February 16 , 2001 -- The Zinc Barbecue

	Pouring zinc.

I suppose it all started when Al installed our wind vane self steering system. It's a Saye's Rig, very competent. The trim tab hangs off the vane mechanism into a stainless steel hairpin affair that is attached directly onto the rudder. Thus the trim tab steers the rudder directly. Al decided the hairpin and the bolts passing through the rudder needed galvanic protection and attached a zinc anode to them. It is shaped like a half a tear drop. It was one of our spares, meant to be used on the prop support strut.

Our friend Andy had given us a huge zinc plate -- the type that big ships use for metal protection. Al was going to cut it up into yacht sized chunks for use on the strut and hairpin, but he really liked the streamlined shape of the half tear drop. Why not make his own?

He made a fiberglass mold using our last remaining pair of zincs for a pattern. The innermost piece of cloth on the lay-up was ultra finely textured so that the zincs would have a smooth surface. I don't know how many glassing layers he used, but what was then thought to be a one-off mold, has been with us now for more than 20 years! Making zincs has occasioned more than one off-the-wall adventure.

Mold and finished product.

The first episode was in Papua New Guinea. We spent the 3 month cyclone season in Madang Harbor. On Sunday, we would often motor over to nearby Krankit Island to join our cruising neighbors and the yacht club locals for a barbecue picnic on the beach. I'm sure that's where Al "borrowed" the camp fire to melt his first can of zinc scrap and pour the first 2 zincs of what would become a long line of molded zinc anode progeny.

Wandering about the islands and coves in SE Alaska a few years later gave us another opportunity. We had stopped at a natural hot springs for a scrub up and a soak. Al gathered driftwood to feed a fire on the rocky shore; I languished contentedly in the old bathtub. He had his turn in the tub as the zinc melted down in a scrounged coffee can. It didn't take long in the brisk afternoon air for the newly molded zincs to harden up and return to Sunflower, shiny bright and ready for drilling.

This used to be the hardest part of the effort -- getting the holes drilled through the zinc with the right spacing and with the right alignment for the bolts. Now Al has made a jig to fit the mold. He puts the two bolts in the jig. When the hot zinc is poured, the bolts are molded right into the anode for a perfect fit. Honest. Every time we go to a boat yard, he picks up the discarded zincs that lay about and chucks them into a plastic bin in a cockpit locker. When there is enough, we have a zinc barbecue.

Our latest zinc barbecue was in Chagos. Gary and Jenny usually cooked their main meal of the day in the camp ashore. Al helped Gary chop extra driftwood and dried fallen palm fronds for the fire. While rice was gently stewing on top of the grill, Al put his can of zinc scraps into the coals. Al flattened a place in the beach sand for the mold to sit securely. He poured the molten zinc carefully around the jig into the mold. And, Voila! New zinc anodes for the next haul out.