I see plenty with them sailing the oceans. I've read articles about fiberglass how water slowly breaks it down and gets into it over time. Electrodes might be needed on metal boats to keep them in great shape.If you sail on the salt, stray electric energy will make an aluminum boat a battery. A CG 47' aluminum patrol boat was scrapped due to a totaled hull that was consumed by a galvanic corrosion.
If you are referring to the Stratton, it was repaired and is in service. https://www.marinelog.com/index.php...ifies-causes-of-stratton-corrosion&Itemid=257The citing of the CG 47footer was not anecdotal, it was/is factual. There was a well built boat and presumably with outstanding maintenance. I offered it because even with a very good preventative maintenance program, stray current found it's way into the bonding plane and destroyed the boat. Sacrificial zincs won't stop that process, slow it down a tad yes, stop no. The question asked sought opinions to determine the better hull material. I was careful not to state which was better as I've never owned and aluminum boat. But I did have and shared relevant knowledge about potential aluminum failures.
It may be factual, but it is also just an anecdote, and anecdotes are not data. As chrischesley said there are many different boat designs and many different failure modes for each. Just because aluminum hulls are more subject to one failure mode doesn't make them the wrong choice for all boats in salt water. There is, I'm sure, plenty of data suggesting that aluminum hulls can be durable, and plenty of precautions that would need to be taken with them. Just as with any other design decision there will be pros and cons. Which is "best" will depend on what weight each of those pros and cons have in a given use case.The citing of the CG 47footer was not anecdotal, it was/is factual.
The citing of the CG 47footer was not anecdotal, it was/is factual.
An anecdote is a single data point, it is datum, not data. Single datum points can be instructive and useful information to have, however, one can not make any generalizations about a class (like the class of aluminum boats) from one datum.It may be factual, but it is also just an anecdote, and anecdotes are not data
The failure was not the fault of the aluminum, it was ultimately human error.The Engineering Analysis Board concluded that the unusual pattern of corrosion observed on the Stratton was caused by damage to the hull coating, caused by below-the-waterline welding, coupled with a cathodic protection system that was operating in an "underprotect" configuration contributed to the corrosion on Stratton's hull. Additionally, stray current corrosion from the welding was also identified as a contributing factor.
Then the boat you are referring to is not the Stratton. Can you provide a reference? I'd be interested in knowing more about the corrosion effects as I'm involved with a NFP that has acquired a metal boat with corrosion issues. Anything that I can learn and document would be helpful, especially information on what caused the corrosion and why it could not be repaired.The boat in question was stationed at Group South Portland in Maine. The boat was in the possession of a scrap dealer who was repeatedly fending off request to but the remains. Finally, because the boat was condemned it was cut in half until it was crushed. FACT
Thanks. So far I've learned that the care and feeding of a metal hull is quite different from a fiberglass hull. Paint issues could be as simple as using the wrong bottom paint, you can't use copper based paints on steel or aluminum hulls. And all aluminum alloys are not the same, some are more well suited to being a boat in salt water and others, not so much.I can try to contact the metal recycler that had the boat. This was a well guarded story. Initial stories regarding the 47's were about paint" problems". I'll see what info is available.. Many years and several change of commands have gone by.
Beth and Evans aluminum boat was built in Fernandina Florida by a friend of mine- Topper Hermanson who had a yard there in the 80's. I visited him while it was being built., Evans Starzinger and Beth Leonard, and John Harries among others.