Drydock or Slip?

[ValcoNOOB]

Hey guys!

First time boat owner here. Apologies if this question has been covered ad nauseam, but I couldn't find a thread for it.

I just picked up a lovingly maintained, always drydocked, 1996 '19 Valco Bayrunner for fishing (I'm in the San Francisco Bay Area).



First thing my mechanic told me was to NOT keep it in the water. I've read tons about Galvanic Corrosion and Electrolysis. But I'm so confused. Half the Coast Guard, Navy and the Pacific Northwest fishing fleet are aluminum craft that stay in the water year round.

While I imagine they throw a lot of manpower and maintenance at the problem, I have to imagine there's a way to make this work. Can I get the bottom primed and painted, and will I be safe? Or do I just need to keep it out of the water for storage purposes?

Alex

[Chaps]

I'm in the biz of prepping aluminum boats for salt water use and extended moorage. It is possible to keep that boat in the water but it needs a proper bottom paint job consisting of several coats of epoxy barrier primer paint overcoated with aluminum compatible bottom paint. Additionally it needs mil-spec aluminum hull anodes affixed to the transom. A couple of issues with boats of that type is that the aluminum alloy used for the hull and other wetted components are not as corrosion resistant as the aluminum typically used to build boats designed for extended salt immersion, the so-called heavy plate fully welded types you see from custom builders and production boats like Pacific, North River, etc. Additionally, they don't typically have dedicated anode mounting brackets on the transom since the builders assumed their boats wouldn't be moored long term, you'll need to have a suitable mounting plate welded to the transom for that. The stainless trim tabs I see on the boat are a problem in that they will be a primary driver of corrosion damage on the boat due to the galvanic dissimilar metals issue. You'll want to also install aluminum trim tab anodes to those to give them something to chew on besides your hull. Do all that and you'll be good to go.

[ValcoNOOB]

man, what an awesomely thorough answer...THANK YOU SIR!

[JonH]

In addition to what Chaps said -

If you are getting the hull sandblasted prior to all the paint coatings,
get the trim tabs sandblasted and coated also, I had this done to my boat,
by Chaps by the way.

[ValcoNOOB]

Excellent info, thank you!