Prevent Bugs from Getting Aboard

There’s nothing worse than opening a food storage locker to find it infested with bugs, particularly cockroaches. Ugh! Bugs aboard can be a real problem, whether you're cruising in the tropics or weekending in the temperate latitudes. Here are some simple precautions you can take to prevent the little critters from getting aboard in the first place.

Screens are the first line of defense and will keep mosquitoes, flies, wasps and other common flying bugs out of the boat’s interior. Oceanair makes the best retro-fittable screens (www.oceanair-marine.com) or you can make simple frame screens that will fit hatch and porthole openings. Lewmar and other companies have screens that can be adapted to their products (www.lewmar.com). In the tropics, burn mosquito coils on deck to keep the flying menaces (that carry Malaria and Dengue Fever) away.

Crawling bugs are more of a problem. They live and lay their eggs in corrugated cardboard cartons, so avoid carrying groceries aboard in containers other than those you bring to the store yourself. Even cardboard beer and soft drink cartons should be left left on the dock as the cans and bottles are stored aboard.

Finally, be careful of fruit and produce bought at famer’s markets or the open air markets in third world countries. Cabbages, lettuce and other leafy items are often home to larvae that can and will hatch at some point, so make sure you inspect and wash the produce before storing it aboard. Bananas and other fruit, particularly if bought on the stalk, can deliver to your boat such fruit gourmets as scorpions and tarantulas hidden deep within the bunches.

GALVANIC CORROSION

Galvanic corrosion is the corrosion that results when two dissimilar metals with different potentials are placed in electrical contact in an electrolyte.
A difference in electrical potential exists between the different metals and serves as the driving force for electrical current flow through the corrodant or electrolyte. This current results in corrosion of one of the metals. The larger the potential difference, the greater the probability of galvanic corrosion.

Galvanic corrosion only causes deterioration of one of the metals. The less resistant, active metal becomes the anodic corrosion site. The stronger, more noble metal is cathodic and protected.

Galvanic corrosion potential is a measure of how dissimilar metals will corrode when placed against each other in an assembly. Metals close to one another on the chart generally do not have a strong effect on one another, but the farther apart any two metals are separated, the stronger the corroding effect on the one higher in the table.

This table lists the potential differences for various metals in water. The order of the series can change for different electrolytes (for example, different pH, ions in solution).

I have omitted Stainless steel alloys from this table as they can significantly change their potential and become much more active if exposed to stagnant or poorly aerated water.

Electrode Potential at 77 F (25 C)

Anodic end (this is where the corrosion occurs)


Element Standard Electrode Potential (Volts)

Lithium -3.045

Potassium -2.920

Sodium -2.712

Magnesium -2.340

Beryllium -1.700

Aluminum -1.670

Manganese -1.050

Zinc -0.762

Chromium -0.744

Iron; Mild Steel -0.440

Cadmium -0.402

Yellow Brass -0.350

50-50 Tin-Lead Solder -0.325

Cobalt -0.277

Nickel -0.250

Tin -0.136

Lead -0.126

Hydrogen reference electrode 0.000

Titanium +0.055

Copper +0.340

Mercury +0.789

Silver +0.799

Carbon +0.810

Platinum +1.200

Gold +1.420

Graphite +2.250

Cathodic end, passive - (no corrosion here)

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Posted by CaptnRon at 1:39 PM

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CAYO COSTA CRUISE

The month of April brought on alot of projects, the biggest was installing Davits for the dinghy.  All projects needed to be complete before we set off for our 30 day sail.  May 1 rolled around and we left the marina and headed south for Boca Grande.  Our destinations were somewhat undesided after Boca.  We sailed the first day out to Egmont Key and stayed a couple of days, exploring and swimming and just getting into the cruising mode.  We left Egmont after a few days and headed south offshore towards Boca Grande arriving about 14hrs later.  It was just getting dark when we arrived and went up to Useppa Island and anchored.  We ended up staying off Useppa for about two weeks, we went exploring each an every day, some days to the some of the many barrier islands and many days to the Tunnel of Love.  After about two weeks we moved over to Pelican Bay and stayed their for another week and a half.  Here we went to Cayo Costa beach almost every day and then to the Tunnel of Love every other day or so it seemed.  So after a restful three and a half weeks we decided to head back north, had to be back by June 1.  So an early morning departure and off we went sailing north back to Egmont Key.  At first it was a nice sail for about 15 miles then the wind change and freshened out of the wrong direction, NW. and we were going north, so the motor was started and was not shutoff for just over 28 hrs.  We were having very confused seas hitting the bow, a strong breeze and current all against us as we proceeded north.  Once I rounded southwest channel entrance at around 0300 the wind shifted to the east at abut 18mph and naturally I was now going East, just couldn't win.  Finally arrived back at the marina around 0730.  After I got My Lady Too secure at the dock, I went to bed after being awake for more than 25 hrs.  Next time I will break up the passage into more frequent stops since we are just coastal cruising.
Until next time..............fairwinds.  CHECK OUT SAILING STUFF FOR SALE ON EBAY AT "OCEANSAIL36".