Anchor protector on hull - what grade steel?

[Papawads]

The Admiral has been knocking lumps off the bow, during her oh-so delicate handling of the anchor... So I'm having a steel protector made and fitted over winter, while we still have a bow to protect.

Question: I always insist on 316 grade stainless steel. Is that good enough for this application or is 316L required? I was going 3mm minimum thickness, just worried about corrosion blemishes because we know whose job it will be to keep is shiney...

Thanks
Papawads
:-)

[hlev00]

316 is the way to go. Be sure your fasteners are as well. I've seen plenty of rust spots from poor choices in screws after attaching to a nice 316 stainless component. Fresh water rinses are always a good idea anyway.


And some unsolicited advice - Do you ever run the bow and have the "admiral" do the driving? It is really a good idea for you both to be comfortable in either role. In fact when picking up a mooring I am almost always on the bow given my extra reach and also additional strength. Something to consider.

[Pete7]

Out of curiosity, why not just sikaflex it on?

[deblen]

Has anyone used puckboard,like fishboats do?
https://plasticsplusltd.com/products...ethylene-white

[Jim Cate]

I tried a s/s guard at first but at ~1 mm thickness it got dented pretty easily. Then used some ~8 mm thick semi flexible PVC matting. It has been on for nearly 20 years now and is showing some UV surface damage but otherwise still protecting the hull quite well.

I would think that the PE mentioned above would be very hard to shape to be tight to the hull and not look really clunky... but would offer good protection.

Jim