Axsail
GLOSSARY · ELECTRICAL

What is a boat bonding system? Bonded through-hulls, the two views and the survey check

UPDATED 10 NOVEMBER 2026 · 2 SOURCES

A bonding system wires a boat's underwater metals together. What it does, why experts disagree on bonding through-hulls, and what a surveyor checks in either kind of boat.

DEFINITION
Bonding system

Wires, usually green, that connect a boat's underwater metal fittings to each other, the anodes and the DC negative.

ALSO CALLED: BONDING, BONDING WIRE, CATHODIC BONDING

A bonding system ties a boat's underwater metals together with wire, usually green, run to a bonding strip and on to the anodes and the DC negative. The idea is that one set of anodes protects everything bonded to it.

Whether through-hulls and seacocks should be bonded is a long-running argument. Don Casey, in SAIL, says underwater metal that is or can be isolated shouldn't be, while noting the ABYC standard recommends tying underwater metals together. Nigel Calder, in Good Old Boat, says generally no for bronze in a fibreglass hull, with one exception: bond any fitting that could be part of a stray current path.

What a surveyor checks

What's fitted and whether it's coherent. Follow the wires from the bonding strip to each fitting and check every connection for corrosion and tightness. Note which fittings are bonded and which aren't. Look at the fittings themselves: pink, pitted bronze means the zinc has left the alloy. A half-bonded system with corroded wires is the usual finding.

In the report

"Bonding: engine, shaft and two of five through-hulls bonded, remaining three isolated. Bonding wire to the cockpit drain seacock corroded through at the lug. Decide on one approach, then renew or remove the wiring to match." See through-hull bonding.

Frequently asked

Should through-hulls be bonded?

Experts disagree. Don Casey in SAIL says isolated underwater metal shouldn't be bonded, while noting ABYC recommends tying underwater metals together. Nigel Calder in Good Old Boat says generally no for bronze in fibreglass, with an exception for fittings that could be part of a stray current path.

Findings to write up

UNDERWATER GEAR

Through-hull bonding

Why surveyors disagree on bonding through-hulls, what Nigel Calder and Don Casey advise, when a fitting should be bonded, what a surveyor checks and three example findings graded A, B and C.

How to find and write it up
ELECTRICAL

Stray current corrosion

How stray current corrosion shows up on a boat, why anodes can't stop it, where it comes from on board and at the marina, how it's tested and three example findings graded A, B and C.

How to find and write it up
UNDERWATER GEAR

Depleted anodes

When sacrificial anodes need replacing, zinc, aluminium or magnesium for your water, what anodes that aren't wasting mean, what a surveyor checks and three example findings graded A, B and C.

How to find and write it up

Related terms

Glossary
UNDERWATER GEAR

Anode

A block of zinc, aluminium or magnesium fitted to a boat's underwater metal that corrodes in its place, so the propeller, shaft and fittings last.

UNDERWATER GEAR

Through-hull

A fitting that passes through the hull to let water in or out, such as an engine intake, a sink drain or a transducer, usually closed off by a seacock.

ELECTRICAL

Galvanic isolator

A device in the shore power earth wire that blocks the small DC currents that corrode a boat's underwater metal, while still passing fault current so the earth stays safe.

ELECTRICAL

Stray current corrosion

Fast corrosion of an underwater fitting caused by an electrical leak pushing current through it into the water.

ELECTRICAL

Battery management system

The electronics that watch a lithium battery's voltage, current and temperature and disconnect it before it's damaged.

ELECTRICAL

Battery switch

The heavy rotary switch that connects or isolates a boat's batteries, often marked 1, 2, Both and Off.

Your full survey report, minutes after the walk-round

Dictate as you inspect. Axsail builds the findings and the report for your signature

Start free