Why do I wash the boat down?

[Michael4]

Crossed my mind today, with sponge and hose in hand...

I know I'm supposed to but why do I wash the boat down after use?

I sail in salt water, the boat is varnished (and will probably be re-varnished every year) and it normally dries quickly.

What damage are salt deposits really doing to my surface?

Salt preserves wood doesn't it?

Just a thought,

Michael

[Ed]

The wood won't suffer from the salt.

But if dries on top of the varnish, the crystals may harm the surface, and are more likely to when a cover grinds them into varnish. Any slight cracks under the varnish can get salt water in them, and again when they dry, the crystals can swell and damage the varnish.

But in your case with a boat that is sailed regularly and varnished regularly too, I don't think the varnish is a big issue.

What is an issue....and is why I wash my boat down (can't talk for others) is to clean out the salt from all the metal fittings, especially any aluminium ones, and also all sheets/ropes. Salt plays havoc on these.

But with a tideway, with a wooden mast....again, it might not be such an issue.

eib

[Michael4]

[quote="Ed"
But with a tideway, with a wooden mast....again, it might not be such an issue.

eib[/quote]

Not worried about the Tideway, it never gets washed and I've used Owatrol D1/D2 on the hull, all fine.

It is that 'delicate' Merlin I worry about which is plain old fashioned varnish. As mentioned in a previous thread the un-anodised old alloy mast is another cause for concern but really,having read the responses, there is not a whole lot I can do about that (?).

[Ian Malcolm]

I wouldn't bother too much with the exterior, but you want to get the salt off the deck to keep it looking decent and avoid abrasion, washing the salt out of the interior is essential if you want it to dry out properly, and washing down metal spars and fittings is just common sense.

[Rupert]

Wash the sails too, or the salt crystals can cut into the stitching.