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Old 11-28-2008
sailaway21 sailaway21 is offline
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Aluminum lifeboats were abandoned for shipboard use over problems related not to stray current but because of the easy possibility that contact with dissimilar metals could not be avoided. Leave steel wrench laying in the bilge of one and a few months later there's a wrench shaped hole in the hull. You have to be very meticulous about dissimilar metals with aluminum for your hull and that creates a tendency to give steel the nod, despite the weight savings of aluminum. And, as Dog alludes, deterioration can occur quickly. Also, ever weld aluminum? There's a bit of an art to it and most welders do not possess it.
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