The Boat US insurance magazine - "Seaworthy" has the lead article for July on standing rigging failure. Factiod - 82% of rigging failures occur in less than 15 kts. Notes from the article.. "Stainless steel owes its corrosion resistance to the protective oxide film that forms on the surface when exposed to oxygen. Starve the metal of oxygen, however, or shield it somehow, and the protective film will soon break down and crevice corrosion can begin. As its name implies, crevice corrosion occurs within crevices and other surface irregularities common in rigging that can shield oxygen out yet trap high concentrations of corrosive salt (chloride) crystals. The higher the salt content, the greater the corrosive activity." . . "If you live in northern regions, you may be scratching your head and wondering what the fuss is about. Your rigging may have lasted 20 years without so mauch as a blemish of rust appearing. That is because every 20 deg. F increase above freezing can double the rate of corrosion, which is why rigging deteriorates much faster in in the tropics, aided by a higher salinity in the seawater." . . . "Although fitting can certainly fail without any visible warning signs, the good news is that, given time, any degree of corrosion witin a crevice or stress crack will ususally discolor and weep rust stains before complete failure." . . . ..."Some people melt bees-wax or dab grease around the terminal opening after assembly, but this is not nearly as watertight and will only encourage corrosion if water gets by or is alrady within. You are better off rining your fittings off with fresh water after every outing." Thanks Doug Kelch __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com