That little metal skeg which is bolted on to the aft end of the fairing housing the propeller tube/cutless bearing and protects the prop.... Does anybody know what metal it's made of? Thanks!

I believe mine, on Parker built #131,which is welded to a substantial U shaped mount of the same material,as you say bolted through the 'tunnel', is of stainless steel.
I have had it cleaned back to metal from time to time and it certainly has a matt SS appearance rather than a bronze type colour.It has no signs of surface corrosion and has a pair of anodes on the same cross bolt.I inherited these.I apply Trilux every year.I haven't tried it with a magnet.I have read of the limitations of stainless used below seawater level - at the moment it is happily doing it's duty and apparently in good structural order..
Peter

Graham
rascal my 26 is like your a Baker built (50), but was originally an outboard motor in well powered, I strongly suspect yours was too, as most early 26's were. So doubtful the skeg is original.
My skeg sounds like yours and I assume is stainless steel, never any sign of corrosion.
A few years ago I bolted a ss angle to it as the stop for a rope cutter and that (lesser grade ss I suspect) did corrode so I protect it with a small annode which I need to replace most years.
Philip

Thanks chaps, much appreciated, and apologies for taking so long to say so.

The question arose because Tiptoe had to come out for a periodic insurance survey this year and I decided to take her out for a short while beforehand to allow me to do a couple of other bits and pieces which I knew needed attending to. To my surprise, when she was lifted out I saw that her wee skeggie had at some point been bent out of position - see the picture. Now the last time she was out of the water it was fine, and I saw her lifted in that time and lifted out this time and I know the strops were in the right place, so that can't have been the cause. I haven't sat her on a beach in the interim, but the only thing I have done is move her from Chichester Marina on to a swinging (and drying) mooring at Emsworth. I have sometimes seen her settle on to the mud there at something of an angle, so I'm wondering if some of the mud is a bit harder than the rest and as the boat has settled (rudder up), the weight of the stern has been taken by the skeg and the angle has done the rest. I would never have thought that that kind of damage could be caused by mud, but as I say I can't think of any other possibility to account for it.

In any event, I have found some specialist marine metalworkers with tools way beyond my humble collection, and they agree that it's stainless steel and will be effecting a repair imminently. I'll take a photo of the repair and post it in due course.

Tiptoe's skeg didn't have an anode when I bought her and I've never fitted one, because I've kept it covered up in multiple coats of epoxy. I'm thinking this time I'll do what Peter does and use Trilux and anode.

Click to View Image54 View(s)

There, that should do it. You could probably settle Queen Mary 2 on that and it wouldn't bend! Might knock a tenth of a knot or so off my cruising speed though...

Duly anoded and Triluxed as well.

If I'm allowed to, I'd like to put in a good word for Latbros Marine, the folks who did the metal fabrication and welding, who are based at Hayling Yacht Company's yard at Mill Rythe on Hayling Island. Stas and Slava were fantastically helpful and I wouldn't hesitate to use them again.

Thanks again Peter and Philip.

Hi Graham, just saw your post, I can confirm that it is stainless steel (grade 316). I also used to find mine bent over when I used to keep the boat on a drying mooring. Being only 3mm thick, it would not be able to stand up to a strong wind pushing her around just as she was settling onto the bottom. I solved the problem by removing the 3mm keg and replacing it with a 10mm skeg which I profiled and polished to an aerofoil section. I also installed a piece of 13mm x 25mm 316 stainless bar on the 'U' shaped fitting first, which extends aft and which I cut a 'V' in to act in place of the fixed part of a rope cutter as I figured it was stronger than attaching the original 'stop' to the piece of GRP tube acting as the shaft log.

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As an additional point, I do not have any issues with corrosion although I do have an anode bolted through the keg, That is mainly to help protect the brass outer shell of the cutless bearing, which is attached to the keg by a long grub screw bolted through a tab on the piece of bar stock and contacting the gutless bearing. I also don't have any real issues with fouling. I use the same method I use on my prop. hot liquified lanolin, brushed on and lightly flashed over the surfaces with a heat gun until it 'curtains' then apply another coat of hot liquified lanolin once the first coat has cooled and set. I have been doing this for the last five years and works a treat and costs next to nothing. A 500gm block of lanolin on eBay is about £12 and lasts for years, I keep mine in metal mug (camping mug) which is easy to heat the surface wit a hot air gun and have a dedicated old brush that lives with the mug of lanolin. I keep it topped up from time to time with another chunk of the lanolin which comes in a heavyduty poly bag. It works very well on my prop which is feathering prop with stainless steel blades in a bronze housing. It does not cause issues with jamming the blades and hub together which antifoul paints could do. Just lather it on over the whole lot!

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As an additional point, I do not have any issues with corrosion although I do have an anode bolted through the keg, That is mainly to help protect the brass outer shell of the cutless bearing, which is attached to the keg by a long grub screw bolted through a tab on the piece of bar stock and contacting the gutless bearing. I also don't have any real issues with fouling. I use the same method I use on my prop. hot liquified lanolin, brushed on and lightly flashed over the surfaces with a heat gun until it 'curtains' then apply another coat of hot liquified lanolin once the first coat has cooled and set. I have been doing this for the last five years and works a treat and costs next to nothing. A 500gm block of lanolin on eBay is about £12 and lasts for years, I keep mine in metal mug (camping mug) which is easy to heat the surface wit a hot air gun and have a dedicated old brush that lives with the mug of lanolin. I keep it topped up from time to time with another chunk of the lanolin which comes in a heavyduty poly bag. It works very well on my prop which is feathering prop with stainless steel blades in a bronze housing. It does not cause issues with jamming the blades and hub together which antifoul paints could do. Just lather it on over the whole lot!

Hi Graham, just saw your post, I can confirm that it is stainless steel (grade 316). I also used to find mine bent over when I used to keep the boat on a drying mooring. Being only 3mm thick, it would not be able to stand up to a strong wind pushing her around just as she was settling onto the bottom. I solved the problem by removing the 3mm keg and replacing it with a 10mm skeg which I profiled and polished to an aerofoil section. I also installed a piece of 13mm x 25mm 316 stainless bar on the 'U' shaped fitting first, which extends aft and which I cut a 'V' in to act in place of the fixed part of a rope cutter as I figured it was stronger than attaching the original 'stop' to the piece of GRP tube acting as the shaft log.

Hi Martin - Apologies, only just noticed your replies. Thanks very much, that's all really good information, and it's interesting that someone else has has the same problem!