Question about hanging a zinc over the side

Jan 11, 2014
11,324
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
Which is why you shouldn't forget about the beer you hung over the side to cool.

All U Get
If the beer cans are electrically isolated from the boat, then you're good. Of course this doesn't work well in the summer when the lake is 75 degrees.
 
Feb 26, 2011
1,428
Achilles SD-130 Alameda, CA
Zincs last longer in freshwater because they don't work in freshwater. A more reactive metal is necessary. In freshwater use magnesium or aluminum anodes. Aluminum works in fresh and salt water.
Zinc for saltwater
Aluminum for salt or brackish water
Magnesium for freshwater
 
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Dec 19, 2006
5,809
Hunter 36 Punta Gorda
Here is what I do besides here in florida do have diver clean bottom every 8 weeks and check the Zincs.
I did get certified but reall y don't think for the depth under your boat is needed and yes some will disagree.
Any way got a used tank from garage sale and had it recerified and filled by dive shop and also either E-bay or dive shop or garage sale got a regulator and about 40 foot hose.
I have the tank on the dock or the boat and dive under in maybe 6 feet of water which is no big deal just like diving in a pool but the air supply lets me change out the zinc on the shaft and have a special zinc on my folding prop and they need changing maybe every 10 months or less and when out anchored I use same system for checking zinc and cleaning prop and checking or cleaning transducers and checking under the whole boat.
was not that much $$$$$ for all the equipment and been using the system since 2010.
Nick
 
Feb 26, 2011
1,428
Achilles SD-130 Alameda, CA
I did get certified but reall y don't think for the depth under your boat is needed and yes some will disagree.
You can embolize in just a few feet of water, certification or no. Six feet is plenty deep enough to kill you, if you don't know what you're doing. Advising that SCUBA safety training isn't necessary for people using SCUBA equipment is pretty foolish, IMHO.
 
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Jan 10, 2012
48
Nordic 40 Harpswell
Thanks guys, a lot of interesting ideas. I'm scheduled to have a dock crane (what you see pulling boats like Solings out of the water) lift my stern on Friday. I'll post a pic. They say they've done it before.

I'd still like to figure out simple alternatives. I was a certified PADI diver in the 70s and still have the card (amazing it survived all these years) but who knows if the tank fillers still honor it. I could tell them I once went down to 100 ft off Little Mark Island in Harpswell and grabbed a huge lobster, then had dogfish circling around me till my buddy motioned for me to let the lobster go.

Having a small tank onboard would be kind of nice, but then it's one more piece of gear to take care of, one more fitting to try to adapt to European standards. In the warm water this summer I'll do a practice snorkel and see if I coild possibly change the zincs that way.

Max
 
Feb 14, 2014
7,400
Hunter 430 Waveland, MS
Zincs last longer in freshwater because they don't work in freshwater
Zinc will protect Aluminum if the water conducts electricity. Nothing protects in "Lake Distilled Waters" either.

Please note the chemistry. Zinc is more reactive than Aluminum. Fresh water or not. Only the voltage potential changes in less salty water, but the Zinc protection is for any metal lower in this list than Zinc. Not good on magnesium boats.

GalvanicSeries.png

Jim...
 
Jan 11, 2014
11,324
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
Zinc will protect Aluminum if the water conducts electricity. Nothing protects in "Lake Distilled Waters" either.
Jim...
From left to right, zinc anode, aluminum anode, and magnesium anode. All from the same boat in fresh water (Lake Ontario). The zinc anode was on the boat for many years, the aluminum for one year and the magnesium for 2 years.

IMG_0536.jpg

This is what happens to a steel boat in freshwater with zinc anodes. The other issue is that there are an inadequate number of anodes.

DSC_0066.jpg
 
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genec

.
Dec 30, 2010
188
Pacific Seacraft Orion27 HP: San Diego, M: Anacortes
Juanona
It is a 5 minute task for a diver. Need a small bag for the new zincs and a tool to screw the zincs tight. My diver uses a T driver with the proper hex drive. It is a simple task.
Holding your breath you could probably do it.

Or there is the ancient mariner route and keelhaul a young virgin to accomplish the task... opps that is wrong.

Move your boat to shallows. Anchor and let tide go out. Step out on to sand beach change the zinc. Wait till tide comes back in. All done. Be sure you have enough beer. It's going to be a 12 hour project.

Wait... where do you get the young virgins...


Actually I am going haul out route... never hurts to look at the bottom... and it's just too damn cold here to snorkel it.
 
