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From: Mike Maurice (no email)
Date: Fri Jul 01 2005 - 00:30:33 EDT
You may recall some unflattering things I have had to say about Stainless
screws being used to fasten wooden boats together. To put a fine edge on
the argument; I think it is folly to use even a high quality marine
stainless screw below the waterline on a boat to be used in salt water.
Fresh water, maybe. Salt, never! And this assumes that the fresh water is
in fact, pretty pure stuff, not contaminated with lots of chemical ions.
I was viewing a promotional video for Hacker Craft, built on the US East
coast and noticed that they openly advertise that they use SS screws
exclusively in fastening their hulls. I assume this means below the water
line. These boats are held to be built to the finest standards of
craftsmanship and materials. If this is the kind of materials that are
going into the finest wood boats being built in the US, then Caveat Emptor.
Under the circumstances I would be wary of any wooden boat built in the
last 20 years or so, if you have any suspicions that it has been fastened
with SS or re-fastened.
It is a sad day, when the boat buying public can be sold the notion that
Stainless Steel screws and fittings are the finest materials to build boats
with, wooden or otherwise. Every time you pass a boat, yours or your
neighbors, notice the small rust stains weeping from underneath the
stainless steel bolts and fittings. If the fitting is stressed from rigging
loads or whatever, the bolts will wiggle a little, the salt water gets
underneath and crevice corrosion is setting in. One day, without warning
the bolt or fitting is going to fail. It may be 10 days or 10 years or
more, but it will almost certainly fail with little warning, such is the
nature of crevice corrosion. Note my earlier post this date about spinning
propeller wheels into the abyss, caused by hairline cracks in the prop shafts.
I understand that Silicon Bronze bolts and screw are more expensive, but
re-fastening is VERY, not just more.
Regards,
Mike
Capt. Mike Maurice
Tualatin(Portland), Oregon
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