Do you close your seacocks??

[Maine Sail]

Hi All,

It's funny that just last week someone posted about folks asking questions then not listening for the answer or just plain ignoring it.

Well last night I was on the launch when we stopped by to pick up people from one of my old boats. Now this is a boat I sold about 8 years ago and when I sold it it had relatively new, as in less than 1 year old, plumbing & hoses.

So we're on the way in and the woman says to me that her husband passed away two years ago and that she is now taking care of the boat but that it had sunk last fall! Sunk? As in lots of water inside the cabin? Yep that's what happened...

Here's the rest of the story. When I sold the boat to the new owners I agreed to spend a half a day on board going over every minute detail and showing them the ropes. I did this for free and also printed up about a 10 page manual and check lists.

Apparently many of my critical suggestions were ignored by her late husband and she learned from him instead of listening to what I suggested. I clearly remember going through the whole "close your seacocks" every time you leave the boat routine and made it a point to drill that home in words and in bolded writing in the 10 page manual.

So long story short the head hoses begin to stink so she replaces them. Of course she only used one hose clamp instead of two and the results speak for them selves. The intake hose for the head was clearly not tight enough, coupled with the fact that MOST all marine heads DO NOT have a hose barb at the pump just a smooth walled pipe to slide the hose over type of fitting.

So, she left all the thru-hulls open, with the exception of the engine?, and with only one hose clamp, that was not even tight enough, the pounding and pressure/no pressure, pressure/no pressure, as she came up and down in the waves in a fall storm literally blasted the intake hose right off the pump body of the head and sunk the boat.


I can't totally blame her BUT she was there for the entire half day when I went over every square inch of the boat in detail including pointing out that every hose bellow the waterline had two non-perforated hose clamps..


So do you close your seacocks or do you like to gamble..??

 

[FrankR3878]

Being a pestamist - all closed every time

I believe that if it going to happen - its going to happen when I'm not there. All seacocks are closed when I leave. All DC power is off when I leave. I even tie a sail tie around the furling jib to keep it furled in case the 4 wraps of sheet come undone.

 

[Gary_H]

Being a paranoid sailor

I always close all seacocks and valves when I leave the boat. Then I make sure the bilge is dry, DC power off, cooler lid off, V-birth access panels open hatches battened, tiller tied, boat centered in slip. Of course an hour into the trip back home I think, did I close all the seacocks?

 

[Tim R.]

Every time when leaving the boat

When I bought my previous boat(pearson 28), one of them was frozen open and it was the first thing I fixed on that boat. In fact, it was right next to the boat you are speaking of. He was a great guy. I very much enjoyed speaking with him and we had fun racing each other. His son was in the MS Regatta this past weekend but dropped out because of the storms that came up.

 

[Jim Seamans]

Its a regilous act for me - always

Upon entering the boat, seacocks get opened.
Leaving the boat, seacocks get closed.

 

[Jim]

I alway shut my seacocks

I didn't used to but I do now. I like to sleep at night.

I would like to install a high water alarm. We have guard that walk around but they might miss it. I am sure they would hear an audio alarm.

I have looking into the cell service alarms but they are still too expensive. I think audio alarm would do the trick.

 

[Ross]

I rarely leave my seacocks closed but I check

them for free operation and inspect all of the connections every time I am on the boat. My experience is that most people live by the "out of sight, out of mind " approach to houses, cars, and boats. I enter homes that have loose hinge screws, loose door knobs, strike screws that are plowing a path on the door edge, leaking shaft or bonnet packing on faucets, drooping rain gutters etc. When I mention these things, generally they have been unaware. Only when something fails does it become important.
I wipe my engine down every time I check the oil. That way I find a leak soon after it starts not after it has dumped a quart of oil into the bilge and set the alarms off.

 

[BobM]

Another vote for closed

Seacocks are all closed unless they are actively in use, even if I am sleeping on board. Bilge pump is always set on automatic.

 

[tkanzler]

Closed

Every time. Even if I forget and have to go back.

