my hull is not symetrical !

[mic]

Hi everybody,i've just purchased my first big boat about a month ago and in peeling the fibreglass off the deck i've noticed that my hull is not perfectly symetrical.When mesuring from the centre of the deck out to the sheer at the widest point in the hull one side is 2 inches longer.Prior to purchasing,i've had the boat professionaly surveyed and it was found to be in exeptionaly good condition it is an aft wheelhouse cray vessel built professionaly to fish the waters of Bass Strait off southern Australia it has a Jarrah hull with 3x2 1/4 inch ribs @ 8 inch centres. Boat size 46x14'6x6 am i being to picky or have i bought a lemon. The boat was built in 1961 could it have warped with age?

[Pelican]

mic: my wife's butt is not symetrical. She was built in '53. Like you suggested I think it has to do with aging. I've just learnd to live with it. :D

[Ross Faneuf]

I'd believe the survey, if competently done. Most boats aren't perfectly symmetrical. I was told by a very reputable builder that I shouldn't measure my boat (then building) unless I ws prepared to find the two sides didn't match; he said he hadn't built a boat yet whose sides measured within an inch of each other from the centerline - he was talking boats in the 35' range.

[imported_Conrad]

What aspect of the boat's utility or performance is affected by this difference? A new American truck is up to 3/4" longer on one side than the other- the best foreign cars are off by up to 1/4"- so what. A tape measure can be a frightening thing!

[Scott Rosen]

I've got to wonder what on earth you are doing measuring your boat from centerline to sheer to test it for symetry. It's just as likely that your measurements are off, as getting the centerline perfect and then getting a perpendicular line to each side is bound to be off a little.

Relax, you'll have enough real stuff to worry about over the next few years.

[mic]

Ok, so obviously my hull being a bit out is no big deal, that makes me feel a bit better.Oh and by the way Scott what started me mesuring for symetry was when i pulled the glass off the deck i noticed that the 2 decking boards that abutt the covering board at the widest point of the hull on the port and starboard sides were different sizes.

[jeff pierce]

You mean its supposed to be symmetrical? So that's what I did wrong ;)

My little 16 foot runabout came out with the deck a bit asymmetrical. I had planned a king plank that contrasted with the rest of the decking, but I found that it provided a visual reference that allowed the eye to discern the asymmetry, so I left it off.

Don't worry about it. Post some pictures of the "new" boat.

[Concordia..41]

Pelican -

Your head will not be symetrical if your wife sees your post tongue.gif

- M

[mic]

The glass is now almost off the entire hull and i've found the deck to be in fairly good condition besides needing to be recaulked. I work for a timber yard so i'm going to pull the deck boards up take them to work and run them through the planer does any body think i should use this oportunity to replace the deck beams and push the hull into symetry this way? (I don't have the original lines drawings of the hull). Or do you think i should plane the deck boards slightly thinner on one side so when the deck goes back it looks symetrical.

[ken mcclure]

What I would do is move the centerline one inch to the side. That way your measurements will be equal, and you can deal more easily with a kink in the centerline than you can with an asymmetrical boat.

[Roseknight]

Not sure that the hull will move to symetrical just pulling the deck planks... planing one side thiner I think you will wind up with a deck that doesnt fit the boat.
but this is just my thought .. not experince.. let those that have experince respond before going ahead...

Mitch

[ken mcclure]

Um, my answer was tongue-in-cheek ...

I'd say just work with the boat the way she is. In the overall scheme, the variation you have should have little noticeable effect on anything.