[kaakre]

Am checking my DC circuits and noticed that the voltage between the negative bus and the hull ground ranges from 1-12 volts based on DC load. Makes sense to some extent I guess, but the thought of loading 1-12 volts constantly into my steel hull through the connection between the negative and ground bus would seem to be a problem. Or maybe not!!

 

[Maine Sail]

Am checking my DC circuits and noticed that the voltage between the negative bus and the hull ground ranges from 1-12 volts based on DC load. Makes sense to some extent I guess, but the thought of loading 1-12 volts constantly into my steel hull through the connection between the negative and ground bus would seem to be a problem. Or maybe not!!

There should be no current on your ships "ground" and your ships ground should NOT be a DC neg return path...

 

[Coquina]

This sounds bad on a few levels.
If you have a floating ground DC system, there should be exactly 0 volts between the DC system at ANY point and the steel hull.

If you have a grounded DC system, the DC ground bus should ground to the hull at ONE point only. There should ALSO only be 0 volts between any negative wire and the hull*.

I can't diagnose this over teh interwebs, but you have an issue that really needs looking into.

* to be accurate, there could be a little voltage drop between a load and where the negative wire run gets back to the panel ground.