A small victory; After filling major gouges and scratches, I finally got the bottom paint on my rudder. May do a "thinned" coat to finish it this spring.
Can't wait to get my "lift" and "drop" lines for it on my next trip to Westmarine.
"The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails." - William Arthur Ward jerecaustin.com
Following the advice I got before, I've been redoing my wood trim with teak oil. Amazing stuff. A lot, and I mean gobs, of it soaks into the wood. Of course the wood had not been touched for years which makes a difference as well.
Notice on the third page that the greatest potential for corrosion is between the aluminum and stainless steel. Naval brass falls midway between the two and would be less likely to corrode from either of the others. Also note in the three conditions statement that a conductive fluid is needed. Sea water is one of the highest and especially noted.
Conclusion: Adding a brass bushing would not be any more corrosive, and if you can use the brass bushing between the aluminum face plates and stainless steel bolt you might even buy yourself greater corrosion protection. Caveat: I ain't no expert on this so my conjecturing could be all wet. Check with a metalurgist before attempting this at home!
Paul I used Westmarine PCA (the older version).
I'm told the new stuff is even better.
Great to work with, smells like death, lots of mixing, good end result.
Next is continuing interior clean-up, and wiring.
Also, paint the rest of the bottom, and of course put rudder back on.
The list is growing!
"The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails." - William Arthur Ward jerecaustin.com
Mario - My teak turned out real nice as well. I see on your photo album you have the three board entryway. Mine came with 5 boards. The bottom and next to top boards are only about 2" each. They don't look like they broke off the other boards because the bottoms of every board is beveled to help evacuate water towards the outside of the boat. My solution is to build an entryway similar to sailbob's. All parts are cut but broke the router bit while releiving the rails to fit the stiles. One more trip to Home Depot!
I found several good articles to help out on those winter projects.There is a very detailed article in Nov/Dec 09 Good Old Boat on making new cushions. It takes you from measuring, through to the finished cushion. In GOB Jul/Aug 09 there is an article on non-skid refinishing. This is a re coat and looks realitively easy. There is another article in Boat US Sept/Oct 09 on non skid. This is much more involved and might be used for reconstruction. I might consider it for my side decks when I get to taclkle my port toerail damage.
Clair