Living On A Sailboat: Corrosion

I’ve been living on a mooring ball in Key West for almost half a year now. One of the challenges of living on a sailboat out on a mooring ball is the humid salt air. I did a really good job of sealing up the portlights last year so during a recent heavy rain, not much water got into the boat. I still have the hatches on the deck to do, but even then it’s not a matter of solid water getting in the boat. I leave the boat open all day to allow for air flow, keeping away the mold and “old boat” smells, and these to a humid environment.

Electronics Corrosion

As I’ve mentioned earlier, to battle corrosion (usually at the connections) I coat all connection points of new electronic devices with silicone grease when I first get them. I also pay attention and periodically add a little more. Since I’ve started doing this it has cut down a lot of the corrosion on these small electronic components.

Tools Corrosion

This post though is about my battle with all my tools corroding. I bought a large canvas tool bag, thinking it would be awesome to have all the tools located in one central spot that I could easily grab and take to the work location.

This turned out wrong in many directions.

• Boats are tight on space. Lugging around a 50lb satchel loaded with a bunch of tools you probably won’t need is cumbersome.
• The tool you need is buried at the bottom under the other 50lbs of tools… every time.
• It leaves the tools exposed to the open air. I have tools I’ve never used that are rusty.

My solution to battle the corrosion was to buy a bunch of smaller sterlite containers. I put towels in them, which I then soak with WD40 or PB Blaster. This coats the tools with oil as the boat moves and as they are moved in and out of the tubs for use. So far, it’s worked well and with only the inconvenience of a slightly oily feeling to the tools when you use them.

I’m tearing out the navigation station (you can just hear the outrage from the traditionalists out there) next year to make room for a top-opening fridge and freezer. Navigation stations used to be utilized to layout larger paper charts and make your plots while you’re underway. With modern navigation being done mostly via a computer, there’s just no need to waste that space. I still have paper charts, as their good for planning, but you can lay them out in the main salon to view and plan with. I think I’m going to build in a rack system to slide the sterlite tubs into and a way to secure them so they don’t fall out while underway. This will keep the tools organized and easily accessible, and hopefully now corrosion free.