Steve, I’ve been sailing over 67 years. I sail a 1973 Pearson 33. I’m on the verge of installing a Frigoboat Keel Cooler system, which, as you no doubt know, runs the refrigerant tube thru a shoe outside the hull for cooling. However, I have concerns about corrosion and marine fouling, as the shoe cannot be painted. The salesperson that I’m dealing with said (his spelling): "Sailing gurus Nigel Calder, Tom Neal, and Steve Dashew all use and endorse the keel cooler." Tom Neale is not familiar with it and I haven’t yet reached Nigel Calder. Do you have a track record with the keel cooler? Sincerely, from the Jersey Shore, George
Hi George: We are using the keel coolers, but inside the boat in a special aluminum fresh water tank (where the bronze cooler is isolated from the surrounding aluminum). While I have not used these before, they should operate the same as the sintered metal bonding plates which we have used on all our fiberglass designs for many years. You will have to periodically clean the coolers from marine growth, but otherwise it should be fine.
As to electrolytic corrosion, the risks with this should be the same as with any other through-hull. From my perspective, it looks like a very good approach for a fiberglass boat. Regards – Steve
Posted by Steve Dashew (November 30, 1999)
