freshwater will be your worst enemy, causing rot.


So why did I know a guy in the Great Lakes who was under water logging
100+ year old submerged logs? Also, same thing happening in the
Columbia River. Logs that got waterlogged (interesting word) 100 years
ago and sunk out of the log rafts. Fine years later. no rot?

Now why would a log not rot in fresh water????

Im not an expert on rot, but what i understand from what I've read is
that the ideal conditions for rot are fresh water + oxygen + heat. I
may be wrong on this, but i thought that rot was made up of a hierarchy
of bacteria, and it builds up as a food chain to the point where youve
got really bad rot. If you can kill one part of the cycle you get rid
of your problems. I know for sure that a boat left sitting in a
backyard for a long time exposed to rain water is a prime candidate for
rot, whereas a hull left in the ocean is likely to last a lot longer
(at least below the water line).

Rot seems to always start where freshwater leaks/drips in. With the
case of the logs deep down in the lake my guess would be lack of exygen
plus lack of heat prevents things from going too badly wrong....

Just my opinions, youd do well to take them with a pinch of salt ;-)