gray6•29d ago

Spent 6 hours fighting a stuck bolt on a harbor job

I was doing a routine underwater inspection near the Port of Seattle last week when I ran into a simple problem that turned into a whole day. The bolt on a cathodic protection anode was completely seized from years of corrosion and marine growth. I figured I'd use my impact gun and it would pop off in 10 minutes tops. No luck. Tried soaking it in penetrating oil for an hour, still nothing. Ended up having to use a hydraulic cutter to shear it off, which meant a surface trip to get the right tool. By the time I was done and had the new anode mounted, the shift was over and I'd spent 6 hours on one stupid bolt. Anyone else ever have a simple task turn into a massive time sink like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

jennysullivan29d ago

Wait, are you really saying six hours on one bolt is a big deal? I've spent entire days just trying to get a rusted shut valve open on a piping system, and that was in dry conditions. You had to surface to grab a different tool, that's like 20 minutes of your day tops. The rest of the time was just the bolt being stubborn, which is pretty standard in any marine environment. I've seen guys spend a whole shift fighting a single stuck fastener on a boat trailer before they gave up and just cut it off. It's annoying, sure, but it's not some epic disaster. You got the job done, that's what counts.

james_singh79d ago

Nobody's talking about the visibility down there though, is it?

kim19129d ago

You know what, @jennysullivan, I used to be on the other side of this argument. I used to think six hours on one bolt was embarrassing, like it meant you didn't know what you were doing. But after dealing with enough crap in saltwater conditions, I get it now. That bolt isn't just rusted, it's basically welded in there from the salt and corrosion. The whole "cut it off" thing works, but sometimes you can't do that without wrecking something important. So yeah, you changed my mind. Six hours on one bolt when you're underwater is just part of the job, not some failure. You got it done, and that's really all that matters.