Sonic Drive Legs - what do you do?

[Aussie_Sequoia]

I have a Sonic Cat Drive-Leg made by Sillette.

I am curious what others do with their drive leg when at anchor.

I always raise mine when under sail or in a calm anchorage, but if there is a storm or strong swell or it's crowded, I sometimes leave it down at night for a 'faster getaway' (mine is manually raised and lowered - not hydraulic).

I get better sleep, but sometimes I feel this is stupid and I'm taking life off of the unit by leaving submerged longer than necessary. Does anyone else do this or do they raise it up religiously?

Also... has anyone ever found a collar style anode (behind the prop) for a Sonic without buying it from Sillette? (pricey!)

[captfolly]

we pretty much do the same as you with the sillette drive on our Prout snowgoose, and the tip of the leg is always in the water so I have added an easily replaceable zinc to the tip to hopefully extend the life of the collar zinc, our drive is about 10 years old and the previous owners had left in the water for an extended period which did cause some serious electrolysis, but didn't perforate the leg. I replaced the collar zinc 2 years ago, and clean, grease, change oil, and paint up the drive every year...

fair winds,

George

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by Aussie_Sequoia

... has anyone ever found a collar style anode (behind the prop) for a Sonic without buying it from Sillette? (pricey!)

From the Sillette-Sonic Ltd 2011 price list:
#258 Prop Shaft Anode 12.00 £ p (<$20 USD*)
#259 Transom Anode 6.00 £ p (<$10 USD*)

Here ➥ http://www.sillette.co.uk/price_pdf_...parts_list.pdf

See also ➥ http://sillette.co.uk/pdf/sillette_m...ive_manual.pdf

* 1 British pound sterling = 1.6198 US dollars

[Aussie_Sequoia]

Thanks Gord. I had contacted Sillette and they had emailed me back with a price of about 200 pounds as a kit. They never mentioned I could just buy the anode by itself. Thanks for that!