[Keith Hardy]

Osmosis, when applied to boats is something of a misleading misnomer. Correctly, when you put an animal or plant cell into a liquid containing water one of three things will happen.

If the medium surrounding the cell has a higher water concentration than the cell (a very dilute solution) the cell will gain water by Osmosis. Water molecules are free to pass across the cell membrane in both directions, but more water will come into the cell than will leave. The net (overall) result is that water enters the cell. The cell is likely to swell up. If the medium is exactly the same water concentration as the cell there will be no net movement of water across the cell membrane.

Water crosses the cell membrane in both directions, but the amount going in is the same as the amount going out, so there is no overall movement of water. The cell will stay the same size.

If the medium has a lower concentration of water than the cell (a very concentrated solution) the cell will lose water by osmosis.

Again, water crosses the cell membrane in both directions, but this time more water leaves the cell than enters it. Therefore the cell will shrink.

I would suggest therefore, that water ingress into the fibreglass via a hole or damage is not the process of Osmosis but "wicking" along the fibres, and it would take considerable and constant exposure to moisture for this to happen. A process similar to osmosis does take place in boats but it requires immersion for lengthy periods in order for the water to travel through the semi-permeable membrane (gel-coat). Your GT40 therefore, not being a boat, is perfectly safe apart from the usual caveats. This has been my Christmas message, and now I'm going to lie down.

Hic [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img]

Keith