My rigger and
boat yard appear to have used silicone when using stainless screws to attach fittings to my
aluminum mast. I've always understood something like tef-gel should be used to avoid
corrosion. In one instance, for the cage that goes over my steaming light, they used silicone to isolate the cage itself from the
mast. This makes sense (other than silicone being such a pain). I think a UV stable plastic washer would have been better in this case. It also appears that they used silicone caulk for the screws on the steaming light, the cage, and the screws holding a whisker pole track to the mast. I can see the advantage of silicone caulk helping to prevent the screws from backing out and also blocking
water intrusion that could induce
corrosion.
What are your thoughts on the use of silicone, or perhaps another caulking material for stainless screws and
aluminum as opposed to tef-gel?
In the case of tef-gel, is a PTFE lubricant like Super Lube a suitable substitute?
Edit: The context of all this is that I need to remove the screws from the whisker pole track to slide it up a bit higher and I am wondering what to use when I re-install, in case that influences your response.
Thanks,
Harry