Application of synthetic rigging

[allene]

The lightning link I posted was just a side topic for the article I wrote on bonding. You might get a kick out of it. http://l-36.com/bonding2.php I am glad you enjoyed it.

If you were eating zincs, you were probably involved in the marina ground or currents. I was surprised to find lately that many boats connect their DC boat ground to the dock green ground wire directly without an isolator. I have made measurements at our marina and that greatly increases the zinc current. I am not a fan of bonding parts of your boat together. It is generally a bad thing for the boat and should be done only for safety of the crew, not for safety of the boat (except for lightning). Metal isolated in water is not subject to galvanic action. It is the bonding that creates the galvanic problem. The standard you quote is concerned with keeping people from getting electrocuted, a good goal, but not one that should be confused with helping the boat parts last longer. Just to make the point, last year I replaced a 55 year old through hull that was not bonded. It was cut in half to get it out and it looked brand new. I think that through hulls last just fine without bonding. In fact, I contend they last longer.

Kind of off the subject of rigging. I will say, I had occasion to test some 1/8 inch Amsteel to failure and broke some 3/8 line that was part of a 3:1 pully (thus getting 1/3 the load) before the Amsteel broke. That stuff is truly amazingly strong. The 3/8 was old but still...

Btw, did you know Stan Honey did the magic lines we all love on the TV for the football games? They say he is going to do some magic stuff for the America's Cup.

Allen