On 22 Sep 2004 03:28:39 -0700, (ZanderU) wrote:

Hi all,

I already know that when buying an aluminium yacht you'd better check
carefully for any electrolysis/galvanic corrosion, but are there any
tell-tale signs of such corrosion? Where/how to look? I'm also a bit
confused about how to electrically measure whether electrolysis is
taking place. Should one look for a voltage difference between a zinc
anode hung overboard and the engine block?

Try this:

http://www.boatus.com/seaworthy/galvanic/


Also I suppose there is no necessity to carefully keep a paint cover
on aluminium given?

Are there any other aluminium gotcha's?

Finally, I hear that aluminium has a bad reputation in terms of noises
when cruising, is that limited to thin hulls for smaller yachts or
not?

I can only speak to a Pacific boat that I test drove this spring. This
boat in fact.

http://store1.yimg.com/I/blacklabmarine_1811_9480669

It's not as noisy as you might think - roughly the same as a heavy
fiberglass boat. Aluminum rides nice too.

Later,

Tom