jollyroger

It has been said that I am a sad sort of chap, so I've been reading up on Galvanic corrosion and came across this very interesting article When ever a vessel is slipped, the existing anodes should be wire brushed back to bright metal. At the same time the propeller surfaces should be cleaned back to bright metal and then coated in fish oil. The anodes should be coated with soft soap before painting the hull. Any paint accidentally applied to the anodes will then wash off with the soft soap when the vessel is placed in the water. If it is necessary at some time for the vessel to change from a salt to a fresh water environment or vice versa then it should be borne in mind that this will have a deleterious effect on the anodes fitted. Magnesium or aluminium anodes (either of which are suitable for fresh water) have a much higher driving potential than anodes manufactured from zinc. If a vessel fitted with magnesium or aluminium anodes passes into salt water for anything longer than about seven days, the anodes will waste away very quickly. Vessels which are fitted with magnesium or aluminium anodes moving into a salt water environment for longer than a week should be, therefore, fitted with a replacement zinc anodic system. Conversely vessels fitted with zinc anodes (which are suitable for use in salt water) will find over a period exceeding about seven days that the metal will be coated with an impervious off white crust of zinc salt which will very effectively prevent it working even when returned to salt water. After any trip into a fresh water environment a vessel fitted with zinc anodes should have these thoroughly scaled clean back to bright metal. If proceeding into fresh water for longer than about seven days a vessel should be fitted with replacement magnesium or aluminium anodes. Makes you think doesn't it

A Dunton Double+ is the best you can buy, use one of these and you will never use anything else

It's all to do with arcing, dc arcs very eisily, ac doesn't

Anodes are a big con trick, of coarse the anodes corrode on a boat, it's caused by the aciditty of the water. One more thing, If an anode costs about £10/Kg, that is £10000 a Tonne, todays price for zinc is £665 a Tonne, who wants you to buy anodes?

I think every boat should have an R & J on board, they are a lot less bother than real kids

Oh dear- - - I don't know if I should admit this? but I've been hiring for about the last 10 years and I am getting a new boat, the reason, we both love it, it's an escape from the rat race, we can unwind. As for the cost, just remember You can't take your money with you, neither can your debts follow you.

Well. we went to have another look at our boat, seems to be coming along nicely, hopefully it should be ready before Spring Bank. Just one thing, how do we get it back to our marina without scratching it or some nasty person scraping it. Only joking, we've bought it to use not to sit in the marina pollishing it all day. If you can't convince them-- confuse them p.s uploaded some photos to the gallery

Can someone explain to me, as a newbie to boat ownership, why if something is for a boat it is invariably more expensive? One example is the Battery charger, I can get a 10A automatic multi stage one from Argos for less than £40, but according to some of the “Marine Specialists” these are no good for a “Marine” battery, what you require is one that costs about £150, then they go on to confuse you with statistics and graphs why theirs is essential. So reluctantly you pay your £150, well they just might be right, then you read that if you use a shoreline for your charger you must fit a galvanic isolator, if you don’t then you risk corroding your hull, another £80. Now this brings up another interesting fact, for galvanic action to work there must be a path either to another boat or the shore, to the best of my knowledge the blacking on my hull is an insulator, but don’t worry, earlier I was told to fit anodes to the hull, that will help the galvanic action to work, oh yes £250 to have fitted. I thought that was it, Wrong! You do realise that the standard alternator fitted to your engine isn’t very good, I was told, what you need is an alternator controller at a cost of £120,then what about a battery management system, only £150. When I asked about an Inverter you could see the £ signs appear in the salesman’s eyes, you don’t want one of the cheap ones he said, with that I ran out of the chandlers screaming. IF YOU CAN'T CONVINCE THEM, THEN CONFUSE THEM.

Enjoy Heartbreak Hill

We went thru' last June, not a nice place at all, we got held up for about an hour while the council cleared one of the locks of pallets and shopping trollies, also had stones thrown at us. My advise is to go with another boat, start early morning and keep going to the other side.and on no account moor overnight, the yobs have a habit of cutting your ropes in the night. ps should take you between 8 & 10 hours to cross.

This subject is one of my pet hates at the moment, let me explain-- I hope to retire soon after working as a sparkey for the past 40 years. In that time I have worked on jobs from changing a plug to installing and maintaining various types of plant. Now what gets me is even though I am authorised according to the electricity at work regs to work on electrical equipment in a factory, I can't according to the building regs change my shower in the bathroom unless it is passed by an approved person. but what really rubs salt into the wound is that I could get my neighbour to check & pass it, he's a plumber who went on a 5 day coarse, now he thinks he's a sparkey, crazy or what Rant Over

It is being built by JD Boat Services at Gailey. It is 43ft 6ins long with a Shires 33 engine, by having the gas locker at the stern the boat can be 1ft 6ins shorter without reducing inside space.and it also saves on the cost. With the saving I was able to have a pump out loo fitted. The only thing I am not sure of is which inverter to get, I have read so many conflicting reports that I just don't know.

At last, after loads of research, and visiting numerous boat builders, Ann & myself took the plunge and put the deposit down on a boat. Last Saturday we saw it in the water for the first time. It should be finnished by mid May I have posted 2 photos in the gallery

My meathod of steering is "Everything forward and trust in the Lord"