Magnetic properties of Water

[COG]

I am fairly new here but I notice from time to time anecdotes appear which make me smile and thought I would share this with you all…
Last Sunday went for a chug up the river Nene with the family ( Elysian 27), having moored up for lunch and a spot of fishing I was standing on the bank when confronted by a buxom woman in tweeds asking if I had a “something retriever” on board. We don’t have a dog so I questioned her on what she meant.
Apparently she was after nothing more than a magnet on a bit of rope!!! She had inadvertently dropped a prized teaspoon over the side of her canal boat in the cut. I could not help but it got me thinking….
Since becoming a boat owner I have lost to the water many nuts, bolts, pliers and a pair of glasses….. why is it that when ever you drop something on the deck by accident it invariably bounces once and then is inextricably drawn to the water…,

Has water itself got magnetic properties???

Should I get hold of a magnet of a suitable size as a deterrent against further losses of metal objects?

What sort of magnet is best? ( I thought an round one off an old TV )

Would I be wasting my time as you can rarely see the bottom on an English River?

Discuss…..

Regards COG

 

[Chris_d]

You need a Seasearcher magnet, this was Nauticalia's original product line and started them on the road to all sorts of other useful boating items, like singing Billy Bass fish and stuffed purring cats.
I bought one of these 20 years ago after dropping numerous items in and watching somebody else retreive them with one of these, they also claimed to go treasure hunting and find all sorts of useful things, including money!
Since I bought one, have never had to retrieve a thing and have never found any treasure, so probably worth the original the investment of £5.
Magnetic properites of water is the same rule as dropping buttered bread etc.. so easily detered by investing in expensive never to be used again gadget.

 

[brianrunyard]

Yes but, by the same law as the buttered toast, if you buy a magnet, you'll drop things made of plastic, aluminium, brass etc. Anything except something that the magnet will pick up.

Brian
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/brunyard

 

[Guest]

A magician friend recently demonstrated to me that "copper" pennies are now made from (or rather have a large content of) steel, apparently due to the cost of copper being more than a pennyworth!
Being magnetic helps greatly with conjouring tricks.

Thought I should share that gem of info with all us boaties......

Bernie

 

[kingfisher]

We once retrieved a rudder from a steel 18ft launch. Attached the magnet from a 140W speaker to a rope and just went fishing in the 3m deep mud river. Took us half an hour to locate the thing, and called in the diver.

But I wouldn't want a magnet like that on board. Would do all sorts of strange things to you compass deviation chart.

Obi-Wan
http://sirocco31.tripod.com

 

[Guest]

Magnet shielding

You have a point there, where can one store a seasearcher magnet on board, apart from as far away from the compass as possible? - top of the mast??

Would a lead lined box do the trick?

I retrieved our boat keys from Yarmouth harbour after upending our inflatable with the aid of much prayer and a seasearcher...

 

[tcm]

Re: Magnet shielding

That lead lined box in the chandlery is for storing photon lasers and radioactive materials. I gave up carryying the flipping magnet around as they always go very rusty. The magnets shold have keep plates, but will still muck everything up if you put it near er almost anything on a boat...

 

[Trevethan]

Re: Magnet shielding

How did prayers and seasearcher help you up-end the dinghy? *grin*

 

[sailbadthesinner]

Re: Magnetic properties of alcohol

i find when i have alcohol inside me i am more wont to land in the brine

...It was like that when i found it!

 

[andyball]

I saw one of these magnets in a local chandlery, it was displayed attached to a steel rack ,by magnetic force, and was impressively hard to prise off.



So I tried using it to pick up something (I forget what, but it was "suitable" metal, weighing maybe a 1lb or so.....it couldn't manage it: no problem picking up heavy objects that are flat, and make a clean contact,(like when you drop a sheet of steel plate overboard), otherwise only useful for small tools and (non-stainless) teaspoons.....although as someone else mentioned, might be useful for locating things prior to diving.

 

[ArthurWood]

Re: Magnet shielding

A mu metal box might be better (but expensive).

 

[Guest]

Re: Magnet shielding

Hi Arthur,
Strangely enough we do actually produce components out of mu metal here at my company but never realised it was good for magnetic shielding!

Must look for some offcuts.....

Regards
Bernie

 

[Guest]

Dinghy upending...

I'll tell you about it when my wife stops cuffing me round the head everytime I mention using the inflatable again....!

 

[ArthurWood]

Re: Magnet shielding

Bernie - A new market opportunity, perhaps?

 

[Guest]

Re: Mu metal boxes

I wish!

How many do you want Arthur, I'll do a really good discount on export batches!

(might even deliver)!

 

[jointventureII]

I used to have a great time going round the marina in the dinghy with the "sea searcher magnet" on a length of rope picking upall sorts ( if this seems odd it was when i was 13 - 14)
Top finds include a skateboard,
one of those push along scooters,
many spanners and screwdrivers
and a paint roller.

 

[Guest]

Maybe you missed the point...Maybe the young lady was trying to pick you up.

Robbie W

 

[MadFrank]

I think there may well be some regional differences in the strength of the magnetic pull of water - I've know this magnetic strength be so powerful that it has managed to snap a steel cable holding a boat to the cranes jib.............thus returning the boat somewhat speedily to the surface of the water.

 

[boatone]

.....aaaaaahhhhh..............animal magnetism !

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.boatsontheweb.com/galleryframes.html> My P32, BoatersGallery, VolpenUsersGroup</A>

 

[matt_lake]

We recently saw a 25 tonne crane toppled by the magnetic forces of 8 feet of water. The crane landed on a boat minding it's own business on a nearby mooring. The owner was not a happy bunny....