Furry stern gear!
- Thread starter All-at-sea
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If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
Mac2
Guru
What are you referring to? The patina on the bronze, or the salt crystals? That is a stuffing box, so you might need to replace the stuffing. I would clean the salt crystals off and see how long it takes to gather. I'm in fresh water, so I'm not sure of the time frame for the post to look like this. The patina looks normal.
Comodave
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I have a furry child, but others refer to him as a Lab…
RT Firefly
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Greetings,
Mr. A. Time to get out the vacuum cleaner, scrapers, wire brushes, hookers and pokers (with proper safety precautions) and clean up the area so you can really see what's going on. Best in my opinion would be to blow out the area with compressed air after a thorough cleaning and vacuuming. Start dry and you should spot any seepage that much quicker.
As mentioned, could be the packing in the rudder box and/or seepage around the rudder bracket support bolts. Seems to me an awful lot of "fur" for a Mediterranean climate. My moneys on the bolts...
Once you identify and rectify the source of the moisture, the area's already clean so only needs a coat of white bilge paint.
Mr. S. That was my first thought as well but no mention is made of aluminum by the OP. I'd go with salt crystals +1.
Mr. A. Time to get out the vacuum cleaner, scrapers, wire brushes, hookers and pokers (with proper safety precautions) and clean up the area so you can really see what's going on. Best in my opinion would be to blow out the area with compressed air after a thorough cleaning and vacuuming. Start dry and you should spot any seepage that much quicker.
As mentioned, could be the packing in the rudder box and/or seepage around the rudder bracket support bolts. Seems to me an awful lot of "fur" for a Mediterranean climate. My moneys on the bolts...
Once you identify and rectify the source of the moisture, the area's already clean so only needs a coat of white bilge paint.
Mr. S. That was my first thought as well but no mention is made of aluminum by the OP. I'd go with salt crystals +1.
Last edited:
All-at-sea
Member
I clean off the crystals each visit to the boat which is around every 3 months; the boat is moored abroad from where I live in the UK.
Why would there be an interaction around the SSwhich is not part of the stuffing box?
All-at-sea
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Awesome! Here's my furry friend
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Mac2
Guru
If it’s salt crystals it’s not an interaction, but rather weeping salt water, which dries to crystals. Either from water working its way to the low point-from the rudder box or water coming up through the bolts.
kapnd
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Looks like mixed metals in close proximity and reacting to each other, and looks like it’s maybe aluminum where the thick deposits are?
The through hull bolts should be silicone bronze if the underwater bracket is bronze. The bolts look to be stainless steel, and though the heads may look ok, will be prone to crevice corrosion where they can’t be seen.
The bonding wire is certainly suspect, I’d give it a hard yank for an initial test. Also odd that it’s red! Are all the bonding wires red, or is the bonding system haphazardly assembled?
All-at-sea
Member
Lots to break down here... there's no aluminium in shot. The rudder stock stuffing box is bronze, the bracket in question is SS, as are the bolts.
As for the wiring...it could be original and therefore 43 years old. Does colour matter? Should I be checking for continuity/resistance?
As for the wiring...it could be original and therefore 43 years old. Does colour matter? Should I be checking for continuity/resistance?
I encounter this from time to time in wet/damp areas like those around stuffing boxes, this is sort of an in between area of submerged and dry, so you can get this sort of unusual scenario.
This doesn't look like salt to me, that usually lies flatter and crustier, this material is lighter. Some kind of accretion or calcareous deposit. Reaction with hydroxides released at cathodes. Probably combination of calcium carbonate and magnesium hydroxide. All kinds of ions floating around in the electrolyte, and the cathodes (bonded items) are very negative so ionic activity at those sites. Unlikely this is harmful.
The stainless bracket is likely bonded, and there's no issue with that. I would clean and dry the area thoroughly, and see if you see any pitting on the stainless. Stainless steel is subject to crevice corrosion if it remains in a wet, oxygen poor environment. And areas like this tend to be high in salt as the water evaporates, which accelerates the process, and this stainless is likely 304, so not the most corrosion resistant. https://stevedmarineconsulting.com/stainless-steel-miracle-metal/
The verdigris on the stuffing box is normal and harmless.
This doesn't look like salt to me, that usually lies flatter and crustier, this material is lighter. Some kind of accretion or calcareous deposit. Reaction with hydroxides released at cathodes. Probably combination of calcium carbonate and magnesium hydroxide. All kinds of ions floating around in the electrolyte, and the cathodes (bonded items) are very negative so ionic activity at those sites. Unlikely this is harmful.
The stainless bracket is likely bonded, and there's no issue with that. I would clean and dry the area thoroughly, and see if you see any pitting on the stainless. Stainless steel is subject to crevice corrosion if it remains in a wet, oxygen poor environment. And areas like this tend to be high in salt as the water evaporates, which accelerates the process, and this stainless is likely 304, so not the most corrosion resistant. https://stevedmarineconsulting.com/stainless-steel-miracle-metal/
The verdigris on the stuffing box is normal and harmless.
All-at-sea
Member
Wow, lots of teccy stuff there Sreve. I'll take away the 'unlikely to be harmful' statement and try to keep it clean each visit. I'm pretty sure it not salt as it is fluffy, not hard.
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