To My Surprise, No Zincs!!

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J

Joe Mullee

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Jun 3, 2004
418
Island Packet Island Packet 29 West River, MD
Six weeks ago while my boat was hauled for five days among other things the zincs were supposed to be replaced. This past weekend while the boat was in the water I was cleaning the bottom and discovered there were no zincs on the propellar shaft. Normally I wouldn't haul again until next spring to paint the bottom and replace the zincs then. I think a short haul will cost me $5-6 per foot for my 34' sloop. I happened to have a zinc onboard but wasn't able to hold my breath long enough to get it on.


How critical is it to have zincs on the shaft?

Thanks for any advice.

Joe Mullee
 
DougM

DougM

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Jul 24, 2005
2,242
Beneteau 323 Manistee, MI
It might be less costly to hire a diver to replace the zinc.
The question is, did the yard forget to replace the zinc or did it dissolve already. that would be another issue.
 
M

medicbrent

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Aug 2, 2013
3
Macgregor 25 Sacramento CA.
zinc's prevent corrosion from starting in salt or blackish water, I wouldn't hesitate putting them on and checking to see if there has been any corrosion started. if there has been deal with it now not later.
 
Warren Milberg

Warren Milberg

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Dec 1, 1999
2,391
Hunter 28.5 Chesapeake Bay
Joe: try to determine if your yard just forgot to replace the zinc or if they did replace it and it corroded away in 6 weeks. If it's the latter you must find the cause as all your underwater metals could be at risk. If it's the former have them replace it now. In either case, I think you really need a zinc on the shaft.
 
fstbttms

fstbttms

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Feb 26, 2011
1,440
Achilles SD-130 Alameda, CA
Joe Mullee said:
How critical is it to have zincs on the shaft?
Click to expand
Depends. How do you feel about buying a new prop? :D

You will never get the yard to admit that they failed to install the zincs or that they installed them improperly. The alternative is (of course) that you burned through them in six weeks. In any event, you need to get them replaced ASAP. And just in case you do have a rapid depletion issue, you should check them again within a few weeks.
 
Gunni

Gunni

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Mar 16, 2010
5,937
Beneteau 411 Oceanis Annapolis
fstbttms said:
Depends. How do you feel about buying a new prop? :D

You will never get the yard to admit that they failed to install the zincs or that they installed them improperly. ...
Click to expand
Well, when the boys at HHN improperly installed my max-prop zinc a couple of season's ago and it was snapped off by my prop they immediately owned up to it. Extracted the screws, tapped the threads and installed a new one pronto. That is the Maryland way. Pride in workmanship.
 
J

Joe Mullee

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Jun 3, 2004
418
Island Packet Island Packet 29 West River, MD
OK, thanks for the advice. Looks like I gotta get this done ASAP.

Joe Mullee
 
jviss

jviss

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Feb 5, 2004
7,090
Tartan 3800 20 Westport, MA
fstbttms said:
You will never get the yard to admit that they failed to install the zincs or that they installed them improperly.
Click to expand
Not all boatyards suck. Mine is great, and I am certain that if this happened here they would own up to it.
 
capta

capta

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Jun 4, 2009
5,074
Pearson 530 Admiralty Bay, Bequia SVG
If there is a nice sandy beach where there is no possibility of any wakes or swell, you could take her in and lay her on the sand. Obviously you'd want a higher tide next tide, but you don't have to dry the whole boat, only expose the shaft so you can work on it. I would place an anchor as well, to pull you off so you won't run sand through your engine intake.
Perhaps a diver would be easier and cheaper (time wise) but I've done bottom jobs this way on several tides without a problem.
In some high tide range areas, they actually have several vertical and horizontal pilings set up for just this purpose. Any in your area?
 
fstbttms

fstbttms

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Feb 26, 2011
1,440
Achilles SD-130 Alameda, CA
jviss said:
Not all boatyards suck. Mine is great, and I am certain that if this happened here they would own up to it.
Click to expand
I never inferred that all boatyards suck. But I would be very surprised if any boatyard would do a free haul & hang and zinc installation simply because somebody's shaft zincs were gone after a month and a half.
 
shemandr

shemandr

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Jan 1, 2006
8,005
Slickcraft 26 Sailfish
If there was no remnant of the zinc whatsoever I would guess it fell off. Usually zincs become chalky but will look pretty much like a zinc. If it fell off then who would be at fault except the yard?
 
fstbttms

fstbttms

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Feb 26, 2011
1,440
Achilles SD-130 Alameda, CA
shemandr said:
If there was no remnant of the zinc whatsoever I would guess it fell off. Usually zincs become chalky but will look pretty much like a zinc. If it fell off then who would be at fault except the yard?
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It is possible that the OP's boat actually depleted the zincs in six weeks time and that the remnants fell off. And the fact that the boat was in a marina (an unusual berth for this boat, by the OP's admission) makes this scenario even more likely.
 
Dan Johnson

Dan Johnson

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Oct 14, 2005
2,191
1983 Hunter H34 North East, MD
Gunni...

Wish it were true of all boat yards in Maryland, but, sadly it's not. Yours is the exception rather than the rule. Human nature and low wages, not to mention a poor attitude from management, may be the root cause of the carelessness many of us have experienced.
 
rardiH36

rardiH36

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Jun 21, 2007
2,118
Hunter Cherubini 36_80-82 Sausalito / San Francisco Bay
If you aren't able to have a zinc put on the shaft reasonably quickly, and particularly if you have some doubt if your marina (or your) boat is hot, you might consider using the spare zinc you mentioned as a "fish" zinc. Wrap a length of heavier gauge copper wire a few times around one of the zinc's fastening screws then tighten together the two halves of the zinc to firmly secure the wire. From someplace on your engine block, connect a ground wire and lead that into your cockpit. Connect the zinc wire and the ground wire together. Hang the zinc over the side as near the prop and prop depth as you can. This may not protect quite as well as a dedicated shaft zinc, but fish anodes are effective. Just a thought. This is an option only if you have a standard metal-to-metal transmission/shaft coupling.
 
All U Get

All U Get

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Oct 2, 2008
3,811
Pearson/ 530 Strafford, NH
Joe Mullee said:
I happened to have a zinc onboard but wasn't able to hold my breath long enough to get it on.


How critical is it to have zincs on the shaft?

Thanks for any advice.

Joe Mullee
Click to expand

Hi Joe,

Just a thought about being in the water that may have eaten a zinc in six weeks. :eek: There may be enough stray current to give you a tingle or worse while you're in there doing the work. Hmmm. Did you take a picture while re-launching? I was able to go back through two years of pictures looking for the cotter pin on the bow thruster prop. I managed not to loose the prop even though it wasn't pinned for two seasons.

All U Get

I used a fish like Rardi for the winter while we were in Charleston, still had some shaft zincs left when the diver changed them in March.
 
RAD

RAD

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Jun 3, 2004
2,330
Catalina 30 Bay Shore, N.Y.
I find it hard to believe that zincs (were there two?) could vanish in 6 weeks....sounds like the yard forgot.....did you get billed for them.....what has been the history of longevity of your zincs in previous years......when I left my boat in the water for the winter I could get two years on 2 zincs and there would be still some left....I also had a over the side fish cause I was in doubt
 
jviss

jviss

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Feb 5, 2004
7,090
Tartan 3800 20 Westport, MA
fstbttms said:
I never inferred that all boatyards suck. But I would be very surprised if any boatyard would do a free haul & hang and zinc installation simply because somebody's shaft zincs were gone after a month and a half.
Click to expand
No sane boatyard would haul a boat for zincs - that's what SCUBA is for. :)
 
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