Monel is not stainless steel -it is more like bronze-non ferrous,and non corroding.It is used for prop shafts,water and fuel tanks in hi end marine construction.

> My books and reference materials are packed away, so I'm doing
> this by memory. Stainless steel (ss) does react with oak to produce
> a darkening stain in the wood. Not sure what other woods it reacts
> with. Stainless will not survive a wet stagnent environment once that
> environment looses oxygen. It will then corrode every bit as rapidly
> as regular mild steel then. A very common problem with the powershaft
> of outboard motors that are neglected and have their intermediate
> housings plugged up containing water.

> I really wouldn't recommend regular, mild or high carbon steels
> for structural uses below the water line, especially not without protection.
>

> All this probably becomes moot with a normally epoxied boat.
> Especially one that goes home on the car top at night. However, if
> you've got a stapled skin with only a coat of paint to protect the
> staples, it probably should be further investigated.

> Lastly, there are some very peculiar galvonic reactions that
> take place in an exposed (wet) wooden hull boat that sits in saltwater.
> I think someone like databoats.com or boatbuilders.com has some good
> information about this phenomina. Your library probably does too.
> This is probably what the book is referring to.