that in the case of filleting it may also have a structural purpose.
As it involves a thin layer of fiberglass over a joint, they need something to put underneath it to form a foundation for the curve. It doesn't "have to" contain asbestos fibers (and it probably doesn't). But if you are interfering with these areas I can see that Ozzies purpose in posting this info was to suggest using best practice just in case as it is not inconceivable that this substance could have been utilized given the era of construction.

Thank you for all the great clarifications.
Investigator 563 - "Sailing Scene" - Sail #138 - Housed in Berry NSW
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