Battle against corrosion

Buying a vessel is one thing, but maintaining a vessel is another one. Even for a relative small vessel like the Retriever with a length overall of 60 meters, maintenance is an ongoing task for at least 6 crewmembers. On deck the main enemy is rust and corrosion, in the engine room its wear and tear. Rust is burned steel. Burning is a reaction between material and oxygen. Rusting steel is nothing else. If you seal the steel surface and prevent it from making contact with oxygen, you're done. This sealing is done by paint but your paint layer must painstakingly close the complete surface with a relative humidity of 0% underneath. At sea this is impossible and if your paintlayer is damaged, the only option you have is to spot repair it. Remove the rust and close it with paint. And that's what our A/B's are doing, day in day out. If they're finished at the stern, they will start all over again at the bow.