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Got a really UGLY curve ball thrown at me today

Any chance your bottom paint was copper based? This would potentially be a culprit if so. 
 
SEMPERFI8387 said:
Any chance your bottom paint was copper based? This would potentially be a culprit if so. 
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No, the bottom paint was always put on by a Bennington dealers, so I'm confident they used the right paint, and applied it ccorrectly.  I'm thinking that there may be two contributing factors to this: 1) the boat that was in the slip next to mine had his shore power cord DIPPED INTO THE WATER for awhile (which may have been putting a ton of current into the water), but I believe somebody busted him on it and corrected it, and 2) the marina is about 2 miles upriver from the GoM.   For the past 2 years, the Army Corp of Engineers have been dumping fresh water from Lake Okeechobee down the Caloosahatchee river and out into the Gulf of Mexico.  My marina is right on the Caloosahatchee River - so perhaps aluminum would have been the preferred anode for this.  I'm looking into this to see if that may have created this problem. 


Still doing some homework...


UPDATE: Just spoke to a guy who said it was probably the fact that I used zinc anodes instead of the aluminum anodes as it is definitely brackish water.  Expensive lesson learned.


Now my next question: Isn't my aluminum pontoon boat one GREAT BIG ALUMINUM ANODE THEN in brackish water? :wacko:
 
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TomS said:
Sorry to hear this and I'm sure that's a major shock.


We've likely relocating to Sanibel in the near future and have thought long and hard about whether to even bring our Bennington or just sell it up here in the North. Neither of us can stand the idea of seeing our perfectly lift/canopy kept boat spending much time in the salt, as we didn't think to get that simple option on the boat 4 years ago. Rack storage or trailering seems like the best option if we do, but more likely we'll end up in a different type of boat (for other reasons).


Despite your pain, it is very helpful to share with us, so we know what kind of things can happen, how to solve problems, and hopefully prevent them from happening in the future.
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TomS, educate me, cant you simply add the anodes if you wanted to bring your boat to salt water.  Also can you respond to what tcpip wrote above me
 
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OK, I just crawled around under the boat (while still on the trailer) and it appears that the corrosion is limited to the port pontoon (which by the way, was the side that my electrically-challenged slip neighbor was on).  I didn't find any further pinholes, but I know I have a leak along the keel, since that's where water was draining out.  The center pontoon and the starboard pontoon look to be in much better shape.


I'll take it to the dealer on Monday and have them perform a leak down check to see what the real story is.


@TomS I think you will be fine in Sanibel, as long as you are using zinc anodes.  You are definitely in saltwater.  I'm guessing from the sound of your post that you did not opt for the saltwater series option when you bought your boat, but it would be trivial to have the dealer down here add the two brackets to the rear of the port and starboard pontoons (on my 24SSL they're just two small housings about 4" x 4" x 6" that go below the waterline on the stern of the pontoon).  You'll also have a zinc that goes on your motor.  Talk to a dealer; I'm sure it's not that big of a deal to have done.  They would simply weld these housings on.  I would guess it would be less that $500 to have it done.
 
tcpip95 said:
1) the boat that was in the slip next to mine had his shore power cord DIPPED INTO THE WATER for awhile (which may have been putting a ton of current into the water)
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I'm thinking that's the source of your problem.  That scenario is incredibly dangerous, and not just to your pontoons.  If someone jumped or fell into the water near that...  Don't even want to think about that.  


It may not hurt to talk to the guy and give him a chance to do the right thing. 
 
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lakeliving said:
Ouch. Any courses of action with who did the under painting? Perhaps a product liability or general liability claim is in order. 
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No, I think this one's on me.  The more I study this the more I'm seeing it was improper anodes.  When I moved to the brackish water I should have switched out anodes from zinc to aluminum.  Water still tasted salty, so figured I was good to go.