Batteries off, as well as AC power, too.

Too many horror stories out there, and I don't want my boat to become yet another one.

 

[Scup]

What about your raw water seacock leading to the engine?

Out of sight, out of mind. If you close the seacock at day's end, do you worry about forgetting to open it next time you start your engine? (Of course, I'm compulsive about checking the rate of water coming out while running the engine, so this would never happen to me )

 

[Warren Milberg]

Always closed when

I'm not on board. Having a relatively small boat (H28.5) with only 5 seacocks makes that a relatively task.I keep the ignition key on a ring that I throw over the handle of closed raw water intake seacock so I never forget to open it as I've gotta get the key there first. Being adjacent to the packing gland, it also affords the opportunity to check the drip of the gland (which should be none) at the same time.

 

[Dan Johnson]

I close all but...

the engine raw water valve. Dock mates and dockmaster know where the ignition key is should there be a need to move the boat in an emergency if I'm travelling.

I don't want them to be fumbling around trying to find the sea cock back in the bilge some dark night before starting the engine. I do check the hose connection almost every visit just to be sure.

Only three others get used in the course of a visit to the boat so it's easy to remember to open/close them each visit.

 

[Jim]

Ross, are you saying you don't close the seacocks?

I hope you check the boat everyday and keep the power / battery charge on. If a hose breaks you don't have a lot of time.


I do think it is good you clean the engine everytime you check the oil. I wish I have better access to my engine. I have to take the step off and move a huge cover to get at mine. I would check it every time out if it were easier.

 

[mpaxman]

Checking packing gland

Warren, when checking the packing gland, what exactly do you do/ what are you looking for? I could probably guess the answer, but it can't hurt to include this in the discussion. I've only checked my packing gland a few times, it seems to be pretty much dripless when the shaft is not in use, but drips slowly but regularly when in use. I guess the best time to check it would be when it has been in fairly continuous use for a while to see if it is getting too hot, or leaking water too fast. What do you usually expect to see?

Thanks for the reminder, this is probably an important system to keep on top of.

 

[Jim]

Re: Checking packing gland

my raw water seacock is in the same location as the packing gland. I check the packing gland everytime I close the seacock which is whenever I leave the boat for the week to return to work.

I also check the bilge for water everytime I get on the boat. It should be dry unless we have had a lot of rain. I have a keel step mast that does not have a mast bilge.

 

[b361sail]

access to seacocks

Hello to all, I have been reading the posts on this site for some time now, and feel rather addicted to all the good info that comes across. So I finally have a question on this seacock issue. What do you do if you really don't have access to them? the raw water to the engine is under the stern berth, which is under the bedding, which the true captain always has made up for the next nights rest?

 

[Jim]

b361sail good question

What do you do if you really don't have access to your seacocks. My are under my aft cabin bedding too. I can lift up the mattress enough yo open up a 1' by 1' ft access, reach in, and feel my way to check the packing gland and shut the seacock. When I had the older Hunter all the beeding needed to be removed to get the the seacock. I didn't shut it.

I like the new Hunters because all the seacocks can be easily accessed in the main bilge, but changing hose is going to be harder and more costly.

 

[Tim R.]

Check it anyhow

You should still close it. Safety is more important than convenience. My Ericson has all the seacocks either under the Galley sink or vanity. Very easy to get to and service all of them.

 

[Ross]

B361 sail, back to my ''out of sight etc. post.

How can you know if it has started to leak if you don't check it? Our vocabulary is full of adages like "a stitch in time, saves nine." a penny savedis a penny earned, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. The list is long but unerring in the advise to find the small problems before they become big problems.

 

[Manny]

All closed

I leave mine closed all the time, they only get opened during operation. I inspect the stuffing box and the transducer and knot log thru-hulls for leaks before I leave to go home. Also the bilge, scupper drain hoses, and rudder stuffing box get checked. Battery switch gets set to off position and shore power is disconnected. Bilge pump float switched gets checked weekly too...

Manny