Beneteau 331 pitting around cutlass bearing tube

[Dan O'Brien]

I recently inspected during a survey the stainless steel tube that the drive shaft cutlass bearing is mounted in. Where the stainless steel tube exits the hull there was a considerable amount of corrosion clear around the tube next to the caulking material that seals the tube hull joint. The boat was built in 2000, 2001 model year. The surveyor thought it might be due to oxygen starvation rather than electrolisis. Has anyone else noticed this problem? Any experience in solving it?

 

[Dan O'Brien]

answer to pitting around the stern tube

The factory advised me this was a no brainer. The Stainless steel tube is very thin walled, and was a Moorings requested addition. If an anchor line gets wrapped around the stern tube and has to be cut, it saves the fiberglass the tube protects from being cut in the process. The stainless steel tube has no structural value, and if corroded no big deal.Thanks for the help