It's funny; in hindsight while I kept the boat in the saltwater - with the proper zinc anodes - the anodes would dissolve like Alka Seltzer; when I got to the brackish water, they barely dissolved.  I was thinking "Oh, OK.  not as much chance of galvanic corrosion here, I guess".  <Insert emoji where I smash my head with a sledge hammer>.
 
kaydano said:
I'm thinking that's the source of your problem.  That scenario is incredibly dangerous, and not just to your pontoons.  If someone jumped or fell into the water near that...  Don't even want to thing about that.  


It may not hurt to talk to the guy and give him a chance to do the right thing. 
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I'm going to take a ride over there and see if his boat is still there.... He seemed like a transient, so he may be long gone.  The other issue is that I left there a year ago.  He could tell me to pound sand, and I wouldn't have any recourse.  Still not a bad idea though to go make a visit...
 
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Just got back from the marina.  That guy's off like a prom dress..... he left at least six months ago, as I talked with the boat owner of the slip that he was in.  He said he has been in that slip for six months now, so that's the end of that.
 
The aluminum can be easily welded, I would use compressed air around each pin hole to make sure the holes are not larger than you think. Aluminum usually wont degrade like steel, so the hole is usually the extent of the damage. It is possible to weld aluminum plates over the holes. A good shop can do that. I have done aluminum welding many times so I would not be too concerned. If the holes are small they can be filled in. Still cheaper than a new boat.
 
myv10 said:
The aluminum can be easily welded, I would use compressed air around each pin hole to make sure the holes are not larger than you think. Aluminum usually wont degrade like steel, so the hole is usually the extent of the damage. It is possible to weld aluminum plates over the holes. A good shop can do that. I have done aluminum welding many times so I would not be too concerned. If the holes are small they can be filled in. Still cheaper than a new boat.
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Thanks.  I was reading that they pump air into the top of the pontoon, then wash it down with a soapy solution and watch where the bubbles appear.  I'm going to have them do that and give me an estimate for what work needs to be done.  I'm sure they have a good aluminum shop that they send their work out to.  I think my over/under is going to be $7k.  Over that and I consider getting a new boat.  Under that, I have it repaired.  I really want to keep this boat though, as I have a lot of customization that will be a real pain to re-do on a new boat.


This whole thing is just tryin' my Christian patience ... LOL
 
SEMPERFI8387 said:
 I know it sounds dumb but if a coat of bottom paint pretty much sealed those holes previously could you double or triple coat it, and possibly save a couple more years out of it? After repairing the pinholes of course. 
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Actually, I've been giving that some thought as well.  Hate to bottom paint it again, but I know that would help (from a seaworthiness standpoint).
 
Link said:
TomS, educate me, cant you simply add the anodes if you wanted to bring your boat to salt water.  Also can you respond to what tcpip wrote above me
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The saltwater package includes the anodes, mounting, bonding system, sealed strakes. The first 3 could probably be added without much fuss, just some $$. The biggie is the sealed strakes, to ensure everything can be flushed with fresh water easily. My boat has the standard non-sealed strakes, so I suppose salt can get retained in those areas and corrode starts inside there.
 
TomS said:
The saltwater package includes the anodes, mounting, bonding system, sealed strakes. The first 3 could probably be added without much fuss, just some $$. The biggie is the sealed strakes, to ensure everything can be flushed with fresh water easily. My boat has the standard non-sealed strakes, so I suppose salt can get retained in those areas and corrode starts inside there.
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Tom, that's a valid point.  Would you be keeping it in a wet slip?
 
tcpip95 said:
Tom, that's a valid point.  Would you be keeping it in a wet slip?
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No definitely wouldn't do that. Rack storage or trailering other than the occasional overnights.
 
TomS said:
No definitely wouldn't do that. Rack storage or trailering other than the occasional overnights.
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That being the case, I don't think the saltwater (electrolysis) will be an issue.  Mine turned into a nightmare because I kept it in a wet slip.  Throw the zincs etc. on and be done with it.
 
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Sealed strakes are NOT part of the salt water package. You have to add those separately. Or at least when we ordered ours. We have the saltwater package on ours. 
 
If the problem was the incorrect anodes wouldn't all of your pontoons have the same damage/pinholes???
 
If it was the power cord as believed, the current would seek the easiest path, the closest toon.   
 
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