Oct 22, 2014
20,995
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
Gene, You can get a diver to do it for less than a haul out. PM me if you need a number.
 

genec

.
Dec 30, 2010
188
Pacific Seacraft Orion27 HP: San Diego, M: Anacortes
Gene, You can get a diver to do it for less than a haul out. PM me if you need a number.
I want the bottom cleaned too... and to look at the thru hulls.

I will PM you though, as I'd like to have a diver do regular servicing on the boat.
 

Hagar

.
Jan 22, 2008
45
Catalina 42 Olympia Washington
I have a DIY hookah made with a Porter-Cable oil-less pancake compressor, 25 ft of 1/4" hose and a regulator I bought on Craigslist. Works just fine for working on the bottom of the boat. The compressor runs fine off the 2500 watt inverter if away from the power supply. With this setup (and a wet suit) I still pay the local diver $60 unless it is summer! Figure it might come in handy some time if we get wrapped up in a crap trap line.
 

viper

.
Jul 31, 2016
131
Hunter 380 Cape Coral, Fl
Didn't say it was cheap. But considering the cost of SCUBA certification and equipment, maybe it is. Then you can rent yourself out and make some money back. :biggrin:
You can buy Hookah systems for 1200 and up... with 2, 60 ft lines, weights, mask for around 2000. I prefer the electric as opposed to the gas... they can also be powered by your gen or a portable Honda at sea.

Regards
 
Jan 10, 2012
48
Nordic 40 Harpswell
I have a DIY hookah made with a Porter-Cable oil-less pancake compressor, 25 ft of 1/4" hose and a regulator I bought on Craigslist. Works just fine for working on the bottom of the boat. The compressor runs fine off the 2500 watt inverter if away from the power supply. With this setup (and a wet suit) I still pay the local diver $60 unless it is summer! Figure it might come in handy some time if we get wrapped up in a crap trap line.
Hagar, that looks like an interesting and very reasonable cost option. Can you give me the particulars of the compressor and regulator? I came across a Porter-Cable oil-less compressor for only $99 but perhaps it needs to be higher PSI? In any event seems like a useful item to have aboard. Won't help me this season but something to consider later. Thanks

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Porter-Cable-6-Gal-150-PSI-Portable-Air-Compressor-C2002/203162815
 

Gunni

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Mar 16, 2010
5,937
Beneteau 411 Oceanis Annapolis
Hagar, that looks like an interesting and very reasonable cost option.
So you won't have oil in your breathing air, just whatever particles of metals, plastics, and polymers that a tool compressor spits out!
 
Feb 11, 2017
23
Mantus (the anchor people) make a perfect SCUBA set up for us sailors. It is relatively inexpensive and only has a 20 minute capacity, but for replacing anodes and quick bottom cleanings it is perfect. However, it is necessary to get he full SCUBA certifications. Alternatively, a floating hookah system would enable a skipper to stay underwater long enough to do the same.
I built my own simple system a few years ago.
IMG_1821x500.jpg

Didn't cost that much.
 
Jan 10, 2012
48
Nordic 40 Harpswell
The lift didn't quite work today. After they lifted the stern clear of the water, the crane started to slip - the boat was just a bit too heavy for it. Thankfully I wasn't lying on the wooden raft under the boat. It goes to show how a seemingly simple operation could kill you. If I'd been lying on the raft when the boat came down, it would have been potentially fatal.

Thanks in part to some of the feedback here, I found a dive shop in Amsterdam that will rent me a tank for a day or two. I will plan to do that when I return from a trip back to Maine. My mom is in her last days.

Thanks for all the feedback here, and glad to see the board still continuing.

PS notice the old tower of Hoorn in the background. Many of the East Indies expeditions sailed from this harbor, as well as the expedition that discovered and named Cape Horn.

Max
IMG_0237.JPG
 
Feb 26, 2011
1,428
Achilles SD-130 Alameda, CA
Gene, You can get a diver to do it for less than a haul out. PM me if you need a number.
Assuming the diver is in business and that you are satisfied with his work, why would you not simply plug his business here for all to see? Do you think he'd object to a little free advertising? Do you think his business needs to be kept a secret from the rest of us?

I don't get it.
 
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Feb 26, 2011
1,428
Achilles SD-130 Alameda, CA
The lift didn't quite work today. After they lifted the stern clear of the water, the crane started to slip - the boat was just a bit too heavy for it. Thankfully I wasn't lying on the wooden raft under the boat. It goes to show how a seemingly simple operation could kill you.
I can't imagine a yard in this country even agreeing to try something like this.