Through-hulls Continued

Before Winsome goes back in the water after a long spell on the hard, it made sense for us to really investigate the integrity of all her equipment below the waterline.  When we first bought Winsome in 2011, we really didn't have the time or money to dig into these projects and we were still really learning the boat.  Sailing was the biggest priority.  Personally, I'd rather be sailing than maintaining, but if we plan to head out on longer cruises these projects make all the sense in the world.  Also, Wise Debbie told me to do them. 

My biggest concerns were the valves and hosing, which were in many cases original to the boat.  All the original seacocks on Winsome are the gate-valve type, and as many boat owners know, the gates on these valves have a tendency to seize up when not maintained.  The seacock that drains our port side deck scupper and cockpit drain was broken when we bought the boat.  Eventually, this valve collected enough debris to completely obstruct flow. 

After removing these old valves, it made sense to also replace the through-hulls.   Through-hulls, valves and hosing were replaced on both the engine raw water intake and head raw water intake using the equipment noted in a previous blog post, and as shown in the following photos. 




3M 5200 flows well in warm weather, so blue tape was applied to the hull to protect it from excess dripping  material.  The circumference of the new Apollo 1/2" through-hull was traced on the blue tape with a razor knife.  The circular piece of tape was removed to expose the area where the 3M material will adhere to the hull. 

With a liberal amount of adhesive applied, the through-hull was pushed home and temporarily held in place with a piece of tape while the bronze nut was threaded from the inside of the boat.  Using a trick taken from Don Casey, the through-hull was not over-tightened, but tightened just shy of snug to allow the sealant to create a gasket between the hull and the fitting.  Once cured, the nut can be tightened to create a watertight connection on the outside of the boat.     

This through-hull and in-line ball valve serves the raw water intake for our marine head, and so it only needs a 90 degree barbed fitting for a new 3/4" hose.  The engine raw water intake assembly was installed similarly, with the only exception being a straight 5/8" barbed hose fitting.

The only other through-hull and seacock assembly that remains to be replaced this year is the one shown in the first photo which serves the port side scupper and cockpit drains.