Personally, I'd me more concerned about dropping an expensive tool in the drink than I would be about a little rust.
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In my experience the issue is not rust, it will rust. The real issue is finding a big rust stain on your hulls, tramp, or sails. My wrench rusts away happily in a Vinyl pouch along with some rusty pliers and some spare parts. For several years, the ghost of a big rust stain reminded me to always put it back and never leave wet sails laying on it.
I asked the experts at work and they are now using polymer coatings for salt water. They have never tried it but they said there are do it yourself systems like DuraCoat.
Does anyone have any experience with this?
