Page 311 - The Complete Rigger’s Apprentice

you’ve got galvanic corrosion. If the fasteners shear Sometimes metal just plain rusts. Stainless steel
off when you try to pull them, you’ve got serious gal- rusts more slowly, but tropical climates will get to it
vanic corrosion. Stainless steel, the dominant mate- in just a few years. Galvanized steel left untended
rial in rigging today, is susceptible to its own spe- can dissolve in a matter of months. Any survey of
cial form of decay: crevice corrosion, also known as metal must be a survey for rust.
oxygen starvation. Stainless steel contains significant If served galvanized rigging is slushed whenever
amounts of chromium. When exposed to the atmo- it gets to looking dry, it will last a century or more.
sphere the surface oxidizes slightly and a thin film of Very cost-effective. As I write this, the 40-or-more-
chromium oxide forms, preventing any further oxi- year-old standing rigging of the Arctic exploration
dation. If exposed to water, salt or fresh, without the schooner Bowdoin is sitting in my loft. The foun-
presence of air, this film will not form and the metal dation that owns this boat wanted me to replace
will corrode. If the water in question is salt water, the the gang, but stripping the service off a few splices
process is compounded by chloride corrosion. revealed wire that is as good as new. I had to ace
You risk oxygen starvation anytime you cover myself out of a big job and talk them into a little
stainless, as when applying spreader boots, shroud renovation instead.
rollers, or service. The trick is to exclude both water Slush, also known as tar varnish or blacking
and air. When serving, some anhydrous lanolin compound, is a tar-based paint applied periodically
covered with proper parceling and service works to standing rigging to protect it from decay. Recipes
fine. Just rinsing stainless with fresh water when- vary, but here’s a good basic one for served rigging:
ever you can will lessen the corrosive effects of salt
water. 6 parts Stockholm tar
When surveying for stainless corrosion, don’t 3 parts boiled linseed oil
be distracted by stains. Contrary to what the name 1 part Japan drier
implies, the stuff does stain, often from bits of 1 part spar varnish
non-stainless steel scraped off the extruding dies
when the wire is formed. But do look closely, pref- Mix the ingredients together and apply to mar-
erably with a magnifying glass, for any sign of pit- line or seizing wire in thin coats until the material is
ting in the metal—the surface will seem to have tee- “full” but not overflowing. When dry, slush is hard
ny-tiny craters in it. Any significant pitting is cause enough to resist scuffing but resilient and durable
for replacement.. enough to maintain a waterproof seal over the wire
Just how frayed, rusty, or old, or whatever, must rope.
a piece be for it to be condemned? There are plenty The type of tar you use makes a considerable
of people out there who can point to a battered but difference; most commercially available pine tars
still-functioning wreck and tell you that it’s held up are chemically processed and may contain impuri-
fine and they’d still trust it in a gale. Gear will some- ties. Stockholm tar is produced by simple distillation
times hold together far longer than anyone could and cooking. It smells sweet, doesn’t irritate skin the
reasonably expect. But the point is to have, not a way other tars do, and holds up much better in the
long-lived rig, but a safe long-lived rig. Why incor- weather.
porate a safety factor in a rig design, only to erode it Be sure the drier you use is fresh and still vola-
away? In view of the possible consequences of gear tile; it makes the slush “go off” and harden. Mix up
failure, it seems foolhardy to go out with anything small batches and seal containers securely between
but the strongest, best-conditioned rig that is com- uses.
patible with performance and your purse. Watch, When slushing nylon-served rigging, “Net Dip,”
understand, and respond as if it were an instinctive an asphalt tar available from fishery supply houses,
feeling of your inner life. is a good choice for slush.

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