photo credit - http://www.qualitymarineservices.net/safety.

I went through the normal procedures to get the boat ready for the day's sailing adventure. Open the through hull valve - check. Review battery charge levels - check. Start the engine and let it warm up while I go through the remaining check list - check. Observe water coming out of the exhaust manifold - check. Everything looked good.

Our guests arrived all excited about the day on the water. We made our way out of the marina and made the turn to head north up the Intercoastal Waterway. We had gone a few hundred yards when the engine overheating alarm came on. I immediately looked to see if water was still coming out of the engine but nothing was coming out now. I immediately came about and headed back to the marina since we were still a short distance away.

The next day I went under the boat and realized that when I had made my monthly cleaning of the hull I had never tried cleaning the through hulls. We’re talking 3 years! Yes there were some barnacles in the through hull, a bunch of them. Probably enough blockage to have caused the stoppage in the water intake. It is worth a mention that a plastic bag or similar item can get caught in the intake and block the water from coming in. In hind sight, I would now put the boat in neutral and shut the motor off for a moment. If after restarting the engine there continued to be signs of a blockage then I would try to get back into the marina under sail if I had been any further away.

The cleaning of the through hulls did appear to work. I have not had a problem since that day. And yes, I will remember to make sure that this is added to the list when it comes time for the next hull cleaning.

A handy method to test the seal of a hatch gasket is to test by chalking the knife edge all the way around the hatch and then close and latch it.

Photo by Walkabout Wolf

Open the hatch and check the gasket. If the seal is good it should show an unbroken chalk line all the way around.  And if not? Then you may have to do one or more of the following:

1. Check the edge that the gasket comes up against. Is it straight and square to the gasket? Look for knife edges that are bent, concaved, convexed, or wavy. If any of these are an issue then there is no way that a good gasket could get a water tight seal on those edges.
2. To fix misaligned edges you may have to file, hammer, or force the bent edges into alignment.  Other less obvious repairs may need to be made by adjusting hinges and/or latches, rebedding the hatch or replacing the whole unit.

Using the chalk test on your gaskets seasonally is good preventive maintenance. Where can you get chalk? From your kid's art supplies, department stores or your friend that's a teacher.

I did not have a multimeter with me to test the motor so I did the next best thing. I removed it and brought it home with me. The location of the pump is right next to the macerator pump beneath the couch or main berth. There is an access panel beneath the cushions so it was not too difficult to get to. Removing the pump was a matter of making sure that the power was shutoff at the panel, disconnecting the two wires that connect to it, and removing the three screw that secured it in place.

I never realized that there was a filter attached to the pump which is quite obvious after seeing the "gunk" covering the filter.

This is the pump removed.

After examining the inside of the pump it appears to be a lost cause. Upon opening the pump there was a burnt smell and the motor appears to be frozen. I don't know what else to examine so it appears that I will be replacing this with a new pump.

Here is a method I have used for the last couple of years.

Buy a pack of stainless steel welding rods(wire). This will be a life time supply for you and your sailing buddies.

Cut a piece with wire cutters or my tool of choice, needle nose pliers.

I usually estimate about 2 - 3 inches longer than the distance between the holes you are inserting the wire into.

Make the first ninety degree bend about 1 to 1 1/2 inches from the end. Place the wire up to the turnbuckle and make the second bend equal to the distance between the holes. Insert the wire through each hole.

Once the wire is through, bend the end of the protruding wire into the turnbuckle so that it will not catch on you or your sails.

This is quick to install and remove, easy to grasp, and has less of a tendency to end up in the water!

On flights to paris as well as flights to phoenix the staff is friendly enough to repeat the directions twice. However if you are unable to close your seat buckle, don’t count on help if you are aboard flights to florida or worse, the flights to canada.

Fast forward a few weeks. We were motoring against a 2-3 knot tide and I notice that we were making headway but not as much as the kayakers that just passed us. Maybe it is time to get under the sailboat and take a look. I started thinking back to the conversation and what would 10 months of buildup look like. If I don't get to this quick it will probably be designated some sort of natural habitat.

The next weekend with mask, snorkel and other assorted cleaning utensils I went under to take a look. I was surprised! The hull looked amazingly clean. Apparently the new paint I put on before launching the boat paid off. The propellor was unrecognizable. I hadn't put any anti-fouling paint on the prop after reading mixed reviews on the value of this.

I cleaned the hull first with a stiff brush and a plastic scraper. There were about a dozen barnacles to be found which easily came off when a little pressure was applied. Next I attacked the fouled propellor. i used a 1" wood chisel for this. It was slow and tedious but eventually it started to look like a propellor. I had a little help from the channel catfish that were inches away each time I scraped off a few morsels. After an hour of repeated surfacing and diving the prop was clean.

The local Daytona Beach divers charge about a dollar a foot. Was it worth cleaning myself? Probably not but I did gain some satisfaction from it. When the water gets colder I will look into subcontracting this chore out.




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