Get rid of the rusty chain. I have a 22lbs bruce on all rope-rode.
Never needed chain but keep a kedge handy at all times - just in
case....

George of Scaramouche1

=Can you not just get the whole chain re-galvanized?  Mine is 24 yrs old and
=VERY rusty.  Got a guy near Richmond who will re-galvanize for $250...new
=chain is ~$1000 more.

You can if you stay on top of it.  Rust dust is one thing.  However, the
length of chain in question was rusted into a solid mound that had to be
pounded loose and flaking big pieces of rust off.  Too late for a
galvanizing job there.

Rick

Rick the Mouseherder - nh2f
Westsail 32 Xapic, Hull #438
Annapolis, MD

A small boat and a suitcase full of money
beats a 40 footer tied to the Bank.

Creative graphic solutions in vinyl for your boat lettering & designs
http://www.mouseherder.com

Visit our Westsail 32 Xapic
http://www.mouseherder.com/xapic

The Westsail Owners Assn. Homepage
http://www.westsail.org

Well, today's it for regular e-mail.  The packers come to cart our stuff
away tomorrow and ship it to Puerto Rico for us.  We move aboard soon after.
I'll log off trawler world for our trip down via Bermuda and the BVI
tomorrow morning early.

Have a great sailing season.

Rick

Rick the Mouseherder - nh2f
Westsail 32 Xapic, Hull #438
Annapolis, MD

A small boat and a suitcase full of money
beats a 40 footer tied to the Bank.

Creative graphic solutions in vinyl for your boat lettering & designs
http://www.mouseherder.com

Visit our Westsail 32 Xapic
http://www.mouseherder.com/xapic

The Westsail Owners Assn. Homepage
http://www.westsail.org

<<Got a guy near Richmond who will
re-galvanize for $250...new
chain is ~$1000 more.>>

I'm about due to re-galvanize my 100' of 5/16" HT
chain.  Can anyone send me sources to have this done,
not too far from the water.  Please include phone or
web address, location, and any experience you may have
had with them.  Thanks.

Mark Richter, Winnie the Pooh, in Wilmington, NC and northbound.

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One summer during my college years I worked in a steel mill galvanizing silo
bolts. These are steel rods about half inch in diameter and 20 feet long
that wrap around silos. We used a rack that held about two dozen bolts,
moved by a crane that dipped them into a dozen different vats. One vat had
an acid to clean the surface, another was a base to neutralize, fresh water
to rinse, and then the electrolysis vat where DC was used to remove zinc
from the solution and deposit it on the bolts.

This is a major chore with a major investment in equipment. It's a lot more
than dumping a chain into some bucket of zinc colored paint.

But still sell the old for salvage, and buy new might be the best way out.

-- Jim

M/V Derreen, Monk 36

Don't mix good with the bad.
I was in just the situation you are experiencing and attempted to buy time
with the cut out the worst of the old add new and buy time approach. It does
buy time. One year. Then you have contaminated the new galvinize with the
old rust.

I wish I had done the end for end thing.
I wish I had chucked all the old chain for new.
I wish I had really cleaned out and painted the chain locker years ago.

The fact is that Galvanization is good for a fixed period of time. You are
given a short window of time to notice wear and get the chain regalvanized.
If you miss this opportunity, chuck the chain and start over.

The rationalizations of how much chain vs frequency of use vs swap ends etc.
are all true. To a very very limited extent.

What else should we expect? Mr. Lehman gives us 12000 hours and dies. Chain
gives us maybe 15 years and dies. Life gives us some years to boat.

Cruise on.
Richard

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