This past weekend I checked the bottom of my Pearson 323. The bottom was pretty clean but the prop and shaft had barnacles. After clening the prop I noticed that the zinc was gone from the prop shaft. I could see where it had been. I couldn't replace the zincs as it was late sunday afternoon. Is this an emergency?? Can it safely wait a couple of weeks or should I make a special trip to replace it this weekend. It's about a 300 mile trip (600 total). By the way cleaning the prop added almost a knot at 1500 rpm!!! 4.5 to 5.5. thanks Tom
Zinc replacement emergency??
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zinc emergency
The answer here depends on several things. First how old was the zinc and do you think it was "wasted" or do you think it fell off because it was not installed correct? Is the boat left pluged in to shore power? and or do you know of any issues of your boat or a boat close to you having "stray voltage" problems? Unless there is a know problem I would not call this a "emergency" but would replace the zinc as soon as possible.Maybe a friend could hang a "zice groper" from a know ground overboard in the meantime to ease you mind and unplug the boat for you.
The answer here depends on several things. First how old was the zinc and do you think it was "wasted" or do you think it fell off because it was not installed correct? Is the boat left pluged in to shore power? and or do you know of any issues of your boat or a boat close to you having "stray voltage" problems? Unless there is a know problem I would not call this a "emergency" but would replace the zinc as soon as possible.Maybe a friend could hang a "zice groper" from a know ground overboard in the meantime to ease you mind and unplug the boat for you.
Not Really
The zinc needs to be replaced as soon as possible, but I wouldn't make a 600 mile trip to do it. The only difference is now you know about it missing, and I doubt that two more weeks will result in any more significant damage than possibly has already occured. The real question would be how long has it been since you knew the zinc was there? If it has been eaten away since your last inspection, there could be some serious electricity in the water around your boat. Assuming that you have a bronze prop, how did it look? If you have bronze through hulls, they can stand inspection also. There is a possibility that it could have just gotten loose and dropped off, but my real concern would be checking the area for stray currents in the water in addition to replacing the zinc. If yours was eaten away, the other boaters in your vicinity will be interested too.
The zinc needs to be replaced as soon as possible, but I wouldn't make a 600 mile trip to do it. The only difference is now you know about it missing, and I doubt that two more weeks will result in any more significant damage than possibly has already occured. The real question would be how long has it been since you knew the zinc was there? If it has been eaten away since your last inspection, there could be some serious electricity in the water around your boat. Assuming that you have a bronze prop, how did it look? If you have bronze through hulls, they can stand inspection also. There is a possibility that it could have just gotten loose and dropped off, but my real concern would be checking the area for stray currents in the water in addition to replacing the zinc. If yours was eaten away, the other boaters in your vicinity will be interested too.
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