GL: Skinny Water in the Northern Keys - A Cure for Rusting Stainless?

[TheSolSean@aol.com]

We are continuing our 'leisurely' tour around the Loop, having left our  home 
Port of Goderich, Ontario, on Lake Huron in September of 2004. Having sat  on 
the hard at Fort Pierce for the summer of 2006, we have now made our way  
south along the ICW to Lower Matecumbe Key to visit friends before departing for  
another tour of the Bahamas.
 
For those travelling south on the ICW past Jewfish Creek, and the  subsequent 
Sounds, by the time you get to the turn at Marker 64 south of  Pigeon Key, it 
seems that the channel there has shifted towards the marks rather  than 
exactly where the magenta line shows on the charts. We could push our 5'  draft 
through 4'4" of mud but there is less anxiety shifting  a little west  we hear. 
Another change is a small shift in the bank of the channel - once again  to 
less than 5 feet on the easterly side of the south exit of the Cowpens Cut.  
(Markers 76A & 78) The locals say Wilma moved the mud around, and once again  it 
is best to hug the markers there, and stay northwest as you exit the marked  
channel... Even though the tides are nominal, there are other places (near the  
Cotten Keys) where the tide and the wind direction are necessary to carry 5 
feet  through without bumping.
 
Now - in exchange for those travelling tips, who has the best cure for  
preventative care to look after stainless stanchions in salt water areas? We use  
the Star Bright stainless cleaner and polish. Is there any thing that might 
last  longer?
 
Mary &  Paul - on the SolSean