Hello again! This weekend, I am finally taking my r/c QUEEN MARY to California where she will be the first of my ships to actually sail in seawater. However, I am aware of the highly corrosive properties of saltwater, and I don't want this to be her last voyage. I read in a thread past that washing your hardware with fresh water immediately after sailing is the thing to do, but is it really that simple? What about covering the hardware with vasoline or using steel wool to scrub off the hardware after washing with fresh water?

I especially want to hear from people who have experience with saltwater sailing. Here are some pictures of my hardware for your consideration. The prop and shaft are brass. The rudder is probably steel hardware with a aluminum paddle. Thanks!

Barrett

You will definately want to give the boat a good rinse when you are done! The brass hardware should be fine, might be a good idea to remove the propshaft from the tube and give that a cleaning and fresh grease after you run- Your aluminum/steel composite rudder may not be long for the world if not properly sealed and 'insulated' between metals- especially if that is mild steel- should be ok for a short run in salt of course but long term, you may want to replace the rudder with all brass- Corrosion will be significant, long term with the current rudder

Enjoy your voyage in California!

Great looking model!

Salt water is not the demon it is made out to be, as long as it is kept on the outside. The propshaft needed replacing on my revell corvette after about six years, at a guess it had done about 400 real miles, and the wear was probably due to the silt in the water as much as the salt. Regular sevicing and a rinse after use is a good practice.
The combination of aluminium, steel and salt wiil eat your rudder, certainly the aluminium bits first, and sooner rather than later.

Barrett,

Send an email to our friend Ivan down in HKG who sails regularly in the ocean with his IJN buddies. I would think they can certainly share some tips with you.

Chuck

Barrett, if you contact MFR02, he will give you the best advice as his club lake is salt water, his models have been sailing for 20 years with out so much as a seized propeller! yes the anchor chains on his ww2 corvette are rusty but thats authentic.

what I did when i got back from Fairhaven with Gemini was to decouple the prop and rudder, remove items from boat, flush propshaft with water and re-grease. just before leaving fair haven to return home was to run the stern of the boat under a tap.

not so much as a spot of rust on her

Originally Posted by greenseaships

Hello again! This weekend, I am finally taking my r/c QUEEN MARY to California where she will be the first of my ships to actually sail in seawater.

Where will you be sailing the QM?.. Just in case i am close by...

try finding yourself some "Corrosion X" or "inox". the latter can be found in a true value hardware store near the wd40:

http://www.inox-mx3.com/product_detail.php?productID=10

i use inox on all my boats' electronics. i put the servo and receiver into a small cup and fill it, leaving everything to soak for a few minutes. remove, wipe off and install in boat... i've had quite a bit of water on my stuff without so much as a glitch. saves you time in waiting for stuff to dry out in cases like that.

Thanks for your help everyone! I never thought of undoing the prop shaft after sailing, but I'll be sure to bring some allen wrenches and vise grips with me! I hope to have some awesome pictures to share next week!

Barrett

Originally Posted by greenseaships

Hello again! This weekend, I am finally taking my r/c QUEEN MARY to California where she will be the first of my ships to actually sail in seawater. However, I am aware of the highly corrosive properties of saltwater, and I don't want this to be her last voyage. I read in a thread past that washing your hardware with fresh water immediately after sailing is the thing to do, but is it really that simple? What about covering the hardware with vasoline or using steel wool to scrub off the hardware after washing with fresh water?

I especially want to hear from people who have experience with saltwater sailing. Here are some pictures of my hardware for your consideration. The prop and shaft are brass. The rudder is probably steel hardware with a aluminum paddle. Thanks!

Barrett

Hello Barrett,

Before you put your ship into salty water,be sure put your electronic stuff
into a plastic box to prevent any water get into it.(I use a small micro-oven lunchbox for my 1/200 RN Conte di Cavour and she is just fine after a day at sea)And put some form-plastic into the compartments is a good Idea too.
(I just forgot to do so and my first scratch-build RC ship, a 1/200 Potemkin,
sank at Deep-Water bay,Hong Kong last year due to electronic failure & flooded compartment......)

Here are some actions I will take after a day at sea:

1.We will remove the shaft from the sub and clean it with a wet cloth,
then we will add some lubricator into the sub too.

2.All coupler will be removed ,washed by fresh water and let dry to prevent rust.

3.The compartment/opening of the deck will be opened and let the moisture out for a few days.

Hope the tips above helps and Have a nice day at sea
(Sorry for my bad english too )
Ivan

when I had Gemini in salt water nothing was done to the electronics, and i had these to contend with







not a drop inside

Hey Barrett, Don't forget to wash the salt residue off the hull sides. Sea water makes a beautiful mess on black paint. Washes right off, but.....

And remember to wash your ships after she goes to the sea
(Photo taken by my friend Ricky)
This photo was taken at a small model pool near Wanchai,Hong Kong......
It is a fresh water pool actually......

Is this a 'secret' run you are doing?

If not, where is the location in Calif?

...and a voice called out from heaven saying 'it is done.'

Today has been the most remarkable episode of my R/C life. Unfortunately, I am not at my computer right now, so I can't upload the pictures. That'll have to wait until Monday night.

I want to apologize for the secrecy (yes it was secret ). I didn't mean to hide anything from you guys in southern California who probably would want to see it. HOWEVER, until even this morning I did not know if I could even do it, and I didn't want people making the trek through LA freeways all the way to Long Beach if I was going to cancel I hope you understand. Next time I will plan ahead with the management and alert the local media, etc..

Yeah. I said Long Beach.

As some might guess, the R.C.S. QUEEN MARY met the REAL QUEEN MARY for a (hopefully not) once-in-a-lifetime cruise!

Those of you who have been to the Queen Mary hotel know that the ship is floating in water surrounded by a breakwater of rocks. I secured permission this morning to sail MY QUEEN MARY INSIDE the breakwater where she ran from the stern all the way up to the bow and ran around for a while!

I got color pictures, I got sepia pictures, I got lower quality video for Youtube, I got HIGH QUALITY digital video, I got every kind of visual record I could imagine. Probabaly more than 100 pictures. I am thinking to put them all on CD and distribute to you guys!

I cannot wait to upload the pictures on Monday night. I hope everyone here looks forward to it!

BTW- Precautions I took included washing the hardware thoroughly with freshwater, scrubbing the rudder (which I don't think I can remove), and removing the prop shaft completely. I am happy to report no saltwater got anywhere near the inside of the ship!

Barrett
diamondback78@hotmail.com